WRITTEN BY THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT MARY JANE SANCHEZ TO COD BOARD 2024
During my two terms (2012-2020) as the Area 2 Trustee for College of the Desert (COD), I focused on student success. Consequently, COD became the fastest growing community college in California with a record number of graduates. COD won national and state awards for academic excellence and student services. I made it my mission to reduce barriers that prevented a student from earning a college degree. COD began offering free tuition to all local high school graduates, free public transportation on Sunline Transit to get to work, school and home. In addition, I supported, and COD passed, a $578 million education bond to make major facility improvements to COD’s Main Campus in Palm Desert, double the size of the East Valley Campus in Indio, and build the West Valley Campus in Palm Springs.
I’m running again for the COD Board of Trustees as the last four years at COD have been a mess! Much of the dysfunction has been because of current Trustee Bea Gonzalez, my opponent. The adjunct faculty completed a ‘Vote of No Confidence’ against her. Media outlets (Desert Sun and Uken Report) have reported numerous scandals attributed to backroom deals where college leadership canceled or paused major bond facility projects, including the West Valley Campus in Palm Springs where Bea has voted “No” 18 times and counting against it. These construction delays have cost taxpayers millions more and left our students without new classrooms and new campuses. As a result, COD has been plagued with declining enrollments and the East Valley Campus in Indio’s enrollments have declined so much that it lost its “Center” status along with millions of dollars of state funding. Bea Gonzalez was named in a Defamation & Retaliation lawsuit by a former Vice President that cost taxpayers more than $500,000. COD has been targeted with two malware attacks in the last four years, costing the college millions in ransomware payments while exposing student and faculty data to the dark web. Bea Gonzalez was the only trustee who voted this year against computer and software upgrades to prevent such a computer network attack again.
I promise to return the focus back on the students’ needs and bring the best days back to COD. That’s why community leaders, elected officials, faculty, staff and students agree that I’m the most qualified to turn COD around. I hold a master’s degree and served as a State Community College Board Member. I ask for your vote and let’s build the COD student promise now!
For more campaign information visit: www.maryjane4cod.com
*The opinions expressed in this or other articles written by 3rd parties and are those of the 3rd party writer, not of The Sun City Insider magazine or their affiliates.
