The three candidates running for the Board of Trustees Area 2 seat debated their various platforms in a candidate forum hosted by the Citrus College Faculty Association Sept. 14.
The candidates Joe Salas, Laura Bollinger and Eric Kaljumagi, all residents of Claremont, are vying for the seat representing the district that comprises Claremont and portions of Pomona and La Verne.
The forum was hosted by CCFA Treasurer and Professor of Political Science Gerhard Peters and CCFA Senate Liaison and Professor of Communications John Fincher. The questions were submitted by the Citrus community.
Salas and Bollinger frequently mentioned their time as students at Citrus while Kaljumagi highlighted his experience assisting administration as a professor for Mt. San Antonio College.
The questions included what programs they would seek to cut if the school loses funding due to the pandemic, how they would meet with union leaders still under active negotiations with the district and if they plan to change the Administration of Justice programs in response to the nationwide calls to reduce, or even eliminate, law enforcement agencies.
All candidates were hesitant to agree to cutting any programs as a result of possible budget cuts in the future. Bollinger asserted the need for reassessing administrative costs while Kaljumagi emphasized going into reserves, or a rainy day fund, and advocating for a reallocation of funds directly in Sacramento. Salas emphasized his experience bargaining for shared sacrifice during the economic downturn of 2008 and encouraged cuts across the board instead of layoffs.
In response to the possibility of meeting with collective bargaining units during active negotiations, Kaljumagi replied that he would still meet with union leaders while Salas asserted that he would rather meet with faculty members individually and informally to listen to their needs instead as it is someone else’s job, the chief negotiator, to meet with union leaders during a collective bargaining agreement negotiation.
Bollinger said that she would prefer to have a good working relationship with faculty prior to negotiations to best understand their needs ahead of time and leave the negotiating up to the district’s chief negotiator, Robert Sammis.
The last question before final statements was if the candidates plan to cut or eliminate Citrus’ security force and training of future police officers through the Administration of Justice program given the recent challenges to law enforcement agencies. Kaljumagi said the short answer is no, further responding by quoting an op-ed he published in a local paper in June.
“We cannot reach our ideal of freedom if we fear our police,” he said. “We need to ensure that they are receiving ongoing training on how to de-escalate situations and evaluations to ensure that the officers are following the training.”
Salas highlighted his experience as a lifeguard and EMT for the city of L.A. “working hand-in-hand with the fire department and law enforcement.” He said he is in favor of defunding the police if it means increasing the support systems so that there are social workers responding with members of law enforcement to situations.
“How incredible would it be if our Academic Senate increased the amount of units towards this Administration of Justice … where they receive diversity training so they can figure out the history of police forces, how they were slave patrols, and how they have clashed with communities of color,” Salas said.
Bollinger wanted to differentiate Citrus from other school security forces as Citrus is a non-armed security force that brings in the Glendora Police Department or Azusa Police Department as needed.
“I would however question the training that they have for mental health situations, how to de-escalate that,” Bollinger said. “The DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) committee has already said they are going to look at curriculum across the board, which includes the Administration of Justice and Criminal Justice courses. This will go a long way in how the police force looks at our college campuses all over the state.”
The next candidate forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. Oct 1, hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Mt. Baldy area. The forum will be held virtually with no audience and uploaded later to their YouTube channel, LWV Mt. Baldy Area President Barbara Nicoll said. The vote for the Area 2 seat will take place on the Nov. 3 ballot.
