By The Signal Editorial Board It’s time for the community to reclaim its community college. The best way to do that is to elect four new board members: Darlene Trevino, Scott Schauer, Fred Arnold and Sharlene Johnson. This diverse quartet promises to bring positive change to a board that lately has been beset by controversy and secrecy, and is far too dominated by the faculty union’s politicking.  There’s a notion on the College of the Canyons campus — and it manifests itself in the faculty union’s spending on the campaign -— that what’s good for the faculty is inherently good for the college and the students. Certainly, faculty members and staff have a front-row seat to the day-to-day happenings on campus, but they only see it from the perspective of educators and employees. It’s fair to say faculty and staff have valuable insight and it’s reasonable for them to have some representation. But now, they have all of it and they are seeking to seize even more control. The union is backing a slate of four candidates that would create a 5-0 supermajority on the board. If the college’s entire board is dominated by officeholders who are beholden to the unions that put them there, an entire constituency is unrepresented. That constituency is literally everyone else, namely the everyone else whose tax dollars are paying the bills.  That’s one of the reasons we are advocating a change, in the interest of creating a more diverse board that represents the interests of the entire community, not just that segment of the community that draws a paycheck from the college. Three of the four candidates we are endorsing have served on the board of the COC Foundation, the college’s fundraising organization, so they are very familiar with the college and its needs, yet they each represent different backgrounds and experiences. It’s already guaranteed that the board will continue to have at least one faculty-backed member, as the current board members made sure of that by appointing Carlos Guerrero to the vacant seat handed to them by former Trustee Joan MacGregor, who intentionally delayed her planned resignation in order to take the decision on replacing her out of the voters’ hands. Such shenanigans are only the tip of the iceberg indicating why there needs to be change in leadership at COC.  The COC board has failed in its duty to be transparent in its meetings and dealings with the taxpayers’ dollars. As we previously said, it’s “a dumpster fire of secrecy.” Following the current board’s dismissal of Chancellor Dianne Van Hook after 36 years of leadership, top-level staff turnover has continued and the board appointed an interim president who came from — no surprise — a faculty background: David Andrus, a former political science professor at the college. He seems like a very capable man. But one of his first actions was to conduct an illegal closed-session board meeting with the campus staff. Thus, we believe there needs to be additional change at COC. We believe the board should be diverse in backgrounds so as to allow it to function properly in evaluating and overseeing the various educational, business and development issues inherent in operating a large educational institution. And, we need a board that looks out for all taxpayers — not just the employees. All of this and more figures in our decision to endorse these four candidates for the seats on the Nov. 5 ballot: • Trustee Area No. 1, Darlene Trevino. She is the founder and CEO of the Palmdale-based Trevino Law Firm, specializing in personal injury cases. She has awarded scholarships to students in the Antelope Valley School District and has volunteered to help with that district’s mock trial program.  • Trustee Area No. 2, Scott Schauer: He’s the president of the SCV Sheriff’s Station Foundation, founder of the Santa Clarita Soccer Center and owner of numerous other businesses. He currently works for Daum Commercial Real Estate in Valencia and has played major roles in several nonprofits, including the Michael Hoefflin Foundation  • Trustee Area No. 3, Fred Arnold: The current president of the COC Foundation, Arnold is a mortgage professional with 32 years of experience and has served on boards for the Child & Family Center, the SCV Disaster Coalition, the SCV Chamber of Commerce and the Our Lady of Perpetual Help school. He has four kids and has finished 35 Ironman competitions.  • Trustee Area No. 4, Sharlene Johnson: She’s a local real estate agent who previously applied for a vacant seat in 2023 but was not selected by the union-dominated board. She is a member of the COC Foundation board and has collaborated with multiple nonprofits, such as the SCV Boys & Girls Club and the WiSH Education Foundation. Santa Clarita City Council District 1: Tim Burkhart There’s only one seat on the ballot, the brand new District 1. Two candidates — Tim Burkhart and Patsy Ayala — would both bring a fresh voice to the City Council and both candidates will do a fine job if elected, but you the voter must make a choice, and so should we.   Our endorsement goes to Tim Burkhart. He has been a Santa Clarita planning commissioner for over 20 years and he brings valuable professional experience to the council. He worked for Six Flags for 40 years, most recently as a corporate vice president in charge of building projects around the country at Six Flags theme parks. He’s a strong advocate of public safety, economic growth, strategic planning, infrastructure and quality of life — values we wholeheartedly share with him.  William S. Hart Union High School District Trustee Area 1: Dr. Aakash Ahuja Trustee Area 4: Erin Wilson Two seats are on the ballot for the SCV’s high school district, and we are endorsing Dr. Aakash Ahuja for Trustee Area 1 and the incumbent Erin Wilson for Trustee Area 4. Ahuja, a psychiatrist serving within the California State Prison System and a resident of Santa Clarita for a decade, moved to the U.S. from India more than two decades ago. He’s an outspoken advocate of protecting and enhancing students’ mental health and wellness.  Wilson was appointed to the board last year following the resignation of James Webb and has served the district well since joining the board. She has taught in classrooms for nonprofits and has five children who all graduated from the Hart district.  The post Our View | Our Endorsements: Education, City Council appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.