Palomar College board picks firm to conduct search for president

The Palomar Community College District Governing Board has selected a firm to lead the school’s search for a new president.

The board voted unanimously last week to pay about $50,000 to PPL, a search firm that specializes in finding leaders for community colleges.

“Given the obvious place that this board is, I think it’s probably a good idea to have the outside firm shepherd us though the whole process and not place additional burden on our staff,” Trustee Roberto Rodriguez said before the vote.

The search comes at a time when the school community has struggled with disagreements over diversity-related policies and procedures. The governing board voted 3-2 last year to eliminate an anti-racism policy and remove land acknowledgements from meetings, moves some school employees and students have criticized.

“We have a governing board majority that is intent on raising the temperature on campus by fighting a culture war,” said Lawrence Hamilton Lawson, co-president of the Palomar Faculty Federation and a professor of English as a second language.

Ultimately, the governing board will be responsible for selecting the school’s next leader.

The unions that represent classified employees and faculty recently shared resolutions of no-confidence for the board majority of Holly Hamilton-Bleakley, Yvette Marie Acosta and Jacqueline Kaiser. The classified union didn’t include Hamilton-Bleakley in their resolution because leaders said she has mad...