Share: The presidential search forums at Pasadena City College (PCC) on Wednesday featured the final four candidates, Interim Superintendent-President Jose Gomez, Lena Tran, Thuy Thi Nguyen and Carlos Cortez where they got to pitch themselves to the community in events punctuated by low turnout and minimal participation, spurring the search firm to extend the deadline for providing feedback an additional week. However, an email announcing the extension was only sent to PCC faculty and staff and has yet to be sent to PCC students’ inboxes …
Four finalists named in Superintendent-President search
Share: As the Superintendent-President (S/P) search goes public for the first time beyond shared governance at Pasadena City College (PCC), the Board of Trustees (BOT) has announced the final four candidates that will participate in on-campus Q&A forums and meet-and-greets before a final decision by the Trustees for PCC’s next leader is expected by the end of the month. The four candidates come from various backgrounds who Board President Kristine Kwong said in a campus-wide email were “well qualified” to serve as PCC’s next Superintendent-President. …
Bonds to bombs: A quaint community college’s global impact
Share: The PCC Foundation, a non-profit that raises funds for Pasadena City College (PCC), holds investments in several major polluters and weapons manufacturers including ExxonMobil and RTX Corp (formerly Raytheon), a Courier analysis of the foundation’s financial disclosures found. The findings come at a time when students across the nation, including PCC, are urging their institutions to divest from companies implicated in climate degradation and Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Since the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine on Oct. 7, 2023, …
Fired kinesiology dean files discrimination claim against PCC
Share: The Board of Trustees is set to name a new permanent dean of kinesiology, health and athletics (KHA) at their March meeting after former dean Dyan Miller was terminated in August 2023 following a months-long investigation into Miller’s conduct at Pasadena City College (PCC). In a claim for damages served to PCC’s Office of Risk Management Services in mid-February, Miller accused the college, members of the KHA department and the Assistant Superintendent and Human Resources Vice President Robert Blizinski for creating a hostile work …
Hostile public comments disrupt structure of Academic Senate meetings
Share: Over the last several months, the Pasadena City College Academic Senate (AS) drew ire from a professor and one particularly derogatory student when they stopped publicly airing their meetings on YouTube, momentarily banning public comment on non-agenda items before moving them to the end of meetings. Like many public governmental bodies, the AS started livestreaming their meetings over YouTube as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but sporadically live streamed, recorded, and published meetings before the pandemic, beginning as early as 2012. The AS …
Two new members to join the Board of Trustees in April
Share: Two new trustees have been elected to the Pasadena City College Board of Trustees along with one who returns after running unopposed in last week’s election. The two new trustees are James Aragon from Area 2, which encompasses Northern Altadena, the national forest and parts of Pasadena and Ryan Liu from Area 6 which includes portions of Arcadia, El Monte, Rosemead, San Gabriel and Temple City. Tammy Silver represents Area 4, which covers parts of Pasadena, East Pasadena, Temple City and San Gabriel, and …
PCC management seeks more bargaining power, pursues formal unionization
Share: The Management Association (MA) at the January Board of Trustees meeting announced that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 submitted the MA’s intent to unionize to the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB). “SEIU Local 721’s ability to bargain effectively for our members coupled with our dedication to empowering all Americans is what makes our union a growing and formidable political force locally, statewide and nationally,” SEIU 721’s website said. “We recognize our value. We understand the direct correlation between effective public services …
After vote of no confidence, PCC gets extension on presidential search
Share: Over the last few months as Pasadena City College continues the process searching for a new permanent Superintendent-President, the Board of Trustees and the search firm assisting the college, AGB Search, has worked with PCC’s shared governance groups to shift timelines and address issues after a vote of no confidence was issued in late January. Despite the positive changes the Board and the search firm have faced continued criticism from PCC’s shared governance groups for how they had conducted the process, facing allegations of …
Local voters feel privacy was violated in Pasadena district 3 mailer
Share: A recent mailer sent out by Justin Jones’ campaign over the weekend to Pasadena’s district 3 voters included a list of several local residents that supposedly officially supported his campaign, however some that appeared on that list do not support Jones and did not consent to having their full names and street of residence publicly shared. Jones was appointed by the city council in late 2022 after the unexpected passing of late council member, John Kennedy who had previously held the seat in district …
Episode 1: Voter Guides and Local Elections
Share: On the first episode back from winter break, host David is joined by News Editor Seamus to discuss civic engagement, local elections and a project that The Courier worked on with local newspaper LAist to inform local voters about who’s running in the election on March 5. Races covered include Pasadena Mayor, Pasadena City Council and Pasadena City College Board of Trustees. See the voter guides here, on the LAist website: https://laist.com/news/politics/voter-game-plan Audio used with permission of LAist / 89.3 FM Audio: Follow: