Fong, Swenson win, Casas Frier appointed Fong, Swenson win, Casas Frier appointed (November 11, 2005)

Voters choose incumbent, retired professor in Foothill-De Anza race

By Molly Tanenbaum

Foothill-De Anza community college district voters went with experience Tuesday, electing both incumbent Paul Fong and retired math professor Bruce Swenson.

Swenson was the top vote-getter with just over 34.3 percent, and Fong was close behind with 30.7 percent. Candidates Julia Miller and Laura Casas Frier fell further back, gathering 20.4 and 14.4 percent of the votes, respectively.

"You can imagine that I'm feeling pretty good right now," Swenson said on Tuesday evening.

A third seat, which was left vacant after the recent death of trustee Andrea Leiderman, was given to Casas Frier during a board meeting Wednesday morning. Both Miller and Casas Frier had applied for the seat and were considered by the board that morning, along with two other applicants, Barry Cheng and Fred Fowler.

Fong, a 12-year incumbent and a political science professor at Evergreen Valley College, predicted he would win due to the good current state of the district.

"The district is in fine shape and when the district is in fine shape, the incumbent is in fine shape," he said. "There haven't been any catastrophes, we've balanced the budget, we have our reserves, we're not laying off people, we're providing quality education, and we remain one of the top colleges in the state and in the nation. I think we're doing a fine job and I think the voter recognizes that. I'm appreciative of the voters."

One of Fong's immediate plans for his fourth term is to push for a new $400 million bond, a plan already in the works which would go toward finishing construction and rehabilitation on existing buildings, as well as creating new buildings at NASA-Ames in conjunction with UC Santa Cruz and San Jose State University.

Swenson will join Fong and the rest of the Foothill-De Anza board members for his four-year term in early December, replacing Sandy Hay. He and Fong will work with Betsy Bechtel and Hal Plotkin, who were both elected in 2003.

Miller, a former mayor and current councilmember in Sunnyvale, was a student at De Anza, while Casas Frier became involved in lobbying for funding for the district after she moved to Los Altos from southern California four years ago.

Swenson had taught math at Foothill for almost two decades, and later served as a dean and as vice president of finance in the district.

Swenson said he is eager to begin work on his campaign goals, which included strengthening ties between high schools and the colleges to ensure a smooth transition for students, as well as sound long-term financial planning. This requires the board, he said, "to make sure we find a proper bond to recommend to the community -- properly sized, well thought out."

"I'm very anxious to work with the rest of the board to make that happen," Swenson added.

E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum@mv-voice.com

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