Chapter 4: Establishing the Board and the District

Chapter 4: Establishing the Board and the District Board minutes now become a major source of information and will be used liberally for hereon. It is assumed that anyone reading this would have an interest in following the Board meetings in the early days of the District. The District Gets Underway The new Board of Trustees, and their primary supporters in the community, got right to work to establish and plan the new District. This section will look at their step-by-step planning and implementation process of the first six months, culminating in the hiring or a Superintendent/President and Vice President in the summer of 1966. The Trustees of the new junior college district were indeed pioneers, but they were not really starting from scratch. Since the end of World War II, 35 new colleges had been created in California, nearly double the number created before the slowdown when the depression hit. The growth had been so significant the State Department of Education created a separate bureau of oversee the laws and regulations affecting junior colleges and to provide assistance to colleges. There were plenty of models for the new Trustees to go by, including South County Junior College District (Chabot College) right in their own back yard. In 1961 alone Chabot College was approved by the voters in January, a bond for new campus construction passed in April, a Superintendent/President was hired, and classes began in temporary facilities in September. Construction of a permanent campus began in 1964 and was occupied in 1966. Thus, the new Trustees had a fairly well established road map to follow to implement their own junior college. First Official Board Meeting: January 3, 1966 The first official meeting of the newly elected Board of Trustees was conducted on January 3, 1966, in the Library of John F. Kennedy High School in Fremont. The Trustees were sworn in and by Mr. Rock La Fleche, Superintendent of Schools of Alameda Country. Representing Newark were: Mr. Wesley Sears and Rev. Travis Campbell; representing Fremont were: Dr. Marilyn Blawie, Mr. John Costello, Dr. Lyle Edmison, Mr. Abraham Hochler, and Mr. Charles B. Snow. In accordance with county Election Code (25413) the Trustees were assigned staggered terms in accordance with the county Election Code: Trustees Campbell, Edmison, Sears and Snow were assigned to 3 ½ year terms through June 30, 1969; and Trustees Blawie, Costello and Hochler were assigned terms 1 ½ year terms through Jun 30, 1967.