According to the Pasadena Star- News, The Pasadena City College Board of Trustees announced Mark Rocha as its new college president Wednesday replacing interim president Lisa Sugimoto.
Rocha is currently the president of West Los Angeles College and will begin his term at PCC on July 1.
“It’s a dream come true,” Rocha said. “I am so pleased and I can’t wait to get to work.”
It’s also a dream come true for the residents of Culver Crest, who have found Rocha to be an amazingly bad neighbor, unwilling to behave or negotiate in any civilized fashion with Culver City or it’s residents.
The Pasadena City College board of trustees made the choice despite opposition. “We’re highly impressed with Dr. Rocha’s collegial teamwork approach at West Los Angeles College that resulted in great progress in the areas of enrollment, budget and external grants and fundraising,” said board president Hilary Bradbury-Huang.
PCC board member Bill Thomson said the hiring process, which narrowed down to two candidates from a field of nearly 90, was filled with quality applicants. He was confident PCC made a good choice.
“We felt we had two very qualified people to choose from,” he said. “We’re confident that Dr. Rocha can come in and work with the staff.”
While board members exuded confidence in their pick, some of the faculty were cold to the announcement of the new president.
“I’m neither happy nor unhappy,” said Roger Marheine, president of PCC Faculty Association. “This was a decision made by the board despite a tremendous amount of opposition by faculty and staff.”
With Pasadena one of the other southern California cities that often work in league with Culver City on area issues, it will be interesting to note how PCC treats the neighbors after July 1. Perhaps our Culver Crest friends should send them a few notes on traffic, parking and how to read an environmental impact report.
Be the first to comment