Pasadena City College Board of Trustees Elects Dr. Ross Selvidge New President, Changes Election Cycle

The Pasadena Area Community College District Board of Trustees voted Wednesday evening to name Dr. Ross Selvidge its new President and approved two resolutions that will change its election cycle and the dates for elections of its members.

Pasadena Now spoke with Selvidge the day after his appointment about how lower state voter turnouts prompted the election cycle change.

“You would be hard pressed to find any jurisdiction that isn’t going to have to shift their election cycle, just because most state voter turnouts are so low,” said PCC Board of Trustees President Dr. Ross Selvidge

Elections for trustee offices will now be on consolidated June ballots in even-numbered years, in order to take advantage of a less crowded ballot in those years. Trustees had the option of holding their elections in either June or November of those years, and chose June.

The new resolution replaces the former tradition of November odd-year elections, with trustees taking office in December, with June elections in even-numbered years and the winners taking office in July.

In order for the shift to occur, however, a one-time extension of the term of office will be given to current office holders in order for their elections to line up with the new dates. Current trustees will have seven months added to their current terms.

While some trustees felt that the turnout would be higher in November elections, which would include Presidential and mid-term elections, the vote for a June schedule prevailed, since (as other trustees felt) a June election would be less crowded and may allow candidates to have their campaigns better heard than a busier November ballot,

‘The November ballots are becoming much more crowded with judges and propositions,” said Selvidge in an interview following the meeting, “and in June that is not the case.”

Selvidge said he thought that, with the new changes, voter turnout in Pasadena could increase by “anywhere from 150% to 250%.” The new increase would still fall below November numbers, said Selvidge, but will also be less expensive for candidates, “opening the doors for people who feel that they would like to be an elected official,” he said.

Incumbents would also be more vulnerable to challenges, said Selvidge. The less crowded election cycle might make other candidates more willing to step and challenge office holders, posited Selvidge.

Selvidge also spoke to the recent controversy surrounding a new bylaw for the board members which would disallow any board member, other than the board president, to talk to the press on behalf of the Board. Local journalists and students argued before and following the last Board meeting that that the mandate would violate the state’s Brown Act and lessen the transparency between the board of Trustees and the college community.

The bylaw states in part, “Board members should refer all media inquiries, especially those relating to controversial issues, to the Board President or the board vice president, if the board president is unavailable.”

A previous vote on the new bylaw, which was presented only as an information item, was tabled for further discussion at the Board’s November 30 meeting after nearly an hour of animated discussion on both sides of the issue.
According to former Board President Linda Wah, the bylaw update came as a result of “significant discussion about the behavior of the Board” at a recent retreat, where the Board sought guidance in talking to the press as one voice. But a reference to “controversial” issues in the bylaw brought about the most opposition to the issue.

Selvidge said he would take a closer look at the latest draft of the proposed bylaw and if necessary, would appoint an ad hoc committee “to see if we need to change it, or see if we can’t incorporate some of the bylaws into the existing bylaw that we currently have.”

Said Selvidge, “I don’t have a problem with the (existing) one.” But Selvidge added, “Whether we need to take another look at the new draft, or stick with the existing bylaw ….that’s what we will be looking at.”