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Incumbents were strongly ahead in all four races to serve on the Board of Trustees for the Los Angeles Community College District, according to election results on Wednesday.
Andra Hoffman (Seat 1), David Vela (Seat 3), Nichelle M. Henderson (Seat 5) and Kelsey Iino (Seat 7) were poised to retain their seats on the seven-member board, emerging far ahead in races packed with newcomers.
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On Wednesday they outlined priorities for the nine-campus district, including pledges to promote initiatives that help to meet students’ basic needs and boost job opportunities. The board is also embarking a search for the next system chancellor.
The Board of Trustees seats are at large, which means all voters in the nearly 900-square-mile district chose a candidate for each seat. Members are not elected to represent specific geographic areas and candidates chose the seats they ran for. Reelected board members start their new terms in January and serve for four years. There are no board term limits. There was no primary, and the person who receives the most votes in each race is the winner.
The incumbents have all worked in the education system. Hoffman serves as the director of the transfer center, career services and student employment at Glendale Community College. Vela was previously on the board of the Montebello Unified School District. Henderson is a Fresno State faculty advisor and clinical field supervisor with the CalStateTEACH teacher preparation program. Iino is counselor and faculty member at El Camino College.
The 12 candidates in the L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees election include activists, former and current faculty and staff members, and incumbent trustees.
In an email to The Times, Hoffman said she was “gratified that the voters have chosen to give me the opportunity to continue my work in education on behalf of the students and staff of our district. Education has been my life’s calling and I look forward to meeting the challenge of providing greater educational opportunities for all those in our community.”
Elected in 2015, Hoffman is one of the longest serving members of the board. Another board member whose seat was not up for election, Steve Veres, has served since 2011 with a two-year gap from 2015 to 2017.
Vela said in an email he would “continue fighting for students’ basic needs” and “ensuring they have the resources and support they need to succeed. I am equally committed to preparing them for the future, equipping them with the skills and opportunities to thrive in their careers.”
Henderson, the current board president, said she was “looking forward to another four years on the board and working on initiatives we have going on workforce opportunities and increasing enrollment.” Referring to the presidential election win for Donald Trump, who has spoken frequently about a number of changes to education, Henderson said that she would also focus on “maintaining funding for the programs that we currently have.”
Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez will step down Nov. 2 amid faculty tensions, lawsuits and other controversies.
Iino, who has been a trustee since 2022, said she was thankful for “voters’ confidence” in her. She said it was a “privilege to advocate for public education, our students and community in this trustee role, especially during these critical times.” Earlier she told The Times that her priorities included “offering affordable/free education, addressing housing and food insecurities for students” and “improving enrollment and retention.”
The district faces a myriad of challenges, including turnover in system leadership.
The current board met Wednesday and approved the appointment of Alberto J. Román as interim chancellor for the district. He will leave his position as president of East Los Angeles College and start in the new districtwide role Thursday.
Román would replace Francisco Rodriguez, who led the district for a decade and announced in August that he would step down Nov. 2, roughly a year into a four-year contract renewal.
Rodriguez and the board have also faced other hurdles, including criticism from faculty members, several of whom have filed civil lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and retaliation. In May, the Academic Senate voted no confidence in the chancellor and board. Faculty leaders have also called for an overhaul of how the system responds to sexual harassment.
The district’s Academic Senate is demanding the district improve efforts to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination by conducting timely and impartial investigations, and taking disciplinary actions if violations are found.
Trustees are paid $2,000 per month. The total district enrollment of 194,000 students is recovering from pre-pandemic levels in 2019-2020, when 210,445 students studied at the district’s nine campuses.
Data from a 2022 survey showed that about 75% of L.A. Community College District students were people of color while 64% had lower incomes, 53% lived at or below the federal poverty line, and 22% were enrolled in public assistance programs. Many students are in their mid-20s and go to school part-time while juggling work and family responsibilities.
