The Old Guard Board of Trustee Members (Linda Wah, Anthony Fellow, Berlinda Brown and John Martin) have been picking problematic presidents that get votes of no confidence from the faculty and students. PCC has had 6 presidents in the last 10 years. The faculty and students have even voted no confidence in the Board of Trustees themselves!
April 2015, the faculty senate voted No Confidence in the PCC Board of Trustees. Read the resolution.
May 2015, the student government voted No Confidence in the PCC Board of Trustees. Read the resolution.
April 12, 2022, the faculty senate voted No Confidence in Superintendent-President Erika Endrijonas and cited issues with the Board of Trustees, too. The Board of Trustees hired Endrijonas in 2019. Read the resolution from PCC’s website here. If that gets taken down, you can read it in full in Coloradoblvd.net’s April 12, 2022 article.
Anthony Fellow – on PCC board since 2009; picked past president Mark Rocha (who also got multiple votes of no confidence, including this one) and Erika Endrijonas
Berlinda Brown – on PCC board since 2009; picked past president Mark Rocha (who also got multiple votes of no confidence, including this one) and Erika Endrijonas
Linda Wah – on PCC board since 2010 – picked past president Mark Rocha (who also got multiple votes of no confidence, including this one) and Erika Endrijonas
John Martin – seat isn’t up for election until 2024. He’s been on the Board for 43 years.
While mandating all faculty and students go back to the classroom during the height of Omicron and COVID19 pandemic, the Board of Trustees met safely on Zoom, which lead to subsequent protests at PCC.
Without term limits, the only thing to be done is vote them out!
Starting May 9 – to June 7, 2022, three seats are up for election.
Alton Wang is going up against Anthony Fellow, District 7
Kristine Kwong’s campaign released printed material calling attention to long-time incumbent Linda Wah’s track record on the PCC Board of Trustees. This is, after all, why Kristine’s running.
Two basic campaign flyers from Kristine Kwong for PCC Board of Trustees 2022
One side ofKristine Kwong for PCC flyerOne side of Kristine Kwong for PCC door-hanger
Linda Wah retaliates with a May 13, 2022 email, sending her followers on a witch hunt.
Who’s playing nasty politics here? You decide.
The link in Linda’s email points to this webpage, paid for by Linda Wah’s own campaign. In it, she solicits “tips” as if she were conducting a criminal investigation.
I am writing in response to the criticisms of an alleged negative campaign tactics from me. I respectfully disagree and here’s why:
As a local elected official, Linda Wah has a voting record that deserves to be examined in an election and a campaign. An election is the time when voters hold elected officials accountable for their job performance over the course of their terms and evaluate their effectiveness of their service. In fact, since Linda Wah was appointed to office in 2009 and had no challengers for the last two terms, which means her record has not been discussed or reviewed for 13 years. There were no PCC Board elections in 2014 or 2018 because Linda Wah ran unopposed so voters had no alternative choices or had to vote at all.
In my campaign, I have put forth facts and not lies. It may be uncomfortable for Linda Wah and her supporters to see the negative impact of Linda Wah’s decisions on the PCC Board, but these are facts not lies. She made these decisions and it’s time for voters to decide whether she deserves a third term or not.
I am running because I am deeply concerned with what is happening at PCC. I have met and spoken to many voters who have appreciated the opportunity to talk about their experiences with PCC. I plan to continue doing just that, informing voters and letting them know they have a choice for change.
Sincerely,
Kristine Kwong, candidate for Pasadena Area Community College District Board – District 5
May 1, 2022: Votes of No Confidence in the PCC Board of Trustees and current PCC President Endrijonas
No confidence in the college leadership
The Old Guard Board of Trustee Members (Linda Wah, Anthony Fellow, Berlinda Brown and John Martin) have been picking problematic presidents that get votes of no confidence from the faculty and students. PCC has had 6 presidents in the last 10 years. The faculty and students have even voted no confidence in the Board of Trustees themselves!
April 2015, the faculty senate voted No Confidence in the PCC Board of Trustees. Read the resolution.
May 2015, the student government voted No Confidence in the PCC Board of Trustees. Read the resolution.
April 12, 2022, the faculty senate voted No Confidence in Superintendent-President Erika Endrijonas and cited issues with the Board of Trustees, too. The Board of Trustees hired Endrijonas in 2019. Read the resolution from PCC’s website here. If that gets taken down, you can read it in full in Coloradoblvd.net’s April 12, 2022 article.
Anthony Fellow – on PCC board since 2009; picked past president Mark Rocha (who also got multiple votes of no confidence, including this one) and Erika Endrijonas
Berlinda Brown – on PCC board since 2009; picked past president Mark Rocha (who also got multiple votes of no confidence, including this one) and Erika Endrijonas
Linda Wah – on PCC board since 2010 – picked past president Mark Rocha (who also got multiple votes of no confidence, including this one) and Erika Endrijonas
John Martin – seat is up for election until 2024
While mandating all faculty and students go back to the classroom during the height of Omicron and COVID19 pandemic, the Board of Trustees met safely on Zoom, which lead to subsequent protests at PCC.
Without term limits, the only thing to be done is vote them out!
Starting May 9 – to June 7, 2022, three seats are up for election.
Alton Wong is going up against Anthony Fellow, District 7
Pasadena City College’s stature as one of the state’s best two-year schools wasn’t lost on members of a visiting team of advisors this year. “You’ve got a great reputation,” one member told campus employees.
But that reputation, and maybe even the school’s accreditation, was in danger, said Scott Lay, the president of the Community College League of California. Not because the school’s finances were in disarray or that academic offerings were suffering, but because faculty and administration couldn’t get along.
“You’ve got to find a way to move forward,” he said. Otherwise, “it’s going to hurt the students.”
Since then, communication appears to have worsened. Some faculty blame President Mark W. Rocha, saying he has ignored the school’s policy of consulting faculty on major decisions. Faculty leaders are mulling their third no-confidence vote and some even rooted for him to get a job on the East Coast, where he was a finalist for another position. (Rocha didn’t get it.)
Rocha, who makes nearly $250,000 a year, declined to be interviewed but said in an email that his detractors were a small group who “constantly complain to the press about ‘governance’ and the administration.”
Some outside observers and elected officials say there seems to be plenty of blame to go around for the school’s troubles.
“What you have is a breakdown of communication that’s developed into an untenable situation,” said Marshall Lewis, the newly elected student trustee. “It’s bad.”
Located near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Pasadena City College has enjoyed its status as one of the state’s most successful community colleges. Nearly 30% of students transferred to a college or university within four years, about 5% higher than the state’s average, according to the most recent state statistics.
But tension has risen as the college, like many others, has seen funding and class offerings decline because of the recession. Enrollment at the college has fallen from a recent high of nearly 30,000 full-time students in the fall of 2010 to about 26,000 in the fall of 2013, a nearly 13% drop, according to state statistics.
Statewide, the number of students enrolled in community colleges fell by about 10% during the same period.
Some faculty and students have blamed the school’s problems on Rocha, who was hired in 2010 after a four-year stint at West Los Angeles College. Before then, he had also worked at Seton Hall University and Argosy University, a for-profit school.
Professors say they were left in the dark about several crucial issues, including scheduling changes, canceling winter semester and opening a campus in Rosemead last year.
“These decisions have been made behind closed doors,” said Eduardo Cairo, the president of the Academic Senate. “We keep on telling them that we’re open, we’re here, let’s talk, and they never want to talk.”
Under a 1997 agreement, the college administration is supposed to “consult collegially” with the Academic Senate, a practice known as “shared governance.”
Faculty have taken two no-confidence votes in him and conducted an online review of Rocha’s leadership that produced scathing results, with most respondents saying he had done a poor job of guiding the school.
“Fascist approach to leadership,” one wrote. “Rocha is destroying PCC,” another said.
Some students have been equally harsh in their criticism of Rocha and the board, especially after the board agreed to cancel winter sessions two years ago. Without the extra six-week session, students have a harder time earning enough credit to transfer or graduate, said Jordyn Orozco, the president of the school’s student body.
“It was a huge step back,” he said.
Rocha said he would speak with a reporter only if the president of the Board of Trustees, Anthony Fellow, also attended. Fellow is teaching a course in Italy and will not return until the end of the month.
Trustee William Thomson, the former mayor of Pasadena, defended Rocha’s accomplishments, saying he had guided the college during a difficult financial time and helped raise nearly $7 million for student scholarships.
“I think he’s done a good job in some respects,” he said.
The board last year voted to give Rocha a four-year contract extension.
In an email, Rocha offered to supply a reporter with the contacts of “dozens” of faculty who supported him. But Rocha did not answer further emails.
Thomson said the climate on campus has to improve. “People have to work much more effectively together,” he said.
The Board of Trustees was heavily criticized this year for inviting Oscar-winning alumnus Dustin Lance Black to deliver the commencement address, then rescinded it over concerns about an illegally obtained sex video featuring the screenwriter. They invited him again and Black spoke.
Thomson also said he thought Rocha was committed to the college but was looking for work on the East Coast to be closer to his wife, an engineer who recently got a job in the New York area. Rocha was a finalist to lead Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn.
In an email, Rocha said faculty were resistant to change and more interested in being comfortable than offering courses in areas needed for graduation or at times that are convenient for students. “Faculty want to teach the courses they prefer,” Rocha said.
In the end, faculty and Rocha seem to agree on one thing: The current situation has to change.
“One path, the one we are on, is the beginning of the beginning of the end,” Rocha wrote in an email.
Coalition of Students and Faculty for Student Achievement 