Alonso Is Most Qualified Candidate

I yearn for the days when elected officials and community leaders put our country and community before party. The Signal’s failure to endorse Edel Alonso for the College of the Canyons board falls into this category. She is not only the most qualified candidate, as she is only educator on the board, but she also brings many other needed attributes. A former counselor at local high schools and COC, she knows our students, community and COC faculty and classified staff (all of whom have backed her candidacy). Did you even look at her website?

Edel initiates: As founding counselor for MESA, an innovative program designed for minority students planning to go into the math, science, engineering, and / or technology fields, she was responsible for helping students with their educational plan, but she didn’t stop there. She developed and led workshops dealing with financial aid, scholarship searches, completing University of California and California State University applications, and even stress management.

Edel succeeds: She has maintained relationships with many MESA students who are now teachers/professors, engineers, research scientists, nurses, chemists, veterinarians, pharmacists, environmentalists, physicians, architects and many of them, now, loving parents.

Edel is a leader: When word of a possible active shooter on campus reached the packed board room in January 2019, the chancellor and board members decided to continue with business as usual. Not until Trustee Alonso alerted the board and administrators that they were not following protocol did then-board-president Mike Berger suggest the lights be turned off and windows covered. It was Edel who also noted the distress among attendees and went into the gallery to listen and console.

Edel’s propensity for fairness, her dedication and willingness to fight for everything COC represents is unparalleled. Why, oh why, wouldn’t you endorse the most qualified candidate? Why should I trust any of your endorsements when your bias is so blatant?

Ruth Baker Valencia