Incumbent Fernando Sandoval is facing challenger Debra Vinson in the race for the Ward 5 seat in the Contra Costa Community College Governing Board. The governing board runs the college district and decides on budgetary spending, other policies, and inclusivity. Sandoval won the 2020 election, unseating former board member Greg Erehorn, and Vinson is running for the first time and is challenging him for his job.
Sandavol is running for reelection because he wants to work with students and their families.
“I’m running to continue to reach out to make those families successful and better for our Contra Costa Community,” he said.
He also wants to provide more information about colleges to underrepresented communities.
“There’s a lot of people that don’t even know that the colleges exist, what kind of programs are out there, and we have to do a better job of reaching out to the families,” said Sandoval, who pursued a career in educational politics after being inspired by the civil rights movements of his time.
“Women’s movement was going on,” Sandoval said, “And me, I looked at labour and social justice. I knew education was a path for economic empowerment. So, education is about the economic environment.”
Through working with the military as an infantryman fighting in the Vietnam War. Sandoval accumulated cultural wisdom from his travels in the military, which helped him gain a nuanced worldview.
“But when I got out, I was able to work with people from all over the country,” Sandoval said,
“I got to know people from various ethnicities, various races, and it gave me a perspective of how to work with people better.”
Eventually, in 2016, he was asked to run for the community college governing board, and despite losing that first election, he learned a lot.
“I didn’t win, but I came close. I got over 40% of the vote, which surprised a lot of people, so after that, I went ahead and did some work at LMC where I did some workshops.”
He primarily focused on narrowing the gap in education and educational opportunities for students and families. Eventually, he became part of the college district.
“And then I was hired by the college district to be on the district’s Equal Employment Opportunity Committee,” Sandoval said.
If he is reelected, Sandoval will institute many changes, starting with cultivating the Institutional Effectiveness Plan, which helps sustain student success and retention.
“I want to help support our new IEP plan,” he said. “I think that you still have a lot of students who drop out of college after the first year. Seventy percent of the students are part-timers. I want to drive that number (dropouts) down.”
Sandoval’s campaigning strategies rely heavily on reaching out to the community.
“It’s all about the students and the families. That’s what I tell people,” he said. “And then, for my platform, I’m all about education and equity.”
Sandoval’s main issue with the college district is working to improve diversity and inclusion.
“(We have) 45% of Latino, 15% of API and 10% of black. And out of the 45% Latino people, we have 20% of faculty that is Latino. So that’s a diversity gap that we have that we need to close.”
Among Sandoval’s campaign concerns is funding and the participation of young voters in this election.
“Having funds and the resources available to do all of the outreach and get my message out to all of the citizens, so they can decide who they want to vote for, and so funding is always a challenge,” Sandoval said. “I think a challenge for me is trying to get more young people involved.”
If Sandoval is reelected, he will focus on mentoring the new board member elected to Ward 2. The incumbent is Dr. Judy E. Walters, who is not running again.
“I’m going to mentor that new board trustee about the policies. I will make sure that I have a plan to help that trustee because you’re only effective, and you’re only successful with all the people you’re working with,” Sandoval said.
The upcoming election on Nov. 5 is an essential event for all Ward 5 students since it can make sweeping changes that impact all three colleges: LMC, Diablo Valley College, and Contra Costa College.
For more information on Sandoval’s campaign, visit the Fernando 4 College Board website. To register to vote, visit the Register to Vote CA government website.
