Against the backdrop of conservative-led efforts to restrict the types of courses public universities can offer, root out campus diversity efforts and crack down on faculty members who step out of line, an unusually fierce race for a position on the Alamo Colleges District Board is shaping up this May.
Trustee Leslie Sachanowicz, an attorney who represents Northeast Bexar County, drew three challengers who are all raising money and campaigning hard for his District 9 seat.
Though he’s hardly been an outlier on a board contending with state policy changes, his reelection contest is drawing attention from a local Democratic group that’s gearing up to influence a host of education races in Bexar County, and endorsed all three of his challengers.
Sachanowicz is also being targeted by a faculty union that’s umbrella organization, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), is getting more involved in community college board races across Texas this year.
“[Our chapters are] jumping in there with higher-ed, to push back against the challenges in the classroom,” said Tony Villanueva, an Alamo Colleges faculty member who serves as a regional vice president for the AAUP’s Texas’ chapter. “There’s a lot of intimidation, a lot of chilling effect on educators, and fear, but we’re going to try our best to make sure that our voices are heard.”
The race will appear on the May 2 ballot — a low turn-out election held in the weeks between the Texas primary and primary runoffs.
Voters are electing school board members and city leaders in a handful of districts and smaller municipalities across the county, but the Alamo Colleges board race is the lone contest likely to advance to an even lower-turnout June 13 runoff, since candidates must secure at least 50% of the votes to win outright in the first round.
Check your voter registration status and download a copy of your personal sample ballot for the May 2 election here. Early voting runs April 20-28, find a polling location here.Election day voting sites can be found here.
The 9-member Alamo Colleges District Board oversees policy direction for five independently accredited community colleges in San Antonio.
Sachanowicz, age 68, was elected six years ago in a runoff against then-incumbent Joe Jesse Sanchez, who fell short of winning reelection by just 55 votes.
Since then, Sachanowicz says he’s successfully helped steward two bond programs with nearly $1.5 billion worth of improvements to prepare for the district’s explosive growth.
The district’s enrollment has increased by about 20,000 students since he first joined the board, he said and it now serves more than 85,000 students, who are training for the careers of the future.
“My thoughts initially when I was going to run for another term, is that during my term on ACC had done really well,” Sachanowicz said. “We are a well-functioning board.”
But Sanchez is angling for a comeback. Meanwhile the faculty union has rallied around longtime Palo Alto College professor Carolyn DeLecour, who they say understands their needs in this challenging environment, while a third candidate, certified public accountant Robert Garcia, is raising big money from his network in the local business community.
Sachanowicz is now spending his own money to keep up, but remains positive about his chances.
“There’s been a lot of momentum, positive momentum at Alamo Colleges,” said Sachanowicz, who has long stressed his private-sector experience as a value-add for the district. “People are looking forward to having more workforce-type opportunities to build their own futures.”
Meet the challengers
Sanchez, 78, a retired educator, launched his comeback campaign with support from former state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte (D-San Antonio) and state Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio).
More than any of the other challengers, he’s been on the attack against Sachanowicz, saying the incumbent has been disengaged from the board’s work.
“If the community sees a void — and I’m part of the community — I think that it’s incumbent upon the community to step up and be proactive, or in my case, run for the position,” Sanchez said. “I took the position, and I take the position, very seriously.”
DeLecour, 77, who was a professor at Palo Alto College for 27 years, chaired the department of communication and served as faculty senate president.
In the wake of an unpopular restructure of the faculty senate — something the 9-member Alamo Colleges District Board did to comply with state law — she and her peers are eager to see one of their own in leadership.
“I’m all about respect and trust for faculty, and I don’t see a lot of that happening these days,” DeLecour told a gathering of the North East Bexar County Democrats on Saturday.
She’s rallying support from the ACCU, and Villanueva is even helping out as her campaign manager.
“A lot of [community college] boards are saying, ‘Well, it’s law, we can’t do anything about it,’” DeLecour said of her approach. “I’ve talked to some other college districts, and I think there are some things that we can do.”
Garcia, 44, doesn’t have a background in education, but earned an associate degree from Northwest Vista College and a bachelor’s degree from UTSA, where he remains involved as part of the alumni board.
“This isn’t about being an educator in the classroom,” said Garcia, who has put financial stewardship at the center of his campaign. “This is a very complex organization that’s multi-layered, where your relationships and understanding of San Antonio and the county impact everything.”
Garcia recently went through the Greater Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership San Antonio program, which is designed to build such connections, and has churned out many city council candidates in recent years.
He raised close to $17,000 from donors and loaned his campaign another $5,000. His campaign finance report is a who’s who of local political influencers, including businessman John Agather and Act4SA leader Ananda Tomas.
The board’s members serve staggered, six-year terms.
The two other members up this year, Lorraine Pulido (District 4), and Clint Kingsbery (District 8), are running unopposed.
The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the amount of money that Robert Garcia loaned his campaign.
