After years as a City College teacher and 16 on the Board of Trustees, incumbent Desmond O’Neill has certainly built up his institutional memory.

“It takes a while to know a trustee’s job. To understand exactly what it consists of, what a trustee is expected to do and not to do,” said O’Neill. He believes term limits would weaken that.

O’Neill has had “experience in public service and in fiscal management. with County Bar Association, Chairman of the City Parks and Recreation Commission, and has led the PARC Foundation, among other things.

A core priority maintained by O’Neill is to “keep intact a program of classes that allow successful completion of student objectives,” such as transfer and degree completion.

But such a tight budget has brought on controversial cuts.

“We haven’t made any cuts because we had fun doing it,” said O’Neill. “If we get the money from the state [to re-instating programs cut] nothing would be better.”

O’Neill stressed that while the community may not be pleased with cuts the board has made, he hopes they can appreciate their position.

“Public input is valuable but we have other constraints,” said O’Neil.

Budget aside, O’Neill is proud of the board’s fiscal standing.

“We’ve got the best reserves in the state”.

O’Neill chaired the Measure V committee in 2008 that raised $77 million for campus construction and repairs. But problems with the projects are due to the states failure to provide a promised $92 million.

“We’re doing the projects we can with the money we have available.”

O’Neill said he supports the growing number of international students on campus.

“They bring cultural diversity,” he said, while pointing out that international student enrollment in upper division math and science classes actually enables the classes to be offered.

Also, O’Neil said they’re “one of the few unrestricted sources of income we have.”

He points out that international students make up only 5% of the student body.

O’Neil thinks the board’s transparency is “pretty clear” as it stands, adding that a secondary voting record is unnecessary.

Hiring Superintendant President Serban is an example of that transparency, too.

“I think it was the most open processes we’ve ever had in hiring a president.”

“Our college, our reserves, and our board are unique in California,” said O’Neil. But ultimately O’Neil said, “the reason we’re there is for the students.”

O’Neill is endorsed by SBCC presidents emeriti Dr. Lorenzo Dall’ Armi and Peter McDougall, retired SBCC Vice-President Dan Oroz, president of the Santa Barbara School Board Ed Heron, and Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider among others.