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Four of the school's seven trustees - one of whom has served for 11 consecutive terms, or 44 years - are up for re-election, and all will face election challenges.
Two of the challengers filed papers with the county elections office yesterday, making their entrance into the race official. Two others, including former Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum, intend to file their papers today.

Although the four challenging candidates say they are not running as a slate, they are united on many fronts. Indeed, they gathered together at the elections office yesterday to file their papers.

On policy matters, two of the challengers said the long-entrenched board has failed to heed the community's concerns on important issues and has shied away from the type of inclusive decision-making processes many feel are needed in challenging times.

"We're all very interested in the decision-making at City College to make it fairer, more open and inclusive," said Blum, who served two terms on the City Council prior to serving two terms as mayor. "I think [current board members] have been on a long time and I think it's time for active and energetic leadership."

In February, the board attached fees to 20 continuing education classes, a move that drew ire from many in the community. And this summer, the board offered a pared back schedule, shuttering many long-offered courses.
Board members said reductions in state funding and roughly $10 million in budget cuts over the past two years were the reasons for the tweaks to continuing education, which is often called adult education.

But where the board saw its hands tied by state wishes, community members, many of whom are outspoken proponents of the college's robust continuing education program, proposed alternatives that Blum and others feel weren't given appropriate weight by the board.

"There is an amount of discretion there, even in the cases where the state had said 'We will no longer fund a particular class,'" said Marsha Croninger, who has followed the board's decisions surrounding continuing education closely, and who hopes to win a seat on the board. "Other college campuses worked with the problem and have resolved it for their fall session. We're not as far along."

Desmond O'Neill, who has served on the board since 1994, seemed taken aback when told he'd be challenged in the upcoming election.
He maintained, as he did when the board levied fees on some continuing education classes, that the board had little choice in the matter, but has nevertheless listened closely to the public discourse.
"People can come to board meetings but it doesn't change the state regulation we're held to," O'Neill said. "New blood is not going to change the dictates of the state."
He continued, "I don't think these people who are making claims about new blood understand about how a community college really works."

However, O'Neill did concede that the school, and the board, could have done a better job communicating to the public the reasons for the fees and class reductions.
In addition to O'Neill, board members Sally Green, Dr. Joe Dobbs and Dr. Kathryn Alexander, are up for re-election.

In years when incumbents are not challenged, Croninger said their names don't even appear on a ballot, creating a situation in which several years may pass between elections.

While O'Neill steadfastly defended the board's recent actions, Alexander, who has served on the board for nearly half a century, said she agrees with Blum's assertions. Specifically, Alexander said she feels there have been instances where the board could have encouraged more public debate.
"I think we should be spending more time listening to the community," she said, adding that she feels calls for "new blood" on the board are "legitimate."
"I'm running on the basis of which I think the college has problems and that we would do better to try to tackle these problems with at least some of [the current] board members there."

Like all public institutions in California, the college has fallen on tough financial times. Over the past two years, officials have slashed $10 million from its budget.
City College President Andreea Serban, who is an active participant in all board meetings, defended the current crop of trustees and stressed that the school's fiscal standing, while tenuous, is among the healthiest of all colleges in the state.
"I believe that the college as a whole and the board as a whole has done an exceptional job in very challenging fiscal conditions Š" she said.

The school's fiscal upside is perhaps most evident in the size of its strategic reserve, which stands around $22 million.
Some have suggested that the school dip into its reserves to stave off cuts - a proposal O'Neill and Serban said wouldn't be prudent.

"These reserves have been built over time through a concerted effort from the college," Serban said, adding later, "This money was saved on purpose to ensure the fiscal stability of the college. This is not money to be spent on other programs."
When the state failed to ratify a budget on time last year, Serban said the City College paid its bills for a time with reserves. She said it appears the same could happen this year. And she stressed that the amount of the reserve, while more than quadruple the amount of the state's recommended minimum, would only cover two months worth of the school's bills if the state turned off the money faucet.

When asked about the school's reserves, Croninger said she believes the actual number is closer to $29 million.

She said the use of this money must be done through a collaborative and transparent process. "We'd like to have a mission-driven budget, not a budget-driven mission," she said.

J'Amy Brown, a former president of the school's adult education advisory committee, called the continuing education program, which once offered around 2,700 mostly free classes each year, the "fourth leg of the Santa Barbara Community table."
"It's way more than just this extra place where you go and get educated," she said. "It holds together a vast part of our community. This is their social life; this is their social fabric."

Regardless of who wins the election, Brown said a shake-up could help cure any "incumbent arrogance" that may exist on the board.
"This shake-up might just be good for everybody," she said.

Brown, whose summer art class was canceled by the board, also wondered how hiring a communications consultant for $24,000, as the board recently did, is fiscally responsible when the school has clammed up when asked to fund its beloved adult education program.

"As a taxpayer, I would rather have had my art class than a PR person," she said.
Serban defended the money that has been spent on the consultant, Mary Rose, who sometimes manages political campaigns, saying she has been brought on for the purposes of "advising college staff on a variety of larger institutional roles and strategies that relate to improvement in communication."

Whether new blood pours onto the board this fall or not, the discussion surrounding how decisions are made at City College will likely be fierce.