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Jerry Rust
Zone 1
Age: 82
Brief biography: Born in Prairie City; raised in the Roseburg area; bachelor of science degree, 1965, University of Oregon. I was a Lane County commissioner from 1977 to 1997. I spent a number of years in China as an English teacher after I retired from county government. I live on a small farm near Mapleton.
Connection to Lane Community College: I have cooperated with LCC in the past and my family has utilized the services and classes from LCC for many years and when I was commissioner. I helped arrange funding for the road system that circles LCC. Eight years ago, I was part of a team that made presentations to Chinese vocational schools to establish relationships and recruit students.
Why are you running? I believe in the power of education. Education is often the key to success. LCC is extremely critical for our social and educational mobility and as a steppingstone to higher educational opportunities.
Priorities: I believe I have the experience and ability to bring people together right now. The LCC board is somewhat fractured. I will work to bring unity to the board. A unified board will be able to better protect our investment in LCC; for example, we will undoubtedly need voter approval for obtaining financial resources to deal with a long list of deferred maintenance. As the West Lane representative on the board, I will work to ensure that the campus in Florence delivers needed and quality education, educational opportunities.
Challenges: There are a number of challenges that will be revealed as we balance the budget annually. The challenge will be to maintain high-quality educational opportunities while keeping it affordable. I have a goal of networking with and cooperating with every high school, high school, principal and counselor in Lane County so that the college understands the needs and desires of students. We are fortunate to have such a fine institution. I will give it 100% of my effort. I will use my many years of experience in public office and public service to bring the board together and continue to deliver quality education and training.
Board effectiveness: I would first state that board members are quality people; I have met all of them. However, we should have higher expectations for future boards. Here are some bullet suggestions:
- Set high expectations for a high-performing board.
- There’s a new deck, a new board, a new period of optimism no matter what.
- Have a positive working relationship between the president of the college and the chairman of the LCC board.
- Mark Hatfield used to say that politics is simply the practice of human relations
- We should inspire the board to be high-performing in a time of uncertainty, and when funding is a serious issue.
- Establish a culture. Don’t question motives.
- Agenda-setting should be a collaborative and agreed-to process between the LCC president and the board.
I hope all the board members will get to know each other to find out what each of our goals are and how we can help each other; that can only be done through cooperation.
Endorsements: Western States Regional Council of Carpenters; Lane Community College Education Association; Lane County Democrats; Florence Area Democrats.
