Seven candidates seek election to four seats on troubled Lane Community College board

At least two new members — and as many as four — will join the Lane Community College Board of Education after the May 20 election, and they’ll be joining a body that appears to be deadlocked, if not fractured.

In December, the board was unable to muster the four votes necessary to replace a member who resigned after being elected to the Legislature. Now, one of the four finalists for that position, Jesse Maldonado, is running unopposed for that Zone 7 seat. 

Tensions increased at the board’s April 2 meeting, when the vice-chair, Kevin Alltucker, read a letter accusing the chair, Zachary Mullholland, of abusive and bullying behavior toward the college’s president, Stephanie Bulger. Mulholland did not respond directly to the accusations in Alltucker’s letter at the meeting, but said he respected the president and suggested that his relationship with Alltucker was strained.

Neither Mulholland nor Alltucker is up for election May 20; each is in the midst of a four-year term. 

Two other board incumbents are seeking reelection and both face challengers. And two newcomers are seeking to replace Zone 1 incumbent Denise Diamond, who is not running for reelection.

Here’s more information on the candidates seeking seats on the seven-member board, which sets policies and approves the budget for LCC. 

The deadline to register to vote in the May 20 election is April 29. Click here for information about how to register to vote in Oregon.

Zone 1

Two candidates, Jeffrey Cooper and Jerry Rust, are on the ballot to succeed Diamond. Zone 1 covers the western half of the LCC district and stretches to the coast.

Cooper, 50, is Fabrication Division manager at Paramount Ironworks in Junction City. He is chair of the LCC Advanced Tech-CTE Advisory Committee and attends trade fairs at LCC and local high schools. 

Rust, 82, was a Lane County commissioner from 1977 to 1997. After retiring from county government, he spent years in China teaching English. As a county commissioner, he helped arrange funding for the road system that circles LCC.

Zone 3

Julie Weismann, 65, is the incumbent in Zone 3, which includes Springfield and covers much of eastern Lane County. Weismann is finance director and former executive director of Hope & Safety Alliance, formerly Womenspace. She has a background in nonprofit leadership and governance.

Devon Lawson, 18, is challenging Weismann. He’s a restaurant manager and a first-generation college student. He is a policy advocate who has worked on more than 30 campaigns.

Zone 4 

Austin Fӧlnagy, 36, is the incumbent in Zone 4, which covers the southern portion of Lane County. He is employed by the state of Oregon and has served on the Klamath Community College Board. He has experience in workforce development, political organizing and labor relations.

Richard Vasquez, 44, is challenging Fӧlnagy. He is a substitute teacher in the South Lane School District and sits on the Parks for Lane County board and the Urban Forest Committee for Cottage Grove. He is a former trustee for San Joaquin Delta College.

Zone 7 

Jesse Maldonado, 30, is running unopposed for the Zone 7 at-large seat. He is an adjunct professor in the University of Oregon School of Planning, Public Policy and Management and national political and labor director for Democratic Municipal Officials, an association of Democratic mayors, city councilors and school board members.