The San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees held its first meeting of the year, covering several topics including the interview process for the next trustee to replace Sean Elo-Rivera, who was elected to the San Diego City Council in November, and an update on the search for the new chancellor.

In the meeting that was live-streamed on YouTube on Jan. 28, Trustee Mary Graham said having the board use an interview process instead of a public election like in previous years has important benefits.

“Unfortunately the cost of a public election is exorbitant in a time where we already have fiscal challenges,” Graham said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4_hDwtcuDM&t=6608s

The interviews for the candidates will be today at 1 p.m. Each of the candidates will be allowed five minutes to make a statement and then the last five minutes will be allocated to trustee questions. This process will be live-streamed on YouTube here.

The board is inviting the public to express opinions and suggestions about the process by emailing [email protected].

Elo-Rivera is not the only district official that must be replaced. Constance Carroll, who has been chancellor since 2004, announced that she will be retiring in June.

Graham and Trustee Bernie Rhinerson, in addition to 20 campus community members, sat on the search committee for the new chancellor. They handed their recommendations to the full board already and will be holding a forum for input on Feb. 22.

The Jan. 28 meeting wasn’t focused only on replacements. Carroll approved of the continued work of the district’s Police Review Task Force, which she said has made a great deal of progress.

The task force was created last fall in response to nationwide efforts to address police reform.

“It is moving in a collegial and supportive manner,” Carroll said. “I am very impressed.”

City College has added four new certificate programs, three of them dedicated to the communication studies field, business, health, and voice and performance. The fourth is a graphic design fundamentals certificate.

Concerns were also voiced during the questions section about district youth and child care programs still being remote. 

“I think everyone wants the (campus’ Child Development Centers) to reopen,” Carroll said. “Everyone wants the campuses to reopen. The issue is when will it be safe to do so.”

Five audits were conducted by external auditors looking into SDCCD’s financials. Syed Farhan, one of the external auditors, said reports on those audits have been shared with the board.