College of Marin board trustees face election challengers

Four candidates are seeking to fill two seats on the College of Marin governing board in the Nov. 5 elections.

Stephanie O’Brien, the incumbent in Trustee Area 7 representing western Marin and part of Novato, is being challenged for reelection by Ross Millerick, the soon-to-be-retired member of the Novato Unified School District board of trustees.

In Trustee Area 2, which covers much of northern San Rafael area, appointed incumbent trustee Crystal Martinez — who provisionally filled the Area 5 spot formerly held by Eva Long — is running against Mila Schechter, who listed his occupation as “retired ecologist fellow.” They are vying for the seat formerly held by longtime incumbent Philip Kranenburg, who declined to seek reelection.

Trustee Area 7

O’Brien, who runs a consulting business that focuses on capital improvement programs for community colleges throughout the state, said she is running for her fifth term on the board because she wants to be part of upcoming challenges and improvements, particularly at the Indian Valley Campus in Novato.

“In the next few years, what will be critical for us to do is find additional ways to leverage our fantastic asset at the IVC campus and finish up the Measure B bond program in a responsible manner,” said O’Brien, 65, of Woodacre.

“We must also align the college’s resources to weather declining enrollment and prepare for the inevitable natural disaster,” she added.

O’Brien, who was first elected to the board in 2011, previously served 10 years on the Lagunitas School District board of trustees. She also has been an at-large representative on the Marin County Committee on School District Organization, which oversees requests to transfer territories in school districts. Her son is a 2020 graduate of College of Marin.

Millerick, 77, of Novato said he too wants to focus on continued improvements at the Indian Valley Campus.

“Located in our backyard, the great College of Marin Indian Valley Campus should offer expanded services to everyone,” he said.

Millerick, the director of technology management for Golden Gate University in San Francisco, said he would focus specifically on improving College of Marin in the areas of student support and community partnerships.

A Novato Unified School District trustee for 33 years, Millerick has served on four College of Marin-related panels, including the 2004 and 2016 bond oversight committees and a 2023 superintendent search committee, and as a member of the Friends of IVC.

Trustee Area 2

Martinez, who was appointed to the board last summer, said she is running because she sees community college as “a powerful equalizer, offering accessible pathways to opportunity at every stage of life.”

Since her appointment, she has been active in the hiring of the college’s new president, Jonathan Eldridge, and in improving her skills as a trustee by taking a certificate course in community college trustee excellence. She has also served on the board’s self-evaluation committee.

“My own experience attending community college allowed me to work full-time while pursuing my educational goals,” Martinez said. “I am dedicated to stewarding the College of Marin, empowering students to use their education to build a thriving future.”

Martinez, 39, is of Native American descent and has 16-year-old son. She lives in the Civic Center area and works as an aide to Marin County Supervisor Mary Sackett.

Martinez said that if she wins election to the board, she would focus on such priorities as “workforce housing, flexible schedules and locations for students.” Also, she would prioritize “showing the benefits of community college as a first choice and re-engaging former students to help them achieve their stated goals.”

Schechter, who is in his late 60s and is a resident of Terra Linda, said he is running in order to “bring my years of experience as an educator to the process of creating and maintaining a top-notch community college system here in Marin County.”

He would emphasize the basics of learning “so that graduates emerge prepared to excel in today’s highly competitive global economy,” he added.

Schechter, a former Israel research team fellow in the 1990s, has a master of science in physical chemistry from Rostov University in Russia specializing in water pollution and environmental research.

He later taught general and physical chemistry courses and researched water pollution  at Polytechnic Institute and Rostov University. Later, he investigated water resource management at Ben-Gurion University, Institute for Desert Research, in the Negev in Israel,

Schecter now leads educational programs in several Jewish institutions in the Bay Area.

A map of College of Marin trustee areas is online at shorturl.at/nPUZB.