Merced College board trustees draw challengers

After a tumultuous year that saw controversy at Merced College, two board of trustee incumbents have drawn competitors looking to unseat them.

Areas 2, 3 and 6 are up for election in November. While Jean Upton is running unopposed in Area 6, which generally covers Chowchilla, three challengers have entered the races for areas 2 and 3.

Incumbent Gary Arzamendi, who has been on the board for four years, will face off with newcomer Ernie Ochoa for Area 2, which generally covers Atwater. Wayne Hicks, the incumbent for Area 3, is running for a second term against challengers L. Carmen Ramirez and Alice Berger Contreras for the area that covers north Merced, McSwain and Snelling.

Arzamendi, who teaches sixth grade at Joe Stefani Elementary, described himself as a “lifetime educator.” He said he’s proud of the college’s effort to improve options for veterans at Merced College, as well as increase the college’s presence on high school campuses.

“We actually take counselors and folks from our college into the high schools, and we actually register our students before they graduate from high school,” the 54-year-old said. “We have done that successfully for two years now.”

He also noted he was on the board while the college regained its full accreditation, which took a number of steps by college leaders. The college was on warning status from 2011 to 2013 from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

While students remain the college’s highest priority, Arzamendi said, the next board will be looking at hiring a new college president. “Leadership is the biggest issue I believe we face right now,” he said.

Former President Ron Taylor was placed on leave in January, and interim President Susan Walsh has been the head of the college since then. The board gave no explanation for why Taylor was placed on leave.

Arzamendi, who has family ties to Walsh, added he would look to ramp up the college’s efforts on high school campuses.

Ochoa, 44, a real estate agent with London Properties in Atwater, said he grew up in Hopeton and graduated from Atwater High in 1991. He completed an associate’s degree at Merced College.

“I believe the board needs new faces, new diversity and a refocus on students,” he said, adding he can bring a businessman’s perspective to the board.

People in the community see the “drama” happening at Merced College, he said, so the school could benefit from a cleaner image.

The college made headlines during the summer for a public dust-up between Walsh and Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke, who said the president tried to “strong-arm” those that disagreed with her.

“I definitely want to improve the environment and camaraderie for both faculty and students at Merced College,” Ochoa said. “And, I also want to focus on a good relationship between the UC and our junior college.”

The college could also do a better job of communicating with Area 2 on what it has to offer in classes and technical training, he said.

Area 3

Hicks, who has served one term on the board, also touted the college’s effort to regain full accreditation. The 74-year-old retired from the college, where he taught technical training classes.

While serving the board, Hicks has been part of the committee that audits the college’s finances and negotiates the school’s insurance. Both committees have improved the school’s finances in recent years, he said.

The college has also improved its incident rate related to workers’ compensation, which is another savings, he said.

The focus of the next board is going to be finding a permanent president, he said. “We need to get a full-time, competent president that is going to be a good match to the college, and a good match to the surrounding areas,” he said. “That’s a big chore in itself.”

Hicks said he would also like to focus on adding buildings to the Los Banos Campus. “That’s a long drive, and some of the classes we can’t offer over there,” he said. “It’s tough on our students to have to drive almost an hour both (ways).”

One of his opponents has something of a unique connection to Merced College. Ramirez, 40, said she knew as a small child she wanted to attend Merced College, because it was in an English class there that her parents met. They had both emigrated from Mexico but did not speak English.

“Merced College has been a part of my life from even before I was born,” she said.

A graduate of Merced High in 1994, Ramirez passed through the Merced College halls before getting a bachelor’s degree from UCLA. An attorney who started her own business in 2010, she also attended San Joaquin College of Law.

Ramirez said she can bring the consistency the college needs to clear its recent tumultuous history surrounding accreditation and head-butting among board members. “(It’s important) that the community college appear and be stable to the outside, not only our community, but to the state,” she said.

Ramirez, who also works as an administrative law judge, has served on the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Her experience could allow her to bring “fairness” and “transparency” to the college board, she said.

Area 3’s third candidate, Berger Contreras, has been in Merced since 1977. She attended Merced College, got a bachelor’s in business administration and accounting, and 30 years ago opened her accounting firm in Merced.

“I have time now to give back to the community, and I see all this stuff going on in the paper,” the 60-year-old said. “I say to myself, ‘You know, these people could use some help.’ ”

After a controversial letter to the board in February, the board hired a private investigator to look for fingerprints on the letter and its envelope, a Merced Sun-Star investigation found.

As an accountant, Berger Contreras said, she could bring budgeting and teamwork skills to the board. She said she also has experience on governing boards, such as those of Friends of the Merced County Fair and Club Mercedes.

She said Merced College is an affordable school to use for higher education and it could be a better tool to raise the education level in the city.

“I want to see this college thrive and get in coordination with UC Merced,” she said. “I don’t want them to be the underdog because UC Merced is here.”

In a letter to the Sun-Star, the Merced College Faculty Association endorsed Ochoa for Area 2 and Ramirez for Area 3.

Election Day is Nov. 8.

This story was originally published October 10, 2016 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Merced College board trustees draw challengers."