First, he discovered that he and other senior students had to pay the Santa Barbara City College health fee even though they were on Medicare.
Next, he was dismayed that the Metropolitan Transit District curtailed its bus service to the West Campus, and yet students still paid the full fee for the required bus pass.
Finally, he was baffled that campus bathrooms were in such bad shape when the college had raised $198 million in Proposition P bond money to improve facilities.
“We all have health insurance, so why should we have to pay a health fee?” said E. Howard Green, who at 88, is running to represent Area 5 on the Santa Barbara Community College Board of Trustees.
He brought his concerns to the college administration where, he said, he “found a certain resistance” to his suggestions for change.
“I wouldn’t say I find areas of dissatisfaction,” he told the News-Press. “Let’s say that I see areas for improvement.”
When he discovered in early summer that incumbent Marsha Croninger was not seeking re-election, he decided to run.
Like his opponent, Green centers his candidacy on his student experiences. He has taken numerous classes at each of the district’s campuses over the past 15 years.
But after attending SBCC board and committee meetings throughout the summer, he said his perspective has broadened.
He now appreciates that trustees are mainly responsible for setting broad directions and college policies, not necessarily managing fee and bus schedules or bathroom maintenance.
Still, he said his day-to-day student experience — along with a lifetime of challenging employment and volunteerism — would make him an effective trustee.
“I don’t have magic bullets,” he said. “But I think all my experiences in life lead me to this.”
His ‘board interests’
Green doesn’t have a platform. Instead, he has a list he’s titled “Howard Green’s Board Interests.”
He said he was particularly energized after attending a Sept. 15 board retreat that focused on long-term planning. Now, he’s eager to work on the big-picture problems, such as the decreasing enrollment, aging facilities and the demand for more workforce training.
To offset the trend of fewer high school students enrolling at the college, he said that more programs need to be designed for older students seeking job training or re-training.
The college needs more flexible, career-focused education, and the “15-week, twice-a-week class is not the way to attract these people,” he said.
All facilities and infrastructure planning should be forward-looking, he said, inspired by the board’s recent discussions to situate the college and its buildings for the year 2036.
“The question is, are they the right kind of classrooms to have for the future?” he said.
Time on his hands
Green grew up in Oakland and attended Berkeley public schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business from UC Berkeley and started working for IBM right after graduation. He stayed with IBM for 30 years, in a range of positions and locations, from the West Coast to the East and postings in Europe.
He and his late wife, Lenore, moved to Cape Cod when he retired. There, he began his volunteer work, serving on the executive boards of the local opera and public television station, positions he cites as qualifications for the SBCC board.
He moved to Santa Barbara 20 years ago — attracted in part by the Music Academy of the West, to which he is a donor. He volunteered on the city’s Transportation and Circulation committee and is in his third term on the Central Coast Commission for Senior Citizens.
He also volunteers with the American Red Cross, counseling people turning 65 on Medicare options. And during tax season, he volunteers with the United Way to help people with tax preparation.
“After I retired and my wife died, I had time on my hands,” he said, waiving away the suggestion that such service is commendable. Those experiences did, however, enable him to understand the Santa Barbara community and add value to his candidacy, he said.
Green returns often in conversation to his experiences as an SBCC student.
He has completed 45 credit courses online, on the Mesa campus and, most recently, with the UCSB intercollegiate exchange program. He’s also completed 33 enrichment classes with the School of Extended Learning, the college’s popular non-credit arm.
Salaries are pressing issue
Displaying the printed salary schedules for college employees, Green said he was shocked to learn how little they are paid.
“These two charts were very important to me, and I don’t know that I have a solution,” he said. “But I’m aware of the problem and feel that it needs to be dealt with.”
He said he watched — and was bothered by — the Sept. 10 board meeting during which instructors pleaded for raises that would enable them to keep up with the cost of living.
“I think there is some rigidity in the thinking in the administration, and I don’t know whether it’s they’re not having input from enough different kinds of people, or it’s being filtered somehow,” he said. “But this (employee salary) thing is a perfect example.”
Green added that it was “poor optics” for Superintendent-President Erika Endrijonas to accept a pay raise over four years while employees were offered nothing.
A Nonpartisan Race?
Acknowledging that his 44-year-old opponent, Dominique Luján, is backed by Democratic groups in town, Green said his party affiliation is Independent. He has neither sought nor received endorsements.
“I was astounded because this is a nonpartisan race,” he said “So why should they be endorsing?”
He said he is aware that Luján has raised Green’s age with constituents, and that he would be 92 at the end of his 4-year term. “Yes, we do need more young people, and some elected officials do overstay their time,” he said.
But he doesn’t believe he’s one of them.
“I feel that I’ve got both background and momentum, and am not concerned about health problems right now,” he said.
“It’s good to have other perspectives, younger perspectives. I understand that, but the opposite isn’t necessarily true. The opposite isn’t always true.”
