CANDIDATES IN RUNNING NEW BOARD MEMBERS TO FACE TOUGH ISSUES.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Finding a new president, dealing with the state budget crisis and providing adequate parking are among the issues the four Antelope Valley College board candidates say need to be addressed.

Running for two four-year seats on the board in the Nov. 4 are incumbents Earl Wilson and Jack Seefus, former Lancaster School District trustee Michael Huggins and student Christopher Hogan. The five-member board oversees a college that serves more than 11,000 students and serves a region of nearly 2,000 square miles.

Hogan, 20, is finishing his last semester at AVC. A business administration major, he plans to attend California State University, Northridge.

``I'm interested in having a role in bettering the college,'' Hogan said.

Hogan said the college needs to come up with more parking and conduct long-range planning to prepare for future budget problems.

``Students come too late for class because of the lack of parking,'' Hogan said. ``That's one of the biggest issues teachers and students believe needs to be addressed.''

Michael Huggins, 41, is the chief of Space and Missile Propulsion Directorate at Edwards Air Force Base and was a Lancaster School District trustee.

The first critical issue facing the college is the hiring of a new president to replace Daniel Larios, who retired after three years with the college.

``We need someone who can forge bridges with the different elements of the college and the community,'' Huggins said.

The other major issue immediately facing the college is coping with the state budget crisis. Huggins said his experience in dealing with the budgets with the Lancaster School District in the 1990s has helped prepare him for that challenge.

``There are tough times ahead with the budgets,'' Huggins said. ``I've got a background in that. The growth in the (Lancaster School) district put the same kinds of restraints on us.''

Huggins said he wanted to see the college develop joint-use agreements with other entities that will expand educational opportunities for Antelope Valley residents.

Seefus, 68, is a bank president. He was elected to the AVC board in 2001 to fill two years of an unexpired term.

``The primary thing we're going to work on is locating a new president,'' Seefus said. ``We need someone who can bring the factions of the college together. We need someone who can pull a team together and make that place hum.''

The college will still have to deal with the state budget crisis, Seefus said, and the current board has shown an ability to grapple with the shortage of dollars in such a way to minimize the impact to students and staff.

``We've been fiscally responsible, and we've done it without having to lay off a lot of people, like other colleges have had to do,'' Seefus said.

Wilson, 68, is a retired NASA engineer. He has served on the college board for 28 years, the longest of any of the current board members.

Like Huggins and Seefus, Wilson said the immediate goal would be to get a new president hired. Wilson believes the college can have somebody in place by late spring.

A major goal will be to be to re-establish college classes in Palmdale, Wilson said. In 2002, the college opened a temporary Palmdale campus in the recreation center of what was then SR Technics, an aircraft modification plant at Avenue P and 30th Street East.

The campus was short-lived, however, because SR Technics folded in the wake of a downturn in the aircraft modification industry following the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

``I want to get the south campus up and going,'' Wilson said. ``The SR Technics building filled up quickly; that shows there's a real need there.''

Re-starting a Palmdale location will likely require the passage of a bond to finance its establishment, as well as improvements to the Lancaster campus, Wilson said.

The college has plans to build a permanent 80-acre campus south of Barrel Springs Road between 37th and 47th streets east. That project, with an estimated price tag of $37.9 million, has been on hold because of a lack of funding.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) Christopher Hogan

Working on B.A. at CSUN 

(2) Michael Huggins

Served as school trustee

(3) Jack Seefus

Formerly a board member

(4) Earl Wilson

Longtime board member