COM Board Adopts By-Area Election Model

April 14th, 2020 - 12:34pm

COM Board of Trustees Adopts By-Area Election Model to Ensure Representation

Change will be implemented in time for the November 2022 elections

KENTFIELD / NOVATO, CA—The Marin Community College District has adopted a by-area election model for selecting future Board of Trustees members. Currently, members are elected at-large through registered votes from the entire jurisdiction.

The resolution was passed and adopted by a vote on March 10, 2020.

The change was made to ensure that the Board of Trustees is equally representative of all communities within the District. Additionally, the Board believes that “by-trustee-area” elections may encourage a greater number of candidates to run for seats on the District’s Board of Trustees by reducing the size of the area in which candidates must campaign.

The Board resolved to implement this change in time for the District’s November 2022 Board of Trustees general elections, after the next decennial federal census results are available. District staff, along with a qualified demographic consultant, will prepare sample trustee area plans.

In future elections, the candidates must reside in and be registered to vote in the trustee-area they seek to represent. The Board will adjust boundaries after each decennial census thereafter in accordance to Education Code section 5019.5.

To ensure a transparent process, the Board of Trustees will conduct public hearings once trustee area plans are proposed to solicit public input and testimony before any plan is approved by the Board of Governors.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Meeting agendas and minutes are posted to BoardDocs.