San Diego, CA
New chancellor to lead diversity, equity, and inclusion in the San Diego Community College District
Acting Chancellor Gregory Smith led the San Diego Community College District contingent in the Martin Luther King (MLK) Day Parade along the Embarcadero on Sunday.
Next week, he will take the permanent position when the Board of Trustees approves his contract.
“I have a responsibility to correct things that people who look like me have created,” Smith said.
As a white man, he is direct about discrimination and the American history that so many politicians and pundits currently disagree over. This election year, there is a cultural divide when it comes to the discussion of slavery, civil rights, and social justice for marginalized minority communities who have suffered most.
“I exist in a context where I may not have been the enslaver, but I have benefited tremendously from that racial hierarchy. So, it’s on me to be a part of solving that and take a proactive role in solving it,” he said.
San Diego Community College District
In December, the district’s board promoted Smith from acting chancellor, a position he’s held since last March.
He stepped up from his job as head of human resources to replace previous chancellor Carlos Cortez, who unexpectedly resigned for personal reasons.
“I was not expecting there to be a need to serve as acting chancellor … I wasn’t expecting that the board would be thinking of me if that moment came,” Smith said.
The moment had come.
“We are capable of creating the curriculum, the certificates, and the degrees that demonstrate our value to society. It can help us raise the standard of living wages across all industries in our region and improve the experience we all have in our communities.”
Gregory Smith, Acting Chancellor San Diego Community College District
Smith leads a district with a majority of students who come from marginalized communities of color, who want equity, access and an affordable education — on both sides of the border.
The new year brings a new law with a pilot program allowing low-income students who live within 45 miles of the California-Mexico border to attend community college and not pay much more expensive out-of-state tuition. It works both ways.
“We’ve dropped a significant financial barrier for members of our community who just happen to live on the other side of that border, and there’s a reciprocal agreement that comes with that. Our residents will now be able to go to institutions in Northern Mexico and take classes with resident tuition as well.”
Smith will also advocate for every dollar the district can get from the state budget. Governor Newsom’s new spending proposal includes $60 million for community colleges to expand their nursing programs, including more 4-year bachelor degrees.
The Newsom budget also continues state support for affordable student housing. That includes funding for the district’s mid-rise apartment complex planned at City College through a state lease revenue bond.
“We are capable of creating the curriculum, the certificates, and the degrees that demonstrate our value to society. It can help us raise the standard of living wages across all industries in our region and improve the experience we all have in our communities,” Smith said.
Almost 100,000 students will be served by the San Diego Community College District this year at City, Mesa, Miramar, and the seven other campuses of the College of Continuing Education.
The spring semester starts Jan. 29 and enrollment is already up 10% from last year.
This MLK holiday marks the beginning of a new era.
“What I’d love to see is a district where every member, student, employee, community member coming in feels like I can be authentically who I am here and I will belong. And, in that, I can actually achieve success,” he said.
Sherdog’s live
PFL San Diego coverage will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
Top notch
featherweights headline PFL San Diego: Tune in Saturday, June 27 at
7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
Round 1
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 2
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
Round 3
Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Mike Pendleton scores the round:
The Official Result
County leaders are keeping their options open for a future county-backed tax hike as a citizens coalition pushes a November sales tax measure.
Officials in late April quietly extended a contract with consultants tasked with researching and poll-testing potential county revenue options for a Board of Supervisors subcommittee led by Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe. The extension is for up to two years and the price tag remains up to $320,000.
Other county supervisors’ offices told Voice of San Diego they weren’t notified of the change – and one is now working on a policy proposal to force public updates on subcommittee-directed contracts.
County spokesperson Tammy Glenn said staff directed the contract extension “in consultation with the subcommittee” and based on prior board approval last September to create the Sustainable Fiscal Planning Subcommittee. The item allowed the subcommittee to hire and pay consultants up to $500,000 to explore multiple options to increase county revenues and taxes.
An initial January 2026 contract called for Chula Vista-based Ironwood Public Affairs and four subcontractors including a prominent local Democratic campaign consultant to survey county residents, prepare revenue estimates for potential tax hike options, conduct focus groups and outreach and submit a report by May 1.
On April 30, county staff amended the contract with Ironwood to “deliver any requested ballot measure language, report, and presentations no later than June 30, 2028.”
Five days later, a coalition that includes labor groups and advocates submitted signatures to the county registrar’s office for a proposed countywide sales tax hike projected to raise $360 million annually to fund healthcare, child care, solutions to the Tijuana River sewage crisis and public safety. The registrar’s office has since confirmed the measure qualified for the November ballot.
Lawson-Remer has rallied behind the sales tax proposal and argued that a “local revenue measure” could shield the county from Trump administration-backed cuts. The county has projected that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could cost the county $300 million annually.
In a statement, Lawson-Remer’s office noted that a board majority voted last September to create the subcommittee and hire a consultant.
“With the Trump Administration threatening healthcare, food assistance, behavioral health, and other core services — and federal decisions being announced, reversed, paused, challenged, and revived in real time — the county and Fiscal Subcommittee has a responsibility to plan for multiple scenarios, including federal cuts, state shortfalls, taxpayer savings, state advocacy, and whether any local funding option does or does not materialize,” Lawson-Remer’s office wrote.
In a separate statement, Montgomery Steppe also pointed to board approval of the subcommittee and its work “evaluating fiscal risks and options to help inform future Board decisions.”
A few months after the September vote to approve the subcommittee, the county hired Ironwood Public Affairs led by former county staffer Victor Aviña. Aviña’s company subcontracted with prominent Democratic campaign consultant Dan Rottenstreich’s company Amplify Campaigns, polling firm FM3 Research, Los Angeles revenue forecasting firm Economic & Planning Systems and Los Angeles-based law firm Kaufman Legal Group.
Glenn said the county has thus far paid Ironwood $96,000 for planning tasks that the initial contract said should be completed by early this year.
The county has yet to provide documents to Voice that the contractor submitted to the county about its work a month after a public-records request.
Spokespeople for the county’s three other elected supervisors said this week they weren’t notified about the changes to the contract.
Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond, the two Republicans on the board, have criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the subcommittees and consultants at least two of them have hired.
At an April board meeting, Desmond argued that subcommittees shouldn’t be allowed to spend county money or secure contracts without a review by the full board.
And Anderson has pushed for reforms to increase transparency for subcommittees that have met behind closed doors. The board on Thursday unanimously approved changes to make more of those meetings more public.
Anderson’s office said he is now working on a board proposal that, among other changes, would also require updates to the full board on work that outside consultants are doing for subcommittees. He expects to bring the proposal to the board in August.
“There’s no possibility of secrecy when a vendor/contractor reports to the entire board,” Anderson wrote in a statement.
Related Posts
-
Oklahoma1 minute agoFlooded roads prompt travel warnings across Northeast Oklahoma
-
Oregon8 minutes agoPublic asked to help find missing 2-year-old Armani Andrews in Portland
-
Pennsylvania11 minutes agoTrump admin rule puts reproductive health care for 160K Pa. patients at risk, lawsuit says
-
Rhode Island16 minutes agoWhen will RI see promised Time-Varying Rates on electric bills? | Opinion
-
South-Carolina23 minutes agoMyrtle Beach is a hotspot for sharks and the potential to be bit
-
South Dakota26 minutes agoWork, housing and staffing: How South Dakota’s corrections chief aims to keep inmates from returning
-
Tennessee31 minutes ago
Tennessee GOP leaders denounce antisemitic Young Republicans mailers | The Jerusalem Post
-
Texas38 minutes agoA truck crash released 20 million bees. Local beekeepers rushed to save them.
