Laura Bollinger leads the race for the Area 2 Board of Trustees seat in the Nov. 3 election. The Area 2 seat represents Claremont and parts of Pomona and La Verne.
The three candidates running for the position are Bollinger, Eric Kaljumagi and Joseph Salas, all from Claremont. As of 4:25 p.m. Nov. 6, Bollinger has 45% of the vote while Salas is in second place at 29% and Kaljumagi has 26%.
With the election for the Area 2 seat, the last position on the Board of Trustees has been secured. Mary Ann Lutz ran unopposed for the Area 5 seat and Anthony Contreras was appointed in a provisional position to the Area 1 seat by the board on Oct. 6. Beginning next semester the board will have three new members.
“I just knew that I wanted to work hard the whole race, and I did that,” Bollinger said. “It was interesting to have the conversation with voters to educate them on the position and get their input.”
The Board of Trustees is the largest governing body for the school, establishing policies and approving educational plans while advocating for the college in their district. This year the board unanimously approved a request to the County of Los Angeles for a bond election, Measure Y, requesting $298 million for improvements on campus. The measure has been tentatively approved by voters this week.
While the winner has not been certified yet, Salas has conceded his position.
“A final thanks to Trustee-Elect Laura Bollinger and candidate Eric Kaljumagi,” Salas said in a Nov. 5 Facebook post. “Both Laura and Eric made me a better candidate on numerous issues. We sparred at times, we complimented each other’s ideas and all had a united love for Citrus College.”
Bollinger was the first to enter the race and received the endorsement of the current Area 2 Trustee, Sue Keith. Kaljumagi said he believes Keith’s endorsement was one of two large advantages.
“Unfortunately, Joe and I are similar,” Kaljumagi said, reflecting on the race. “We tend to appeal to the same set of folks, so we kind of split that vote. His entering the race was a disaster to me. He pulled his papers and filed on the very last day possible, and when I discovered it I was like, ‘Oh no. This is not good.’ And so it wasn’t.”
Kaljumagi said he probably wouldn’t run for the position again while Salas said he would consider it highly.
“The issues that I advocated for are issues that are important to the community,” Salas said. “The idea of building housing for students experiencing homelessness, I’m still going to advocate for that. Just because I didn’t get elected doesn’t mean my advocacy for Citrus College will end.”
While the competition was intense, the candidates were united in one goal: to raise awareness for Citrus and its opportunities during their campaign.
“I really think that this race was really good for Citrus and for Claremont, because there were three advocates in our community for Citrus,” Bollinger said. “We don’t often talk about Citrus College in our community as we have for the last three months.”
