Six candidates compete for three spots in MPC board race

The Monterey Peninsula Community College District board of trustees may have a different look next year with three of its five seats up for election. Trustee Area 3, 4 and 5 each have a pair of candidates competing for the seat.

In addition to the spots up for election on the board, the community college district put Measure V on the ballot. The $230 million bond measure would fund upgrades to career training facilities, classrooms and technology if it receives 55% approval.

In Area 5, incumbent Loren Steck and retired MPC professor Marlene Martin are competing for the seat.

Steck, 67, is a retired psychologist who will have served on the board for 17 years next month. During that time he’s served on the board of directors for Community Human Ser

vices and the Community Foundation for Monterey County as well as on the board for the Carmel Valley Association, the Carmel Red Cross and other organizations. He was a faculty member at UC Santa Cruz for 16 years and serves on the university’s foundation board.

Steck said the greatest threat to the MPC campus at present is financial, and it comes from two sources out of MPC’s control.

“First, the Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF) pits community college districts against one another, and MPC is among the districts slated to lose funding through it,” he said. “SCFF redistributes funding: Extra money goes to districts with higher proportions of specific groups of students ( primarily Pell Grant recipient s), hav ing been taken away from districts with lower proportions of them. Because of the demographics of our service area, MPC has fewer of these students than do most colleges in the system, and it will lose funding as a result. And second, the recession has hit California hard, causing the state to defer about 40% of its payments to MPC and most other districts until the next fiscal year.”

Steck noted MPC was one of the first community college districts in the state to construct a comprehensive COVID-19 reopening plan.

“Several other districts, including local ones, have modeled their own plans after MPC’s,” he said. “The plan is ready to be placed into action as soon as the Governor’s restrictions are limited. I believe it pays to be prudent in this area; one glance across the country demonstrates the problems that have befallen colleges that opened too quickly this fall. More than a few have had COVID outbreaks among their students leading to campus closures and liability.”

Martin taught in Michigan and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras before coming to the Monterey Peninsula. She taught at Carmel Middle and Pacific Grove High before spending 41 years teaching English at MPC. Among her roles at MPC, were English Department chair, Faculty Senate president, Teachers’ Association president and representative to the California Community College Academic Senate.

Mar tin said dealing with COVID-19 is one of the toughest challenges the board faces, adding that MPC needs an innovative, knowledgeable and dedicated team to create and oversee programs that position students to succeed.

“MPC faces the educational and economic uncertainties posed by the virus and by the uncertainties of funding,” she said. “The faculty quickly transitioned to online teaching in March and then spent the summer improving their ability to teach online. It is important that faculty, staff, trustees and students work together respectfully to meet the complex challenges that face the college.”

Until a vaccine and efficient testing are readily available, Martin said it will be difficult to safely reopen the campuses. Small class sizes in addition to plastic barriers would aide social distancing efforts.

“Fa c u lt y not a c c ustomed to teaching online tell me it is tricky to create the kind of classroom dynamic they seek when they are teaching online,” she said. “I am favorably impressed by the attempts of faculty and administration to support students during this crisis.”

In Area 4, retired educational administrator Celia Barberena is competing against retired educator/ counselor Debeliah “Debbie” Anthony.

Barberena, 72, was born in Nicaragua and rose through ranks at California community colleges from teacher to director, dean, vice president and president. She served as dean of special programs at Modesto Junior College, vice president for student services at Hartnell College for more than 11 years before becoming the first female president of Chabot College in Hayward. Barberena is a member of the Pacific Grove Rotary Club, an ambassador for the PG Chamber of Commerce and a member of the board of directors for the Blind and Visually Impaired Center in Pacific Grove and Palenke Arts in Seaside.

Barberena said the state switched the funding formula for community colleges to rewarding schools that show improvement in its students’ goal completions, which makes it important to guide and suppor t students through prompt graduation and transfer or entrance into the workforce.

“The MPC Board will be hiring a new superintendent/president this year,” she said. “It is important to support, supervise and require of the new leader that he/she encourage, promote and recognize educational practices that contribute to the students’ prompt graduation and transfer or entrance into the workforce.”

In terms of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Barberena said 37% of those who have contracted COV ID - 19 in Monterey County are between 18 and 34 years of age, a primary community college student age. She added that according to the Monterey County Health Depar tment, 78% of those who have contracted the virus in the county are Hispanic.

“Given these circumstances, it is most important that MPC offers all the necessary equipment, training and support to the faculty and staff so that they can offer relevant, effective and fruitful instruction and services to its student body from a distance,” she said. “It is critical to have a datadriven matrix to identify and support students who are successful with the new technologies used and the reasons for it, as well as those who are having difficulty staying on task using the technologies utilized in distance learning and the reasons for that.”

Anthony attended MPC and later became a counselor and instructor at the college, where she worked for nearly 40 years. Anthony ser ved on many committees at the college and was the regional representative for the CTA union. She developed the MPC Transfer Center as its director and served as the college’s articulation officer. She has served on the Natividad hospital board, on the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury, the Monterey County Commission on the Status of Women and has volunteered for the Boys and Girls Club, the Carmel Youth Center and the NA ACP, among other organizations.

Anthony said the passage of Measure V and the follow-through on all items contained in the measure is important for the board.

“The infrastructure of education at MPC must be maintained and developed to meet the current and future needs of student success and in their movement toward survival in their future,” she said.

She said the board must support continued growth in enrollment and recruitment of feeder high schools, support continuing education for faculty and staff and administration and support and develop extended programs and services that serve the community. Anthony said MPC should try to collaborate more with Hartnell, Cabrillo and Gavilan colleges.

A nt hony s a id MPC should follow reopening guidelines and wait until it is safe.

“We need guidelines and agreements from transferring institutions as to the transferability of courses taken online,” she said. “Ma ny four- yea r c a mpuses do not give credit for classes that are taught online especially if the online option is not mentioned in the course description and in the submitted course outline for articulation purposes. Taking community college courses online does not guarantee that a four-year college will accept the same course even if they offer the same course online.”

In A rea 3, retired nurse and former Monterey City Councilwoman Libby Downey is competing against legislative aide Colleen Courtney.

Downey is a retired public health nurse who spent 10 years as the executive director of the Lyceum of Monterey County, worked for five years as a real estate agent, served as the “executor of the person” for elderly people appointed by the Superior Court of Monterey County and served on two separate grand jury panels. She’s currently the vice- chairman of the Natividad hospital board and has served on over 20 boards. Downey spent 12 years on the Monterey City Council and served on many boards and committees in that time including the city’s Parks and Recreation board.

According to Downey, finances are the most important issue the board faces. She said she hopes the bond measure w ill pass to help with updating the infrastructure, computer and IT equipment and also help provide additional classroom space for a greater number of students, which leads to more state funding.

“With COV ID - 19, instruction will be more cha lleng ing a nd more funding is needed to meet that challenge,” she said. “State aid, which heavily contributes to MPC operations, is in a precarious position with the COVID-19 depleting available money. A study of MPC was recently completed stating that in 20 years, it would take $ 70 million just to keep the infrastructure as it is. A very sobering fact.”

In terms of returning to campus during the COVID-19 pandemic, Downey said it should only be done when it is safe. She said the college should have a mandatory mask policy and should stress hand washing and other measures to ensure public health.

“H av i n g s a id that , sooner rather than later would be ideal,” she said. “However, I feel the faculty is doing a super job regarding virtual instruction. Classes have been made available to the faculty to facilitate their virtual online instruction. Lab efforts are online effectively, and all are working hard to make this the best experience possible for the students and well as the faculty.”

Courtney, 27, is a Monterey District field representative for state Sen. Bill Monning. She has served as a board member on the CSUMB Alumni Board and a volunteer commissioner on the Marina Coast Water District Conservation Commission, as well as volunteering with local organizations such as Save Our Shores, Return of the Natives and the Offset Project (now Blue Strike Environmental). She served on the student body at CSU Monterey Bay and has volunteered on Wendy Root Askew’s supervisor campaign and currently serves as an alternate for Monning on the Monterey County Democratic Central Committee.

According to Courtney, the most important issue the board faces is how to support the college during the COVID-19 pandemic while balancing a plan for the future. She said shor t- term priorities include technical support for distance learning and supporting the educational needs and wellbeing of students, staff, and faculty as they adjust to the new college experience.

“The Board needs to hire a permanent president/superintendent to lead MPC during this unprecedented time,” she said. “These short-term priorities have arisen primarily due to COVID, but MPC has already been facing a shortfall in enrollment and outdated classroom facilities. Additionally, community colleges across the state will be facing budget cuts caused by the state budget deficit. The Board will need to find a balance between supporting the students, staff, and faculty and planning for the future when in-person learning is safe again. It is a difficult time where everyone is learning as they go, so it is crucial to be adaptable and meet the needs of the college as they arise.”

In terms of reopening the campuses, Courtney said public health is the most important factor to consider. While the college has been able to provide distance learning Courtney said it should continue to do so until it is safe. She said it down not come without costs.

“There has been a lack of a campus community, many courses being taught online this year may not have been designed to be taught online, and the adjustment to online learning has been especially difficult for students and professors having to modif y the way they learn and teach,” she said. “My stance for reopening the campus is to listen to the state public health officials and follow their protocols for reopening considering public health safety to ensure that everyone on campus stays safe and healthy while communicating with students, staff, and faculty to identify the best ways to support them.”