To the Editor,

My campaign for reelection to the Yuba Community College District Board of Trustees is all about building on the progress made in the past two years revitalizing the Lake County Campus in Clearlake. Anyone who follows the campus has seen how, under previous administrations, it was diminished.

When I joined the board in 2022, it was my clear intent to restore the campus connection and relevance to Lake County communities. My previous 23 years teaching at the campus demonstrated its important and growing contributions both vocationally and educationally.

Starting in about 2015, vacancies in both faculty and classified staff remained unfilled, limiting the ability to promote enrollment and sustain programs. The Covid pandemic accelerated this decline. Main campus administrators argued positions could only be refilled if enrollment increased, while withholding the resources needed to promote the campus and increase enrollment.

Reliance on interim administrators at the top of the organization stood in the way of change for a significant period of time. With my deep involvement, the board addressed this, starting with the permanent appointments of a very experienced chancellor, followed by a new college president. This new team then recruited permanent vice presidents and recently a permanent dean of the Lake County Campus.

A new direction for our campus is the result. Several faculty and classified positions have been restored. Local supports for students have increased. Resources have been devoted to outreach in the community. Declining enrollment from the pandemic is being reversed. Very recently dual enrollments of Lower Lake and Middletown High School students have jumped significantly. A modern electronic sign at the campus, more meetings of the Board of Trustees in Lake County, a new local campus advisory board that is officially an auxiliary to the District Foundation, Lake County representation on the Foundation Board, and other initiatives, point to a renewed commitment to our campus.

To a significant extent, engaging community leadership with the new administration has made much of this turnaround possible and I have been at the forefront of this effort. It also helps explain the depth and breadth of my endorsements. Current, former and candidates for Clearlake City Council, Konocti and Middletown School Boards, and the Board of Supervisors have endorsed me. Local business leaders have endorsed me. The current faculty and staff at the Lake Campus are nearly unanimous in supporting me, as are former Deans. The full list is long and indicates those with the most at stake believe in my leadership.

In contrast, my opponent’s signs refer to a Nov. 8 election. His website lists an address and area code for him in Nevada. At a recent forum, he made baseless and disproven statements about district finances. He stated the campus dean position disappeared, only to change his statement when corrected. He fixated on trivialities. He now claims to know of a plan to close the Lake County Campus, providing links to news coverage of two meetings. Those links reveal my involvement in a local movement urging expansion and reinvigoration of the campus as I have described above. One of his links includes the new chancellor saying, “I am committed to this campus.” My opponent’s campaign relies on inaccurate, irrelevant and unhelpful disinformation.

I offer decades of experience and commitment to the success of the Yuba Community College District and Lake County Campus. I pledge to keep working in tandem with the community to expand the progress of the last year or two, while being a team player on the Board of Trustees. Your vote matters. You have a choice between experience and success promoting local vocational and higher education opportunities on one hand, and a lack of understanding and seriousness on the other. I would be honored to have your vote on Nov. 5.

Douglas M. Harris, is trustee for the Yuba Community College District, Area 7. He lives in Clearlake, California.