Five in Running to fill Seat on College Board

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press February 14, 2001

By Julie M. Drake
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER – Antelope Valley College trustees whittled a list of 15 candidates to five Monday night as they continued their search to fill a board seat left vacant by the unexpected death of Wayne Woodhall on Jan. 1.

The final five are Helen Acosta, Isaac Barcelona, Steve Buffalo, Jack Seefus and Leon Swain, who will be interviewed by trustees during a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20.

After the interviews, the board is expected to appoint the new trustee.

Those not making the cut were Mike Green, Deborah Herrera, Timothy Jaworski, Felix LeMarinel, Michael McAndrew, Bill Moore, Gary Riley, Richard Skidmore, Michael Lemos and Dorine Foster.

Acosta, a former two-term trustee on the Palmdale School District board, failed to retain her post in the November 1999 election. She was criticized for her voted to retain the district’s embattled public relations director, Diana Beard-Williams, despite a list of 21 charges of misconduct against Beard-Williams.

Barcelona, director of the office of community information and public relations for the Palmdale district, is a longtime Valley leader who co-founded the Antelope Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is its immediate past president.

His last run at public office came in November, when he ran for a seat on the Antelope Valley Union High School District board. It was Barcelona’s first try for elected office; he lost by 1,000 votes, garnering more than 46% of the vote.

Buffalo, Palmdale’s special events manager, ran for an AV College board of trustees seat in 1999, finishing third in a field of four candidates despite endorsements from the college’s three employee unions, and the support of the mayors of Lancaster and Palmdale. He is known for his fund-raising efforts on behalf of the college.

Seefus is president of the Antelope Valley Bank.

Swain, Palmdale’s deputy director of Public Works, formerly served on the Westside School District board.

The process used to select the candidates Monday night was a combination of methods that have been used at other community colleges, board President Michael R. Adams said.

Adams said the board asked other college districts to send information on the process those boards have used in the past. Trustees used information from other districts to develop their selection process, he said.

Monday’s process began by putting candidates’ names in a bowl. Each name was drawn at random, and Adams then asked if any board member would like to nominate that candidate.

In order to reach the interview stage, one member had to nominate the candidate; another had to second the nomination; and at least three members had to vote for that person. All  of the finalists but Acosta received a unanimous vote.

Acosta was chosen on a 3-1 vote, Adams dissenting.

The five finalists will have an opportunity to review a list of the board’s questions an hour before the 6 p.m. meeting starts. The order in which applicants are interviewed will be drawn at random.

After the interviews are complete, members of the public will have an opportunity to address the board for up to three minutes each.

Selection of the new trustee will be similar to the interview selection process, with a board member having to nominate an applicant and another member seconding the nomination. Board members then will vote on applicants who receive nominations and seconds.

If any applicant receives three or more votes, that person will be designated as the new trustee.

Woodhall, the board’s newly elected vice president, died Jan. 1 during an accident at his home; he had just begun the second year of his four-year term.