Lone Star College System candidates running for trustee positions within districts 5 and 7 will be on the general election ballot Nov. 8. Voters will only be able to elect trustees running within the district in which they live.
District 5 contains the system offices and training center, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-University Center, LSC-Creekside Center, LSC-Tomball and the LSC-Tomball Health Science Building. District 7 includes LSC-Conroe Center.
LSCS trustees serve six-year terms. There are nine members who make up the board of trustees, and they serve staggered terms.
Responsibilities of the trustees:
- Ensure that LSCS is an integral part of the community
- Serve the community’s changing needs
- Function as a cohesive group to articulate and represent a balanced system and the public’s interest
- Establish a climate for learning and monitor the effectiveness of the system
- All trustees are residents within the district they serve, and they serve without payment except where benefits are provided by state law.
Linda S. Good
Position: Lone Star College System trustee, District 7
Occupation: legal aid attorney
Years involved with Lone Star College System: 14 years; elected trustee in 2010
Email and website: [email protected], www.lindasgood.org
My priorities and reason for running:
Forty years ago, local leaders created a community college that has grown into the largest community college system in Texas. A globally recognized educational leader because of local support and partnerships, LSC is an invaluable resource and an economic engine for the entire region.
My first priority is always the students. Helping them become productive members of our community is our primary mission. Our students deserve the same transformative educational experience that I had. Serving nearly 95,000 students, LSC is the first choice of a large percentage of students. It also provides second chances to people of all ages who ache to achieve elusive life goals. Second, I am committed to accountability, transparency and fairness for all who have dealings with the college. I will continue to assure that students, employees, voters and businesses have opportunities to affect how the college operates. A 22-year resident of Montgomery County, I believe the community values the following priorities: one, provide high quality, cost-efficient education; two, respond to local needs; three, stress long-term efficiencies and maintain infrastructure; four, control expenses while keeping taxes low; and five, scrutinize new building projects to assure that the expenditure will be offset by adequate enrollment.
Ron Trowbridge
Position: Lone Star College System trustee, District 7
Occupation: retired
Years involved with Lone Star College System: 10 years; elected trustee in 2013
Email and website: [email protected], www.rontrowbridge.org
My priorities and reason for running:
President Ronald Reagan appointed me director of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs—this educational experience is serving me well as a trustee at Lone Star College.
I worked my way through 10 years of college at the University of Michigan, earning a Ph.D. in English. Hence, I know the hard way the value of education. Nothing—and I mean nothing—gives me greater joy than watching young people, especially low-income students, get an education, a degree and a job.
Recently, speaking to the graduating class of Lone Star College-North Harris, I asked, “How many of you are the first one in your extended family to go to college and to get a degree?” Their response was unbelievably moving: virtually half of the graduating class raised their hands. That was beauty; that was poetry. And that is what community college is all about: It gives people with not much money a way up. I love my job as trustee, and I love working with the kids. I ran the Fulbright Program for President Reagan, but the rewards there were not as rich as working with and seeing our young people succeed academically and professionally.
Luis R. Granados
Position: Lone Star College System trustee, District 5
Occupation: engineer (mechanical and nuclear)
Years involved with Lone Star College System: two years
Email: [email protected]
My priorities and reason for running:
The main reason I am running for the Lone Star College System trustee Position 5 is to bring the LSCS in compliance with the principles of accreditation.
The filtering of the applicants to college has been reduced to a minimum allowing basically anybody to access a college education.
This may be good from a political point of view since it serves as a bullet point to advertise the democratization of the education. However, on the other side, it reduces the teaching quality due to the excessive number of students.
The always-increasing number of students forces the authorities to request more funds, and the taxpayer is forced to pay more via property tax increases or repayment of bonds.
I don’t believe this is fair for anyone for the following reasons: Applicants without the qualifications who are enticed to get a college education and get in debt to pay the tuition and fees just to drop later on; teachers who need to accommodate students without the requirements and background; and the taxpayer who pays more on property taxes.
David Vogt
Candidate did not respond
