On Dec. 9, newly elected and re-elected Cabrillo College trustees were sworn in by Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Syda Cogliati.
They are:
- Ken Wagman, Area IV, the northern portion of Santa Cruz, Bonny Doon, and Davenport. He ran unopposed; Rachael Spencer did not seek re-election after 22 years.
- Christina Cuevas, Area III (Capitola, Soquel and Live Oak) who ran unopposed
- Steve Trujillo, Area VII (Watsonville, Aromas and Pajaro), who ran unopposed
- Manuel Bersamin, Area V (Watsonville) who ran unopposed after being appointed in September to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Martha Vega.
Ken Wagman
Christina Cuevas
Wagman has taught math at Gavilan Community College in Gilroy for more than 30 years. He has served four terms as the president of Gavilan’s Academic Senate and 18 years as the Faculty Union president and negotiator. He served 10 years on the Santa Cruz City Schools Board of Trustees.
“All Californians deserve an excellent education, and I have devoted my entire career to that goal,” said Wagman. “I stayed active in the Santa Cruz community after receiving my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mathematics from UC Santa Cruz, and look forward to supporting student success by developing new opportunities and tackling the challenges the Cabrillo Community College District will face during the next four years.”
Steve Trujillo
Manuel Bersamin
Challenges include declining enrollment and state budget cutbacks.
“I offer an understanding of school finance and the willingness to involve our diverse community in important decisions,” Wagman said. “I will stand for the interests of every Cabrillo student, will maintain the tradition of educational excellence that Cabrillo has earned over the years, and will operate with integrity as a member of the Board of Trustees.”
Bersamin, who attended Cabrillo in 1982 and worked as a migrant education counselor after earning his degree from UC Irvine,, has been director of the Hartnell College Student Support Services programs since 2006. He is the first Asian-American and Filipino-American to serve on the Board of Trustees in Cabrillo’s history.
“Both Ken and Manuel bring experience in the California Community College system which is a great asset to the Board of Trustees, given the complexity of the statewide system and the challenges we are facing in the future,” said Governing Board Chair Christina Cuevas. “I look forward to working with them.”
All four trustees will serve on the board until the next general election in November 2028.
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Cabrillo’s board meets on the first Monday at 6:15 p.m. at the Sesnon House on the Cabrillo College Aptos Campus, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos.
To view agendas, go to https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/cabrillo/Board.nsf/vpublic?open