Election upset: Incumbent trustee Selvidge loses seat

Share: In a close election yesterday, Trustee Ross Selvidge lost his seat on the PCC Board of Trustees to opponent Sandra Chen Lau. Since 2013, Selvidge has represented the Area 1 district which includes the city of La Canada Flintridge, west Pasadena and west Altadena. Lau was elected to a 4-year term on the Board with 59.05 percent of votes. Selvidge received 40.95 percent of votes. Winning by a margin of 1621, Lau received 5290 votes while Selvidge received 3669 votes. Selvidge initially announced his …

Consulting firm dropped after unsuccessful president search

Share: After choosing an expensive search firm, with less experience and fewer guarantees than others, PCC had to declare a failed, or unsuccessful, search after it witnessed its three finalists for president drop out of consideration. As a result, the college terminated its partnership with the search firm prematurely, bringing PCC back to square one in the process of finding a new superintendent-president. Collaborative Brain Trust (CBT), the consulting firm chosen by the PCC Board of Trustees (BOT) to conduct this past year’s unsuccessful presidential …

Veterans honored at wall ceremony

Share: A large crowd of veterans, family, friends, and students gathered around PCC’s memorial wall for a ceremony commemorating past and present veterans for their service on the Tuesday before Veterans Day. The ceremony began with a salute from the members of PCC Fencing Club. Then it was followed by a few introductions recognizing key VIPs who were present during the ceremony. Among those recognized were Board of Trustees members Ross Selvidge and Linda Wah, new executive director of the Office of Strategic Communications and …

Board approves once in a lifetime budget

Share: The Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a “once in a lifetime” budget for the 2015-2016 year last Thursday which included significant one-time funding, on-going funds for full-time staff hires, and no new student fee increases. Assistant Superintendent Robert Miller explained the budget is unique due to the “sheer magnitude” of its revenues, which reach almost $150 million. Because of Governor Brown’s conservative approach to producing the state budget, the state’s actual general fund revenues greatly surpassed its estimates, creating one-time funding opportunities for schools. …