Six Candidates Seek Three Pasadena City College Board Seats in Tuesday’s Election

Voters in three Pasadena City College trustee areas are choosing Tuesday among six candidates for the Board that governs the Pasadena Area Community College District. Area 1 is an open seat, and challengers face incumbents in Areas 3 and 5.

The District ordered elections for four of the Board’s seven seats: Areas 1, 3, 5 and 7. Area 7 Trustee Alton Wang was the only candidate to file for his seat, and is not on the ballot.

The Board sets college policy, adopts the District’s annual budget, approves District spending and property acquisitions, and approves the employment of academic and classified staff, according to PCC. Voters in each trustee area elect one trustee to a four-year term.

Area 1

Area 1 includes La Cañada Flintridge and West Pasadena. Trustee Sandra Chen Lau, who holds the seat, is not a candidate.

Geoff Baum is listed by the County as an educator and nonprofit executive. In his ballot statement, he wrote that he served three terms as a PCC trustee, twice as board president, and later as president of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. According to LAist, he began his career teaching high school English and has held leadership roles at the University of Southern California and Claremont McKenna College.

Baum wrote that he is committed to training the carpenters, electricians, welders and building inspectors who will rebuild neighborhoods after the Eaton Fire. He also listed zero-cost textbooks, stronger transfer pathways and “careful oversight of every bond and tax dollar.” Students, he wrote, “need classes that fit their shifts, textbooks that cost nothing, and counselors who help.”

Francis Pollara is listed by the County as a businessman and city commissioner. In his ballot statement, he describes himself as a lifelong District resident, PCC alumnus and business and economic development leader. He wrote that he chairs the La Cañada Flintridge Sustainability and Resilience Commission and serves on the Board of the YMCA of the Foothills and the advisory council of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator. He also describes himself to LAist as a former entrepreneur-in-residence with the City of Los Angeles.

“Pasadena City College was a big part of my academic journey and the opportunities I found there shaped my future,” Pollara wrote. He wrote that as a trustee he would expand career education, embrace new technology that improves learning, strengthen partnerships with local employers and support transfer pathways, while ensuring “every taxpayer dollar is managed responsibly.”

Area 3

Area 3 includes Northwest Pasadena and part of southwest Altadena, along with PCC Northwest on the John Muir High School campus.

David Coher is listed by the County as a city commission member and businessman. He wrote in his ballot statement that he began at a community college, which he told LAist was Long Beach City College, then transferred on scholarship to the University of Southern California and earned a law degree from Georgetown. He works as a mediator and has served on the Pasadena Planning Commission, the Pasadena Board of Zoning Appeals and the 2021 Pasadena Redistricting Task Force, according to his statement.

“Pasadena City College is a door we must keep open. I walked through one like it,” Coher wrote. He wrote that he would measure affordability by the full cost of attending, including books, transportation, food and housing, expand career training that leads to good jobs and insist on “transparent budgets and plain answers to taxpayers.”

Steve Gibson, the incumbent and current board president, has held the Area 3 seat since 2022. His ballot statement says he earned an associate degree at PCC in 2010, then a master’s in communications and a Ph.D. in education, and that PCC “changed his life.” It says his family lost their home in the Eaton Fire and chose to stay and rebuild.

The statement says Gibson fought to strengthen PCC Northwest, expand career and workforce training and keep college affordable and accessible, and that he championed PCC’s recovery efforts, including establishing the construction trades lab and fire academy.

“It has been the honor of my life to serve this community. There is more work to do,” Gibson said in the statement.

Area 5

Area 5 includes South Pasadena and San Marino.

Kristine E. Kwong, the incumbent, lists her occupation as attorney in her ballot statement; PCC’s trustee biography describes her as an education lawyer and a long-term South Pasadena resident. She wrote that she has championed the expansion of dual enrollment, which lets high school students earn college credit, and supported career education programs. After the Eaton Fire, she wrote, she worked to make PCC part of the recovery by supporting workforce training. She also wrote that she has invested in modern classrooms, upgraded technology and campus improvements.

“I believe strong colleges are built through collaboration,” Kwong wrote. She added that she has prioritized partnerships with faculty, staff, students and community members and has worked to create a campus culture where “every voice is valued.”

Jennifer Thompson is listed by the County as a media marketing executive. In her ballot statement, she wrote that South Pasadena has been her family’s home for 25 years and that she graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, before spending more than 30 years in media, a career she wrote taught her “the importance of listening, asking questions, collaborating with others, and making informed decisions.”

Thompson has written that her first responsibility is to better understand enrollment and what students need. She also wrote that she would ensure taxpayer money is used as intended, keep the public informed of progress and work to strengthen the college’s ability to compete for grants, partnerships and private support. “As your Trustee, I will advocate for students, parents, employers, and community members throughout our district,” she wrote in her statement.

Area 7

Wang, a civil rights lawyer first elected in 2022, represents the area served by the Arcadia Unified School District, according to PCC. In responses to LAist’s survey, he listed priorities including student access, the aftermath of the Eaton Fire and investment in college facilities, including a new campus in Rosemead that he wrote the District is beginning to build.

Also on the ballot

District voters are also deciding Measure UP, a facilities measure the PCC Board placed on the ballot that would authorize $485 million in bonds for building repairs and career training facilities. Voters approved Measure PCC, a $565 million facilities bond, in November 2022.

Vote centers are open until 8 p.m. under the District’s election order. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk is conducting the election.