44 apply for board post

Michael Miller

The Coast Community College District has 44 candidates to choose from

as it seeks to replace former trustee Paul Berger.

Berger, a Coast Community College District trustee since 1987,

died in January from lung cancer at the age of 82.

At the board’s meeting on Wednesday, the four trustees agreed to

public interviews with candidates at the district offices on March

18. This week, to narrow the field, each trustee will read all 44

applications and select five favorites. All the candidates named will

make a two- to three-minute presentation at the March 18 meeting, and

then take questions from the board.

The board has until March 30 to make a provisional appointment.

Member George Brown described his ideal replacement candidate as

“somebody like Berger.”

Eligible citizens had until Wednesday to submit applications to

replace him. Donna Waldfogel, the board’s secretary, said 14

candidates applied on the final day.

Originally, the board had planned for a special subcommittee,

consisting of Brown and board president Walt Howald, to examine the

applications and reduce them to eight. However, after complaints by

board member Jerry Patterson and two local officials, the board

agreed to distribute all 44 applications to each trustee.

“We’re looking at a three-page thing to read, basically,”

Patterson said at the meeting. “I think every board member should

take it upon himself to review them all.”

Shannon Wilson, the executive director for the Coast Federation of

Educators, asked the board not to narrow the applicant pool unless

every member got to review all the applications. Diana Sharp, the

president of the Coast Federation of Classified Employees, also said

she was against reducing the candidates so drastically.

Ultimately, board members agreed that each would submit five names

to Waldfogel by today, with only Patterson voting against the motion,

saying that he would rather submit a longer list.

At the meeting on March 18, starting at 9 a.m., the board will

devote about 15 minutes to each candidate. Members said they were

hoping to fit all the interviews into a single day.

“I’m delighted by the number of applications we received -- not

surprised, but delighted,” Howald said. “I think we have a pool that

should allow us to make a credible choice.”

The Coast Community College District consists of three community

colleges, including Orange Coast College.

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at michael.miller@latimes.com.