Santa Barbara City College Superintendent Anthony Beebe’s last Board of Trustees meeting on March 14 was mostly business as usual with heated debates and intense disagreement. But before jumping into discussion, boardmembers each took a turn thanking Beebe for his service and highlighting some of his many accomplishments during his three years at the college. Beebe had announced his unexpected retirement for health reasons on February 8.
The board presented Beebe with a plaque and posed for a picture with him before moving into discussion about an anti-racism resolution and the five-year fiscal projection for the college. Both items will return to the board when Interim Superintendent Helen Benjamin takes over the position. Benjamin will start at SBCC on April 1 and will attend her first board meeting April 11. She was chancellor of the Contra Costa Community College District for 11 years, before retiring in 2016, and she has also served as president of the California Community Colleges CEOs, president of the board of the Community College League of California, and chair of the California Promise Leadership Team. Benjamin will be with the college until December 30, 2019, when a permanent superintendent will take over the position.
Discussion about the anti-racism resolution ended with Trustee Jonathan Abboud pointing to trustees Veronica Gallardo, Marsha Croninger, and Craig Nielsen, accusing them of perpetuating racism. “If someone wants to know what racism looks like in politics and in an elected official, you can look to my side,” said Abboud, gesturing at the three. Gallardo, Croninger, and Nielsen oppose the anti-racism resolution as it’s currently written. “Attacks on something so simple, that we don’t need something like this,” said Abboud.