College board members declare re-election bids
Joan MacGregor, Mike Berger set sights on November
Multiple members on the College of the Canyons Board of Trustees have declared their bids for re-election in the upcoming election.
Member Joan MacGregor stated Tuesday she intends to include her name on the November ballot, while Vice President Mike Berger held his official campaign kickoff event last Thursday at The Dudes’ Brewing Company.
“I think the college is doing so many exciting things,” MacGregor said, speaking on the new Science Center at the Canyon Country campus and the parking structure at the Valencia campus. “I’m looking forward to overseeing the expenditure of the bond measures that were recently passed.”
MacGregor added this year will be the first time the two board members have had to campaign in a district, rather than running an at-large campaign.
The Santa Clarita Community College District, which operates College of the Canyons, changed the method by which members of the Board of Trustees were elected beginning in 2016. The district changed its election system after its election practices were challenged in a lawsuit under the California Voting Rights Act.
The lawsuit was settled, and the terms of the settlement mandated that the district change the way its elections were conducted. As a result, the Santa Clarita Community College District implemented by-trustee area elections, meaning members of the board were to now be elected to represent specific areas.
In addition to implementing by-trustee areas, the district eliminated the numberedseat trustee election system and moved its elections from oddnumber years to even-number years.
Berger, who represents Area 1, and MacGregor, the representative for Area 5, said the new election rules won’t have an effect on their campaign.
“I’m looking forward to revisiting my connections with the community in the months ahead,” Berger said on his campaign site. “It’s an exciting opportunity to gather feedback to help guide the future of the community college that has made us all so proud.”
MacGregor added that she planned to talk to everybody she runs into, no matter what district they may reside in.
“I have done it for the 40 years I’ve lived here,” she added. “Nothing is more important than getting out and listening to what people believe could be improved on campus.”