How I’m voting for the environment on Nov. 7, 2006, for the City of Santa Monica. Here are my votes for the state-level propositions and for the state-level offices.

My votes for Santa Monica College Board of Trustees (4 people):
* Nancy Greenstein
* Andrew Walzer
* Louise Jaffe
* David B. Finkel

What does the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees do?: The 7-member Board of Trustees governs the Santa Monica Community College District. Each trustee is elected to 4 year terms. In addition, a student trustee who serves for a 1-year term is elected by the Santa Monica College students.
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Apparently, SMC is dealing with “a persistent structural operating deficit” of about $3.5 million, to quote the nonprofit group Committee for Excellent Public School (CEPS). In addition, some neighbors seem to be unhappy with the traffic and parking congestion caused by students attending SMC. These, among other challenges, are issues that the Board of Trustees will need to address. Here are my picks, in order of preference.

Nancy Greenstein. Because 3 people are retiring from the current Board of Trustees, Nancy’s the only current member of the board up for reelection. She sounds like a stand up woman who’s gotten a lot done for SMC — including getting an extra $500,000 from the city for a green building :) She’s served as a past president of the Southern California ACLU, and currently works as the Director of Police Community Services at the UCLA Police Department, bringing people from diverse positions together. She’s endorsed by the CEPS.

Andrew Walzer. As a professor at LA Community College, Andrew seemed to provide a much-needed perspective on issues currently under debate, from public transportation to measurable student learning outcomes. In contrast to some of the other candidates who’re more focused on securing cheap campus parking, Andrew calls for a “short, medium and long range transportation policy that emphasizes affordable public transportation.” Sez Andrew: “we need to find transportation solutions for the college which don’t simply rely on more parking. Thus, we need to develop more programs to encourage students to take public transportation.” In fact, the guy recently helped negotiate subsidized MTA bus passes to LA Community College students — and sez he’d work to implement a similar program at Santa Monica College.

Louise Jaffe. This long-time PTA leader and founding member of CEPS says she’ll work to find alternative transportation solutions and encourage green building and environmentally-sound practices. I’m a bit concerned that her platform sounds good but doesn’t really get into specifics. Still, her work with lifelong learning projects and Caravan for Kids, which helped defeat Prop 76, is impressive and inspiring.

David Finkel. As an adjunct professor at SMC, David brings to the table very specific and detailed suggestions for expanding vocational courses, dealing with the budget deficit, and forming allies with other groups and organizations, among other suggestions. He’s a former Santa Monica city council member and a retired judge of LA superior court; he’s endorsed by the CEPS.

The two remaining candidates, who I won’t be voting for, are Tom Donner, SMC’s former chief biz officer, and Susan Kim Bracke, a financial adviser. Tom certainly would bring a lot of institutional and financial experience, and I don’t think he’d be a bad trustee (though he seems overly fond of cheap parking) — I simply prefer the other candidates. Susan Kim Bracke seems to lack experience and qualifications, in comparison to the other candidates.

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