Fills vacancy left by Fred Jandt; district includes Palm Springs, part of Cathedral City.
Jonathan HorwitzPalm Springs Desert Sun
Former Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden is the newest member of the College of the Desert Board of Trustees.
Oden was sworn in after he was unanimously appointed by the board Friday, 4-0, to become the Area 3 representative for Palm Springs and a sliver of Cathedral City. It was a rare and important moment of consensus for a board that has been divided on major topics from the contract of outgoing Superintendent/President Martha Garcia to the direction for the roughly $400 million Palm Springs campus — including a deadlocked vote on that matter just hours earlier.
Oden touted himself as a "consensus builder" and "mediator." As the fifth member of this board, he'll have to wear both those hats.
He beat out five other applicants for the role including three other finalists who interviewed in front of the board Friday: Allison “Al” G. Jones, David B. Powell and Donald R. Vickers.
Oden replaces Fred Jandt, who resigned at the end of March due to health concerns. His term runs through 2024. Oden said his plan is to run to retain the seat in 2024.
Oden served as mayor of Palm Springs from 2003 to 2007, overseeing significant growth of the city’s budget. He was the city’s first Black, openly gay mayor. He has also taught sociology as an adjunct professor at COD since the 1990s.
"I have skin in the game," he said. "My oldest daughter went here. My youngest daughter went here, and I have a granddaughter matriculating here in the fall."
"I've been a leader in this valley for a long time from one end to the other," he added as he reflected on his leadership experience with the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, SunLine Transit, the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, the Greater Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau (since rebranded as Visit Greater Palm Springs), the Palm Springs Airport Commission and more regional agencies.
He also laid out how he hopes to be a leader for constituents in Area 3, in particular.
"District Three also has one of the largest African American populations in the Coachella Valley," he said. "I live in that district. I'm connected with that district. And, I'm often the voice of the unheard and underrepresented."
Oden told the board his major concerns facing the community college system in the next decade include how to socialize the leadership of the generation through an education process that is increasingly online and how to respond to the rise of students using artificial intelligence.
He added that transportation would be another issue, locally.
When asked what he believes to be the primary responsibility of the board, Oden responded by saying it's to select a superintendent/president and support that person.
"That person is the one who creates the environment and creates the creative atmosphere for everyone to flourish," he said.
With Garcia heading to Mt. San Antonio College in Los Angeles County this July, the board is tasked with selecting an interim president and then a full-time one.
In the wake of historically divisive trustee campaigns last fall filled with diatribes, vitriol and accusations against colleagues and administrators, the COD board asked candidates Friday how a trustee should react when their position is not supported by the board majority.
Oden said it's important to behave like a grownup.
"I think that sometimes people are so closely aligned with a thought or an idea that sometimes it's difficult for them to separate themselves emotionally, but the rejection of the though or idea is not a rejection of the person," he said. "So, I think just being a professional, and sometimes just being a grownup — and let's face it, that's not always the easiest thing to do — but we have a responsibility. And that is to be an adult and do the right thing, so that the board can move forward."
As far as what might be the board's most divisive issue — the direction of the Palm Springs campus — Oden expressed some skepticism:
"I wasn't there when we negotiated the contract for the western valley campus, and, in all honesty, if it were built today, I don't know if we'd have the enrollments to support it," he said. "So I think it's important for us to look at as we do this western valley campus to look at what's appropriate for the time now present."
Ultimately, when asked directly why the board should appoint him, Oden responded concisely:
"Because of my experience, my expertise. I'm a certified, trained mediator. I've worked with people from one end of this valley to the other. My reputation is one of a consensus builder. I understand the institution. I've been a part of the institution. The only thing that I'm asking is to continue that in a different capacity, but to continue serving the community that I'm in."
Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com.
