Election brings financial windfall, leadership change to SRJC

In one election, Santa Rosa Junior College’s future changed dramatically.

On Tuesday, voters approved a $410 million bond measure, the largest in Sonoma County history, to renovate outdated structures and erect new buildings on the college’s 100-year-old Santa Rosa campus, as well as its four other locations.

“The future is very bright for the JC,” President Frank Chong said Wednesday.

But in an election night stunner that few political observers expected, voters ousted old-guard incumbents Kathleen Doyle, Don Zumwalt and Bob Burdo from the college’s Board of Trustees. Collectively, the trio had nearly 60 years of service on the board.

Maggie Fishman of Penngrove, Dorothy Battenfeld of Santa Rosa and Jordan Burns of Sebastopol were elected to fill their seats on the seven-member board, which will play a pivotal role in deciding how to spend the bond money. Board President Jeff Kunde was re-elected in an uncontested race.

While stopping short of pledging to use union labor on campus construction projects funded with bond money, the three challengers all agreed to consider the concept - something a previous board had rejected. Their campaigns included similar platforms and backing from groups such as the Sonoma County Democratic Party and North Bay Labor Council, giving some the impression of a coordinated effort. However, each candidate said they chose to run independently.

“It’s a long time coming,” Burns said. “There’s a lot that’s changed over the past three decades. It turned into a stagnant board that needed revitalized energy, and I think that was the push from a lot of these groups” that supported the three challengers.

David McCuan, a Sonoma State University political scientist, said a number of factors led to the challengers’ victory. That included increased voter interest in the race because of the bond measure, the appeal of an alternative to “entrenched” incumbents, and the fact that the challengers were able to communicate well with voters.

“This is very much a surprising result that not one or two got picked off but that all three (incumbents) were swept up,” McCuan said.

Doyle, Zumwalt and Burdo did not respond to calls seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.

Kunde said he couldn’t think of another time there had been such change on the board.

“I think there will be challenges, but I think in the end we’ll come out with the best plan we can. We have smart people with a lot of knowledge that will embrace our new trustees and maybe a different way of looking at things,” Kunde said.

Chong said he was committed to having “an orderly transition” with the new board members.

“I’m looking forward to working with the three new trustees, and at the same time I feel a debt of gratitude to the three that are outgoing,” he said. “On a personal level, you get to know people. It’s tough (when they go), but that’s democracy. As a president, you have to be prepared for whoever the public wants you to work with.”

Battenfeld and Fishman have both worked as high school teachers in Santa Rosa; Burns was a former student trustee at SRJC and now runs a children’s nonprofit. They campaigned on bringing new blood and decision-making to a board that has seen little turnover, as well as a promise to represent a broader swath of the community, increase transparency and hone the board’s focus on campus sustainability.

Fishman said she first set her mind on running four years ago, motivated by her personal experience attending the junior college and her involvement with the Petaluma campus.

“I think there was a sense of a need for new blood, new ideas, new kinds of discussions,” she said. “Also, people liked the idea of having educators on the board.”

Battenfeld agreed. “I think people appreciated the fact that I’m currently a teacher and understand some of the challenges in education,” she said. Among other things, she said, the junior college is serving a growing number of older, disabled and Latino students. “Education is changing and the JC needs to make some changes to serve students better,” Battenfeld said.

Another factor in the election was whether or not the board should approve project labor agreements, which would require union rules and benefits on certain campus construction projects. The matter came up during the spending of the college’s first bond in 2002, and at the time the board rejected the idea. During this year’s election, labor groups asked candidates if they would support such agreements in spending the new $410 million bond. None committed to approving such a deal, but Battenfeld, Fishman and Burns all said they’d be open to considering it.

“We’re thrilled,” said Lisa Maldonado, executive director of the North Bay Labor Council. “We went from having a board that absolutely wasn’t interested in hearing from the general public - and labor in particular - to a board with an open mind that will look at local hire issues and skilled apprenticeships.”

Kunde said Wednesday he’d also be willing to revisit the issue of project labor agreements. “We’re not going to be closed-minded about it,” he said.

The challengers’ active campaigns may have caught the incumbents off guard, said Bleys Rose, spokesman for the Sonoma County Democratic Party. The party published mailers and organized people to walk precincts in support of the three challengers.

The new board members will be less accepting of the status quo at the junior college, Rose predicted. The challengers spoke about a need for increased transparency and debate at board meetings, greater community outreach and increased enrollment, among other things. They also said they will prioritize redistricting. Doing so, they say, could help improve diversity on the board and make it easier for challengers to be elected.

“I think there’s going to be sharper questioning of policies that have been long-standing at the institution,” Rose said.

Now, Chong will turn his attention to crafting a bond implementation plan that he hopes to present to the college’s Board of Trustees for consideration within the next couple months. Some of the college’s top priorities for bond spending include creating new science and general education buildings, adding a science wing to the Petaluma campus, adding more classrooms at Shone Farm, and expanding classrooms at the Public Safety Center in Windsor.

Chong attributed the bond’s success to the college’s reach and respect in Sonoma County, where roughly 27,000 local students attend SRJC each semester to work toward a college degree and get job training.

“Now we have resources to equip students and instructors with the facilities and technology that will match the talents and aspirations of students,” he said.