Swenson, Casas Frier for Foothill board Swenson, Casas Frier for Foothill board (October 28, 2005)

The Foothill-De Anza Community College District, which serves just over 42,000 students on its two busy campuses in Los Altos Hills and Cupertino, is doing well financially, but continues to struggle to keep up its enrollment, which declined 3 percent over the last academic year.

On Nov. 8, district voters -- who live in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and parts of San Jose -- will elect two of the five board members, and by Nov. 10, the current board will select a replacement to finish the two years remaining in the term of Andrea Leiderman, who died last month.

Four candidates -- incumbent Paul Fong and newcomers Laura Casas Frier, Julia Miller and Bruce Swenson -- are seeking the two open seats. And all except Fong have filed notice to be considered for Leiderman's vacant seat.

Several issues have surfaced in this race, including the state of district finances, the possibility of a $400 million bond issue, the declining enrollment and the unfunded retirement benefits of 700 faculty members who will step down within the next 10 years.

In our candidate interviews, we found Bruce Swenson and Laura Casas Frier to be the most knowledgeable and ready to address these issues head-on.

Mr. Swenson, a longtime professor and most recently vice president of finance for the district, is a fiscal conservative who would go slow on a $400 million bond issue, at least until the district can halt the decline in enrollment. We agree, and also like his plan to build a stronger relationship with local high school districts -- a move which could help ease the enrollment decline. He also supports continuing the colleges' nursing program; the program is costly, he says, but widely needed in the community.

Although only a district resident for four years, Ms. Casas Frier has lobbied for the district in Sacramento and has attended board meetings for the last two years. She calls herself a consensus-builder, a good quality for any board member. She is concerned about the unfunded retirement benefits of faculty members and suggests a range of solutions, such as dedicating cost-of-living adjustments to a retirement fund or setting aside funds each year to pay down the shortfall.

Incumbent Paul Fong does not win our support in this race due to his belief that a huge bond issue will solve the district's problems. Mr. Fong views himself as an activist and savior of the district, but we believe he is on the wrong track. His so-called solution is not what the board needs at this time.

We respect Mr. Fong's service, but Mr. Swenson and Ms. Casas Frier get our support for the vacancies on the district board.

Miller for appointed seat

Our choice for the appointed seat is Julia Miller, a city council member and former mayor of Sunnyvale, where she has lived for over 40 years. She earned a degree in the district, and promises to work hard to keep tuition affordable for current students. Among her priorities are retaining the health profession training programs despite their high cost, and using her local government contacts to lobby on behalf of the district in Sacramento.

The Voice recommends Bruce Swenson and Laura Casas Frier for the two open seats on the board, and Julia Miller for the appointed seat.

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