With multiple seats up for grabs this November, the election is guaranteed to change the makeup of the Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees as the college deals with funding, student housing and the Measure P bond.

Three of the current members — Robert Miller of Area 2, Veronica Gallardo of Area 3 and Anna Everett of Area 4 — chose not to run again. Because of that, the board is guaranteed to have three new members after November’s election for the open seats.

The six candidates, two for each district race, come from different walks of life, with some having previous political experience, a history with SBCC or dipping their toes into the political waters for the first time.

The community college faces dropping student enrollment, demand for student and staff housing, and aging buildings on campus.

Current board members put Measure P on the November ballot, which would extend the 2008 Measure V bond measure for additional years, raising another $198 million.

Supporters of the measure say it would allow the school to upgrade its facilities, while opponents say it would place a burden on taxpayers who have already paid their part. 

Candidates shared their platforms and ideas of how the board can address the issues at SBCC.

Area 2

In Area 2, the two candidates are Kyle Richards and Lisa Sloan. Area 2 includes western Goleta and the Gaviota Coast up to El Capitán State Beach.

Richards is finishing his second term as a member of the Goleta City Council. He has worked at UC Santa Barbara for 27 years in the Academic Senate Office.

Richards decided to run for the board since he could not run for re-election on the City Council. After the redistricting in 2022, he was located in a district that another council member already represented.

Because of his experience on the council and with academic administration, he decided to run for the Board of Trustees when the seat opened up.

“Between my experience at the university and my experience in the City Council, I feel like those have kind of given me a lot to work with and that I’d be in a good place to serve as a trustee at City College,” Richards said.

Richards has endorsed Measure P and says the bond measure is important to maintain buildings on campus.  

“It’s an investment,” Richards said. “It’s a community investment in the future of our city college, and it’s necessary in order to maintain the facilities.”

Richards said that along with his experience, he can build relationships and work with others.

The other Area 2 candidate is Sloan, a retired senior environmental health specialist who worked for the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department for 27 years.

Since retiring in 2020, Sloan has helped run a small family business and managed multiple local campaigns in Goleta.

She said SBCC is a valuable resource to the community and that she, her husband and sons have taken classes there.

“I care very much about our community, and that’s why I decided to run,” Sloan said. “And for the City College seat, it’s in my area of Goleta, and when I saw that only one person was running, I thought I wanted to give people a choice.”

Sloan does not support Measure P and believes the school has taken on too much debt. She also disagrees with how funds from the previous bond, Measure V, have been spent.

“I don’t think that now is the time for Measure P, for a bond, because what it will do, it will raise taxes on the property owners at a time when families are struggling to put food on the table. And so, we don’t need more taxes,” Sloan said.

Area 3

Area 3, which includes downtown Santa Barbara, will see Sebastian Aldana Jr. and Jett Black face off for the open seat.

Aldana was born and raised in Santa Barbara and has spent 17 years as a community activist lending his time to nonprofit organizations and other groups. He serves on the city’s Parks & Recreation Commission and is the Eastside representative for the Neighborhood Advisory Council.

“I was aware that the incumbent was no longer going to be running … so, I gave it some thought and talked to various community members. They supported me 100%. So, that’s how we started this little grassroots fundraising committee,” Aldana said.

He said that one of the issues he hopes to address if elected is housing for students. He believes that some of the buildings on campus that are not being used can be retrofitted for student housing and have community kitchens built on the lower levels.

Aldana said he opposes extending the current bond through Measure P, saying that taxpayers have paid enough toward the school.

“Everything is in bad shape, city schools are in a bad shape, the city of Santa Barbara’s in bad shape,” Aldana said. “So, I think we just need to tighten up our belts and pump the brakes for a little bit. The way it’s being proposed to extend it until 2061, I think it’s a little much.”

The other candidate, Black, also grew up in Santa Barbara and attended a local school until she moved to Santa Ynez and then Atlanta.

In running for the Board of Trustees, Black said she wants to help bring some stability to the board and SBCC. 

“It’s a really amazing community resource. I think over the past years it has experienced some instability that I’m hopefully going to be able to bring some stability and level-headedness and familiarity with the community to (the board),” Black said.

Black has a degree in international affairs with a focus on international business. She said that most of her career has been at nonprofit organizations or working in the government, and she now works for a national consulting firm.

Black expressed her support for Measure P, saying it would allow the college to address its deficit and support its infrastructure.

“It’s not asking for anything new from the voters. It’s asking them just to extend what has already been put in place, and so I think it was a very smart move on (the board’s) part as a strategy to obtain more funding,” she said.

Area 4

In Area 4, the race will be between Aruni Boteju and David Morris. Area 4 includes parts of the eastern Goleta Valley and areas to the north.

Boteju has lived in Santa Barbara since 1996, when her family moved to the United States from Sri Lanka.

In her career, Boteju is a banker who primarily works with small businesses and has 25 years of experience.

Boteju said her business experience, understanding of finance and fresh ideas would be an asset to the college as it looks for solutions to its deficit issues.

She believes that coming from a different background will allow her to address these older issues with fresh eyes.

“Having someone brand new coming in with a fresh idea and being able to see things in a different point of view really helps so (much),” Boteju said.

She also expressed her support for Measure P, saying that it is needed to support the school’s infrastructure.

One of the issues she hopes to address if elected is communication and cooperation among the trustees. She believes that the board should be focused on policies that help students.

“I believe communication is the most important thing,” she said. “And also understanding (the other) board members. Because at the end of the day, we are working together.”

Morris is a retired professor who taught history at SBCC.

He describes himself as an escapee of Los Angeles, who came to Santa Barbara in the 1970s. He credits SBCC with giving him his first teaching job.

He decided to run after being approached by Anna Everett, the current trustee for Area 4. Morris said the position seemed like a way for him to give back to the school after all it has done for him.

“City College has been almost like a second family, and I have close relationships with my colleagues,” Morris said.

Besides working as a professor, Morris also worked in the faculty association. In describing his time in the association, Morris said he is a “diplomat, not a warrior” and is inclined to work through things with others.   

Morris said that if elected, he hopes to bring a sense of continuity that the school has been missing in recent years.

He supports Measure P, which he said is needed to continue improving the school and attracting students. One of the things he supports about the measure is that it is not an additional tax, but continues the one that was placed by Measure V.

“I think it was a wise decision to keep the current bond measure level so that people aren’t, ‘Oh gee, it’s an increase in taxes.’ No, it’s the same you’ve been paying,” he said.