10A | SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Candidates were asked to answer the following questions: 1) What would you identify as the opportunities and limitations of this position? 2) What do you see as your
most important objectives for the upcoming term? 3) What do you anticipate being the biggest challenges for the upcoming term? 4) What do you identify as unique
concerns to your district and how would you address those issues?
— Lane Community College —
ane Community College Board of
Education has primary authority
for establishing policies governing the
operation of the college and for adopt-
ing the college’s annual budget. The
board’s charge is to oversee the devel-
opment of programs and services that
board members believe will best serve
the needs of the people of the Lane
Community College district.
The Lane Community College Dis-
trict serves a 5,000 square-mile area
stretching from the Pacific Ocean to
the Cascade Mountains. The district
includes most of Lane County.
Seven elected, non-paid persons
comprise the board of education and
have primary authority for establish-
ing policies governing the operation
of the college and adopting the col-
lege’s annual budget. Their charge is to
oversee the development of programs
and services which they believe will
best serve the needs of the people of
the Lane District.
Board positions represent geo-
graphical zones, with Zone 1 consist-
ing of western Lane County. In this
election, three candidates are running
for Director Zone 1: Mark Boren,
Thomas Jennings and incumbent
Holli Johnson, who was appointed in
March.
Learn more at www.lanecc.edu.
— BOREN —
Mark Boren grew up in the Bethel
School District, graduating from Wil-
lamette High School in 1986. He met
his wonderful wife in P.E. class, and
they have been together for the past
38 years.
The family moved to Veneta about
30 years ago and raised 5 children
that all went through the Fern Ridge
School District.
Boren began his career in the fire
service as a volunteer with what was
then called Lane County Fire District
#1 in 1997. He retired in 2018 after 15
years as the training officer and cur-
rently works part-time as the recruit-
ment/retention coordinator for what
is now Lane Fire Authority.
He is proud to say that his son is
currently volunteering with the fire
SIUSLAW from page 9A
Most recently, Martindale
served on the board of directors
for the Boys and Girls Club of
Western Lane County, serving
the last three years as board
president.
Martindale and his wife,
Randy, have three grown chil-
dren and two grandchildren.
Larry enjoys hunting and fish-
ing and is active in his church.
1. In my recent work with
the Boys and Girls Club, I know
that our kids are struggling and
I have solid ideas for how we
can do better. We have the op-
portunity to raise the bar with
leadership, oversight and strong
partnerships with faculty, fami-
lies and our community. We are
limited and guided of course
by rigorous state and feder-
al guidelines, but within that
framework, we must start look-
ing at what we CAN do instead
of what we cannot and fully
utilize any local control that still
remains.
Keeping our kids the focus,
we can be bold and innova-
tive. Good enough isn’t good
enough. Our kids deserve our
best.
2. My role as a board mem-
ber will be to provide leadership
and oversight to educate and
prepare students for success.
Family, Faculty and Facilities
are vital components to achieve
this objective.
Family: Parents and family
units must have a place at the
table for open conversations
about educational goals and
should be respected and lis-
tened to for their perspectives.
Faculty: Our faculty is the
key ingredient for the magic
that can happen in our schools.
High quality academic pro-
grams are essential to prepare
all students for a global society
and our faculty is key to this
outcome.
Facilities: Students, staff and
the public need safe schools that
also meet educational needs
with cutting edge technology.
Creative, common sense prob-
lem-solving is essential and
we should explore immediate
solutions to things like our high
school heating and cooling is-
sues and safe, friendly entry
points at our schools, and also
Johnson has
authority and
DIRECTOR POSITION 6 AT-LARGE
worked in ed-
three of his
ucation for 25
daughters vol-
Th ree candidates
years. She cur-
unteered in the
rently coordi-
past.
nates the Afri-
B e f o r e
can American/
working
for
Black Student
Lane Fire Au-
Success Pro-
thority, Boren
gram for Lane
worked for 15
ESD, serving
years in special
16 K-12 school
education as
districts
in
an instruction-
Lane Coun-
al assistant for
ty, since 2019.
the Lane ESD.
Mark Boren
Th omas Jennings
Holli Johnson
Before that she
He worked at
worked at the
Wi l l ame tte
University of Oregon for 13
High School, Thurston
ence resident for majority of his life.
High School and Cal Young Middle It’s where he and his wife have raised years in the Office of Student Finan-
cial Aid and Scholarships.
School.
their five children.
She has previous board experi-
In his spare time, Boren enjoys
Jennings has experience with
spending time with his family and at- coastal community colleges, having ence on the Oregon Association of
tending athletic events around Lane attended both Southwestern Oregon Financial Aid Administrators. She is
County.
Community College and LCC at the also current chair for the Education
“I hope I can earn your support,” he Florence campus right out of high Committee of the Eugene-Spring-
field NAACP and is the educational
said.
school.
1. Most public entity boards are
He is a graduate of the Pacific Inside director at St. Mark CME Church in
tasked to do three things; hire the pres- Joint Apprenticeship Trust program in Eugene.
A community college graduate,
ident, chief or superintendent; dictate Coos Bay as a licensed General Jour-
Johnson holds a Master of Education
policy; and approve the budget. These neyman Electrician.
in Adult Education and Higher Learn-
tasks provide both opportunities and
limitations.
What are the most important objec- ing from Oregon State University; a
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from
2. I believe the most important ob-
tives for the upcoming term?
jective is to help the administration
My objective would be to make sure the University of Oregon; and an As-
ascertain a solution to recoup the stu- a balance is maintained between not sociate of Arts in Sociology from San
dents that did not enroll this past year. only the important traditional college Diego City College.
1. As the first African American to
3. I believe the biggest challenge classes, but also classes that create ac-
would be to maintain current pro- cess to trades, job skills and business be appointed to the LCC Board of Ed-
grams and have the vision to foresee growth.
ucation, it means that our community
future programs that will serve the ev-
has made a commitment to include
er-changing work force.
diversity in the decision-making pro-
What do you anticipate being the
4. Providing the programs that will
cess. As the only person of color on the
biggest challenge?
entice high school graduates to attend
Navigating the challenges of board, I am excited to be a part of a
Lane Community College. LCC is COVID-19 will be the biggest imme- great opportunity to support the aca-
primed to support the Career Techni- diate challenge. Beyond that, getting demic endeavors for members of this
cal Education needs of the ever-grow- students that need it, the opportunity community. I have set a precedence at
ing programs in the local school dis- to attend classes on campus safely.
LCC and I would like for other ladies
trict. This need will grow even more
of minority descent to follow in my
in the near future.
footsteps and step up to the plate to
— JOHNSON —
I can see more partnerships with
Holli Johnson was appointed to the serve.
local business and organizations such LCC Board on March 3.
There are only a few limitations that
as Connected Lane County that have
She said in her application, “As a worry me about serving in this posi-
programs like Elevate and LaneStem. woman of color living in a predomi- tion. When there are only 1 or 2 peo-
nantly white community, it is my goal ple of color in the room, there are not
— JENNINGS —
to represent all ethnic groups in an eq- enough voices at the table who share
Thomas Jennings has been a Flor- uitable and just fashion.”
the same values which could cause the
long-term facility needs.
3. The district’s greatest chal-
lenge will be to create a school
culture that focuses on aca-
demic excellence and preparing
our kids for lifetime success,
especially in this post-COVID
environment. Too many of our
students are falling behind and
giving up on school.
With the exception of read-
ing/writing at the high school,
the Oregon test scores for el-
ementary, middle and high
school are in the bottom 50%.
Students are passed from one
grade to the next without aca-
demic skills to be successful at
the next grade level. It is diffi-
cult to find placements for stu-
dents who are one to three years
behind. As a board member,
I can provide leadership and
oversight in solving this issue.
The administration, staff and
community can work together
to find solutions. One of my
objectives will be to ensure that
all students be at grade level in
reading, writing and mathemat-
ics before they exit 5th grade.
4.Emerging from COVID,
we are embarking on a new era
for Siuslaw schools. When you
look at buying a home via Zil-
low, our Siuslaw school rank-
ings are 3/10 for elementary
and middle and 5/10 for high
school. Educational and life-
time success of our students is
all of our goal but too often we
operate as if we are adversaries;
we fear transparency and input
is not welcome. Staff, adminis-
tration, families and our com-
munity need to link arms to
help our kids achieve.
We must be willing to dig
deep and identify our strengths
and weaknesses, then we can
determine our priorities and
ensure those priorities get pri-
ority resources. For example, we
have a tremendously talented
and generous community who
we can engage for vocational,
trades and professional experi-
ences and for feedback on what
we offer students, and how to
ready them for their next tier of
education or employment.
— SNEDDON —
Kady Sneddon is a local busi-
ness member.
It is our responsibility to
bring our kids through this
pandemic year with strength,
vision, accountability and a
plan.
When I graduated from Siu-
slaw High School, the times
were different, but the dedica-
tion to our serving students and
providing high quality educa-
tion hasn’t changed. I will sup-
port policies that allow schools
to respond to their challenges
creatively and collaboratively
across the district.
As a small business owner
enduring the pandemic, I’m
experienced in managing bud-
gets and staff, making tough
decisions, and problem-solving
with other business leaders and
stakeholders to find solutions
under significant constraint. I
am a collaborative, calm and
collected person and I welcome
the challenge of making sure
that everyone’s voices are heard
and that we all have a chance to
work together for a better fu-
ture.
Our priorities must include:
• Providing sound fiscal
oversight to ensure tax dollars
are spent correctly and effec-
tively.
• Working with our commu-
nity to establish access to quali-
ty childcare
• Working with the superin-
tendent and statewide leaders
vote to be swayed. I represent the mi-
nority population, but I alone cannot
make change happen. For example,
my voice alone is not enough to rep-
resent a historically underrepresented
group in this community. We need
more representation.
2. If elected, I commit to making
the best-informed decisions based on
my values, experience and lived ex-
periences in this community. I vow to
learn how the legislative process plays
an important role at LCC. I want to
learn how to become a better advo-
cate for student success and how to be
a trusted trustee on this board. I will
respect the input I receive from com-
munity members and I want to grow
as a trusted leader for school improve-
ment.
3. I anticipate that my valued out-
comes may not be that of others and I
expect that the decisions of the Board
will be criticized. I will use these out-
comes to invite other persons of color
to step up and join me as we try to ex-
ercise a more informed decision pro-
cess from different perspectives.
4. Affordable education during a
national pandemic concerns me for
members of my district. It is standard
practice for college tuition to increase
every year, but I am happy to report
that LCC is taking every measure to
assure that emergency funds are being
used to offset some of the additional
costs that will be incurred by students
going forward.
The board of education at LCC
plays an integral part on the increase
of tuition hikes, but we also support
student success and together we make
informed decisions as they pertain to
best outcomes.
Another concern is that as we go
through these tough times, some
programs will be cut I expect that the
board will be faced with some tough
decisions about which programs
should be sustained and which pro-
grams should be scaled back.
I value adult & continuing ed pro-
grams and I will use my voting powers
to vote against their abolishment and I
vow to help keep those programs alive.
to understand the impacts and
education gaps stemming from
COVID-19.
• Establishing high quality
CTE opportunities and STEM
curriculum.
• Addressing technological
inequalities for educators and
students.
• Giving students, families,
teachers and staff a voice.
As a mother to a first grader,
I see an unfortunate lack of rep-
resentation on the Board of Di-
rectors from both women and
parents of school-aged children.
Equal representation is para-
mount for a bright future and
the health of our school district.
I would love to have your
support and your vote this May!
Support Lane County
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PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT
“Now more than ever we
need Larry Martindale’s
experience and leadership
for our district. These are
tough times and our kids
need our best.”
I would love to connect with you
~Vicki Rankin, 25 year
and hear your thoughts.
Siuslaw
Elementary Teacher
Call or email me and I will get back
with you. 541-590-0230.
larrymartindale30@gmail.com PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF LARRY MARTINDALE.
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