By Wendy Brill-Wynkoop/COC Faculty Association
The College of the Canyons Faculty Association (COCFA), AFT Local 6262, and CSEA Local 725, announce the endorsement of Dr. Edel Alonso for the Santa Clarita Community College District (SCCCD) Board of Trustees Area 2. Three of the five board seats are up for re-election on November 3, 2020. Alonso currently holds the Trustee Area 2 seat after winning it in November 2016 against a long time incumbent.
Dr. Edel Alonso was endorsed after a detailed process established and carried out by a committee representing members of all three unions.
The interview endorsement team invited any candidates interested in the unions’ endorsement to interview.
The selection process included an interview and a period of deliberation by interview committee members.
The interview committee presented their recommendations to their respective bodies, who voted unanimously to endorse Edel Alonso.
Area 2 is east of I-5 and northwest of McBean Parkway and extends to the San Francisquito Canyon and Bouquet Canyon areas.
Before retiring in 2015, Alonso was a full-time professor at the College of the Canyons (COC) for 16 years. During that time she served as president of COC’s Academic Senate, co-chair of the President’s Advisory Committee on Budget, a member of the college planning team, and many other leadership roles.
Since her election to the board in 2016, she has consistently illustrated her ability to ask important questions in the open public meeting about transparency and fiscal responsibility.
“In the past four years, Edel has repeatedly illustrated she is an educator at heart who is exceptionally qualified to serve as a member of the board of trustees through her breadth of experience and extensive understanding of the college’s inner-workings,” said Wendy Brill-Wynkoop, chairman of COCFA’s Political Action Committee. “We continue to witness the skill of her amazing leadership and unique solutions that she brings to emerging budgetary, academic, and personnel challenges facing COC.”
“As the COCFA President I am present at most board meetings,” noted Kerry Carlson, president of CSEA Local 725. “I am awed by Edel’s commitment and dedication to fiscal transparency, teaching and learning, faculty equity, and the collective bargaining process. Her moral compass and passion for public service are unflappable.”
