SOCCCD appoints Bobbie Jay provisional Trustee
Dr. Barbara Jay was sworn in Monday night as the new interim Trustee for the SOCCCD Board of Trustees by board president T.J. Prendergast.
The South Orange County Community College District appointed Barbara (Bobbie) Jay to the Board of Trustees at 5 p.m. this Monday, April 28, after publicly interviewing eight candidates in the Ronald Reagan Board of Trustees Room 145 of the Health Sciences Building at Saddleback College.
The board made the decision to appoint a trustee rather than hold an election because of the alleged $24 million it would have cost the district. Each candidate was given 15 minutes to answer five questions about their qualifications and potential role as a trustee, followed by a discussion among the attending board members.
Trustee David Lang recused himself from the voting proceedings per the Political Reform Act and Government Code 87105 after it was determined that he had a legitimate conflict of interest, as one of the candidates is a client of Lang’s Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm, while Trustee Nancy Padberg has been injured and on leave for some time. Since only four of the seven members of the board were present, any appointment had to be unanimously agreed upon by present members.
After ranking their top candidates, SOCCCD Vice President Timothy Jemal made a motion to appoint candidate Bobbie Jay. The motion was seconded by board president T.J. Prendergast and resulted in a unanimous “yes” vote from President Predergast, VP Jemal, Trustee Marcia Milchiker and Trustee James Wright.
“Dr. Jay brings a wealth of experience to the board, having owned, operated and managed a local business in south Orange County,” Natalie Cooney of the SOCCCD public affairs office said in a press release. “She has a D.D.S. from the University of Southern California. Her top priority as a trustee is protect the educational quality at the colleges because she considers that to be the key to a better lives for the South Orange County Community College students.”
The newly appointed Trustee Bobbie Jay, widow of the late Trustee William (Bill) Jay whose vacant she now fills, will serve as an interim member until December 2, 2016, presiding over district Area 3 which includes Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, and parts of Laguna Hills, Newport Beach, San Clemente and unincorporated areas, according to the SOCCCD main page. Trustee Jay stated on Monday that she does not intend to run as an incumbent in the next election, a fact voting member President Prendergast said was definitely taken into consideration and had a positive influence on his vote.
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