Quinones To Run for College Board

By Teresa Rochester

One thing was for sure: Two-term Board of Education member Margaret Quinones wouldn't seek reelection when her term expired in November. What wasn't clear, until now, was whether or not she would run for City Council or Santa Monica College's Board of Trustees.

On Thursday, Quinones -- who in January told the Lookout she was seriously considering running for City Council -- set the record straight and announced her plan to run for one of the open seats on SMC's Board of Trustees in the November election.

Quinones said her eye has primarily been set on the college board and that her children, Sandra and Francisco Franco, who attend the college, helped her make her final decision.

"I'm throwing my hat into the ring," said Quinones, an alumnae of SMC. "When I shared my thoughts my daughter Sandra, who goes to the college, said, 'We really need and want you at the college.' I'm kind of following my children's wishes."

Three seats on the Board of Trustees will be up for grabs in November. The terms of trustee Patrick Nichelson and the board's Vice Chair Annette Shammey are set to expire this year and the third seat was held by long-time trustee Ilona Katz, who died in April. A special election for Katz's seat will be held during the general election.

"Just as I worked on behalf of the [Santa Monica/Malibu] Unified throughout and with the city, I will do the same for the college," Quinones said. "It just seems like a natural progression."

Quinones, who spends five hours a week at SMC as a counselor, is the coordinator for El Camino College's high school program, helping students from the college's 20 feeder schools move into the rigors of higher education.

Quinones would have to step down from her position at SMC if she is elected to the board. There is also a question as to whether or not she would have to step down once she officially files her paperwork announcing her intention to run.

Quinones said she has already consulted a lawyer who has assured her she can keep her position during the campaign because it is not her main source of income. City Clerk Maria Stewart said she would consult the city attorney and the college's legal counsel to issue opinions on the matter.

The city's only elected Latina official, Quinones garnered the endorsement of the city's powerful tenant organization Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights when she ran for the Board of Education in 1992 and 1996. Quinones said she will seek the organization's endorsement for her college board bid.

Quinones will be in England presenting her dissertation on the retention of Chicano and Latino students in college at the University of Redding and Gallway when SMRR holds its nominating convention in August.

"I have a deep history and connection with the college," said Quinones, who was a founder of the SMC branch of Mecha, an organization that focuses on Chicano and Mexican American issues. "I'm of a different generation from the board members there. I have a different set of life experiences as a Chicana."