Saratoga News WV-Mission board hopefuls face off at candidates forum By Sarah Lombardo Stability--both financial and administrative--was a key issue raised by candidates for the West Valley-Mission Community College District at a candidates forum at Saratoga High School Oct. 22. The forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, featured candidates from both colleges' trustee areas answering questions taken from an audience of about 20 people. Only four of the race's seven candidates showed up, however, including current Saratoga Mayor Don Wolfe and resident Jeff Schwartz--both running for two open seats in the district's Trustee Area 1. Los Gatos resident and San Jose attorney Doug Allen, who is also a candidate for Trustee Area 1, was unable to attend the forum because of a court conflict. Incumbent Nancy Rucker and Earl Carmichael, both candidates for one seat in Trustee Area 2, were also in attendance. All four candidates agreed that the district board's first goal should be to seek new leadership. Mission College, located in Santa Clara, and the district both currently have acting leaders, neither of whom have shown interest in staying in the positions permanently. The candidates' sentiment was that recruiting new and hopefully stable leadership would have to be done in order to accomplish other goals. Schwartz added that board members should seek people who would be able to do more than just manage the district. "We need leaders, not necessarily, first and foremost, managers," he said. In the way of finances and how the board might go about securing more funding for the district, candidates' responses ran the gamut from furthering relationships with Silicon Valley firms to posing a possible bond issue to voters for capital improvements. But all the candidates agreed that, financially, the district was doing well, so much so that several ideas for new or increased programs were suggested. Wolfe said he'd like to see the district update its curriculum, focusing on classes that would make community college students more competitive in the local job market. "We need to make sure that we are keeping up with the needs of Silicon Valley," he said. Wolfe said he also wants to increase the number of outreach programs for area seniors and bring back programs that were cut when the district's finances were not so soft. "The fastest growing element in our community is seniors," Wolfe said. "And I think we need to address that." One subject on which candidates did not agree was the issue of a stadium at West Valley College. Current board member Rucker said the district and West Valley officials had no intention of building a stadium, only permanent seating for football game attendees so that the school would no longer have to carry out and set up chairs before each game--and would no longer have to hold its home games at other schools. Wolfe said the school should be able to make use of its facilities. "The field needs to have some use," he said, but added that a stadium was not something he could support. Carmichael, though admitting he knew little of the stadium issue, also said the school and residents should be able to reach a compromise. Schwartz disagreed, saying that the original use permit for the college forbade any seating or formal sporting events on what was supposed to be a practice field. He said the school should be held to its promise. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, October 28, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.