Bret England, Don Wolfe and Gagan Singh are looking toward other avenues of public service, while Jeff Schwartz, Jack Lucas and Kevin Moore are turning toward involvement in the district's future.

As the two new candidates on board, Lucas and Moore are anxious to bring new life to the district. Both are socially minded and keen on improving inner-board relations and methods while drumming up support for the district, which has historically been lacking.

Lucas, who took the second most votes in District 1 with a total of 25,700 (26.2 percent), is excited about his political switch from his position as Monte Sereno mayor to that of WVMCCD board member.

"I am very happy to have been elected," Lucas said. "I am so appreciative of the support I got."

The first item on Lucas' agenda is to look at past objectives of the board and to align them with current objectives. He would like to review the budget, focusing on funding sources and how they might be improved. "It is going to take an effort, but I'm absolutely ready to focus," he said. Lucas said he looks forward to working with board members and hopes he can lend his political savvy to improving the board's reputation.

"I think the image of the board is slightly tarnished," Lucas said. "I want to use my experience to help improve the image of the board for the community, the citizens and the students we serve."

Moore, who finished first in District 2 by winning 39,130 votes (69.6 percent), is anxious to begin work within the district as well. As one of the youngest board members, Moore is "looking forward to any advice, especially from people like [Jack Lucas] who want the board to be united."

Moore's key focus is to quell the "in-fighting brought by the Schwartz camp" and to "hopefully put those issues behind us and move on to a fresh start." Moore believes both community colleges are "excellent schools." He said, "We can't let that kind of behavior continue. Let's get back to students. We need to stop the negativity on the board—it's time to work as a team."

In addition, Moore would like to see increased support for women's sports and to ensure better transferability of class credit.

Incumbent Schwartz has served two terms as a trustee and is knowledgeable of the difficulties facing community colleges—particularly those of the WVMCCD, which at times lacks community support and falls prey to troubled inner-district relationships.

Although he "feels badly" for the loss of his two co-slate members, Schwartz says he is fully ready to serve out another term.

He would like to further discuss "serious issues" that were brought up by him while previously on the board and during campaigning. Issues such as financial mismanagement, financial accountability, Measure E-stadium woes and poor board behavior have all ranked high on Schwartz' to-do list.

Those who lost the election were understandably disappointed, however each has already begun to sketch out alternative avenues to support their community.

Outgoing board member Wolfe feels satisfied with the work he has done for the district. Although he is openly upset that Schwartz was reelected, Wolfe is ready to spend his full attention on current work for the Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. He is also considering working for adoption advocacy, which stems from his personal experience.

"Adoption, to us, was the most glorious experience any married couple could have had," Wolfe said of himself and his wife. "I think advocating that would be a great way to spend one's time."

Although England was unhappy with election results, he was not entirely disheartened. England said he is pleased for co-slate member Schwartz and is happy to continue his involvement with his career and church. Prior to election, England was an active resident and vocal attendee at board meetings. He hopes to continue this involvement as well.

"A lot can be done on a volunteer basis," England said. "I hope the district will allow me to help out in that way."

As a student trustee representing Mission College, co-slate member Singh will still have the opportunity to be an active participant in the district, despite his election loss.

The future is still "up in the air" for Singh, who is considering running for student representative once this current term is up in six months or possibly taking a leave from his engineering career and going on to law school.

"The election was run well, and there is nothing I can complain about," Singh said. "I came out learning quite a lot overall. It was just a great learning experience."