New Trustees Poised to Win at City College of San Francisco

Three candidates for the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees are poised to shake up the status quo on the much-criticized governing body, according to preliminary election results posted by the San Francisco Department of Elections.

The presumptive winners are Anita Martinez, former head of the faculty union at the college; Susan Solomon, former San Francisco Unified School District teachers’ union leader; and Vick Chung, former CCSF student trustee. They ran as a unified slate with the backing of the faculty union, the San Francisco Democratic Party and the San Francisco Labor Council, among other supporters, the San Francisco Standard reported. The candidates campaigned on a platform that includes balancing the college’s budget and increasing enrollment by better publicizing its free tuition program for San Francisco residents.

The change in leadership comes amid ongoing tumult at the college, which underwent a round of layoffs in May in an attempt to keep the college financially healthy ahead of its upcoming reaccreditation process. The move was widely protested by faculty members. The college has historically struggled to maintain its accreditation and has been plagued by financial troubles.

Voters also rejected a proposed parcel tax on the ballot that was expected to raise $37 million annually for the college.

“In recent years, people have been seeing a lot of negative news about City College,” Trustee Alan Wong told the San Francisco Standard. “People are frustrated and want to see some change.”