The College of the Canyons’ governing board unanimously elected current president Sharlene Johnson to serve as the board’s president for another year.
Two other leadership positions elected Friday were also decided unanimously: trustee Fred Arnold was voted vice president, and trustee Edel Alonso was voted clerk.
During the board’s annual December vote to determine board leadership in the coming year, trustees had gridlocked at a 2-2 vote for Johnson and trustee Carlos Guerrero, with Johnson and trustee Fred Arnold voting for Johnson and Guerrero and trustee Edel Alonso voting for Guerrero.
Board trustee Darlene Trevino was absent from that meeting. Friday’s special meeting was scheduled last month to re-hold board elections with all five trustees present.
At the meeting, Guerrero had indicated the January election, with Trevino’s vote, was all but assured. Trevino had run on a slate with Johnson and Arnold when they were elected in November 2024, with the backing of the SCV business community.
“Yes, that’s fine,” Guerrero said, agreeing to a January re-do vote. “We already know how it’s going to come out.”
Yet neither he nor Alonso were against Johnson assuming board presidency again this year.
As in last month’s meeting, trustees Guerrero and Johnson were both nominated to the position. Guerrero received two votes, his own and Alonso’s, but when votes were cast for Johnson, both Guerrero and Alonso also offered “yes” votes, along with Johnson, Arnold and Trevino.
After Friday morning’s elections, the board moved into an hour-and-a-half retreat, where Johnson had trustees select a handful of words from a larger list that especially resonated with them, in order to hone a college “value statement.”
The word selected the most – by trustees Johnson, Arnold and Trevino – was “accountability.”
The board ultimately crafted the single-sentence value statement: “As an institution of higher learning, we believe that every person at our college is worthy of value and must be treated with dignity and respect.”
The board also put together five major goals for trustees to pursue in the coming year: the search for a new superintendent/president, strategic decision making when it comes to capital projects and finances, trustee development, supporting students and engaging the college community.
The board plans to approve those goals at its next meeting later this month.
