LCC Zone 1: Holman.

Byline: The Register-Guard

It's deja vu all over again in the race for the Zone 1 seat on the Lane Community College Board of Education. The candidates in the West Lane zone are the same as in 2003, and their positions are fundamentally unchanged. Not wanting to thwart such a powerful electoral convergence, The Register-Guard's endorsement of incumbent Paul Holman is the same, as well. Now it's up to the voters to decide how completely history will repeat itself.

If anything, the experience Holman has gained in two tough years on the LCC Board have made him an even better choice this time around. The 60-year-old Florence real estate broker knows that the most important issue facing Oregon's community colleges is stable funding.

Holman also understands that LCC needs to have the flexibility to meet changing work force demands. He points to the emerging importance of health care careers and says that requires a willingness to move resources where they're needed in time to make a difference for local employers.

First appointed to the LCC Board in December 2002, Holman won election in 2003 to the final two years remaining on Lucille Salmony's term. No longer a newcomer, Holman now has the background to play a meaningful role in planning for LCC's future.

Holman faces an exact rematch in the West Lane zone, which extends from Florence into west Eugene. Rob Spooner, publisher of Oregon Coast magazine and president of an online travel service, and Richard Cunningham, a former insurance broker, both sought the Zone 1 seat in 2003. Spooner lives in Florence; Cunningham in Eugene. LCC Board candidates must live within their zones, but are elected by voters throughout the college district.

Spooner, 58, a strong advocate for offering students an affordable education, has criticized the LCC Board for being too passive, especially concerning its role in the budget process. He has a long list of gripes about LCC President Mary Spilde's administration and would scrap the college's women's studies program and its subsidies for KLCC radio.

Curriculum management also is out of whack, according to Spooner. Required writing courses fill up, driving students away, but the college finds ways to offer classes in poetry. Spooner sees neither rhyme nor reason in such decisions.

Cunningham, 46, is back for another shot at the Zone 1 seat after heart surgery limited his campaign in 2003. He previously served on a vocational school board in Rhode Island and ran unsuccessfully for the Eugene City Council in 2002.

Cunningham is clear about why he's running again: He believes the current board is missing an opportunity to make LCC the centerpiece of a southern Willamette Valley health care training combine. He proposes increasing nursing program graduations by 1,000 percent. Cunningham envisions a partnership involving LCC, the University of Oregon, Oregon Health & Science University, PeaceHealth and McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center to build a combined school of medicine, dentistry and nursing.

If LCC were in need of a thorough shake-up, which it isn't, Spooner might be a good choice for the board. Under current circumstances, he would more likely be the odd man out on a board that works well together.

Cunningham has big dreams, but his ideas would face daunting obstacles even if he were governor. As a community college board member, he'd have a difficult time achieving such ambitious goals.

Holman offers the best combination of experience, vision and skills in this race. Voters should re-elect him to LCC's Board in Zone 1.