Cabrillo College board seeks applicants for vacant seat after member Martha Vega resigns 

Cabrillo College’s seven-member governing board is seeking applicants to fill a vacant seat after Martha Vega, who was appointed last February, suddenly submitted her resignation to the board Thursday – a few months before her seat is up for election.  

“I submit this letter of resignation from my position as…Cabrillo Community College Board of Trustee effective immediately,” she wrote. “It has been an honor to serve as a Trustee and represent my constituents in District #5.”

Cabrillo College President Matt Wetstein said he was surprised to learn of her resignation and wasn’t expecting it. He told Lookout he enjoyed working with her. 

“Martha’s been a great trustee, a really good representative of that region and of students generally of that district,” he said Monday, referring to the Area 5 seat representing Watsonville. “I’ve really appreciated working with her as a trustee.” 

Wetstein told Lookout Vega didn’t provide a reason for her resignation in her letter to the board. Lookout attempted to reach Vega multiple times but did not receive a comment by the time of publication. 

The board unanimously voted in February 2023 to appoint Vega to replace Felipe Hernandez, who was elected District 4 Santa Cruz County supervisor in November 2022. Vega’s seat is up for election this November and the four-year term formally ends Dec. 6, when the newly elected trustee’s term begins.

When she applied for the position last year, Vega, a teacher at Pajaro Valley High School and former Watsonville Police Department non-uniformed staff member, said she would focus on removing barriers to prevent students from repeating courses in order to help increase enrollment. 

While she was applying for the position, she declined to express an opinion about changing the name of the college. But later, while she was on the board, Vega said the college didn’t seek enough community input and that it shouldn’t change its name. 

Last year, Manuel Bersamin and Rebecca Garcia competed against Vega for appointment to Hernandez’s open seat. Bersamin said he’ll be applying for Vega’s interim seat as well as running for the upcoming term in the November election. Garcia told Lookout she would wait until Aug. 9 to decide if she is applying for the appointment or running in the election for the seat. 

Bersamin is a Watsonville resident, Cabrillo College graduate and the director of a student retention program at Hartnell College in Salinas. He told Lookout on Tuesday that his priorities include increasing enrollment and ensuring that financial aid continues to be accessible and cover rising costs faced by students. 

For Vega’s interim seat, which expires when a newly elected member takes office Dec. 6, Cabrillo College’s governing board will vote on an appointment process Aug. 5. It will include having candidates go before the board for interviews. The board could then either vote on an appointment at its Sept. 9 meeting, or at a later special meeting. The interim trustee would start serving the day after the board appoints them. 

In a press release, college officials said they’re seeking applicants to fill Vega’s current seat and say that candidates should also consider filing for the position’s upcoming term on the November 2024 ballot. 

In addition to Vega’s seat, the additional seats up for election include those of Christina Cuevas for Trustee Area 3, Rachael Spencer for Trustee Area 4 and Steve Trujillo for Trustee Area 7. Cuevas and Trujillo have both filed for reelection, and 20-year-board member Spencer said she’s not running because it’s time for “new vigorous blood” to step in. 

Cuevas and Trujillo supported changing the college’s name while Spencer was against it.

Ken Wagman, a math teacher at Gavilan College, has filed to run for Trustee Area 4, and Spencer said that while she hasn’t endorsed anyone yet, Wagman will be “terrific” for the board. 

Over the past couple of years, these board members have experienced the pandemic, declining enrollment, impacts of disasters including the Pajaro River flood on their students, and the long, divisive debate and process of changing the name of the college. 

After the governing board received a petition to change the name in 2020 because of the legacy of the eponym – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo – not aligning with the college’s values, they launched a period of research and community engagement. Cabrillo, a 16th-century explorer, directly profited off of the enslavement of Indigenous people forced to work land in Guatemala. He also served in the Spanish armies that brought down the Mexica Empire (also known as the Aztec Empire). 

A subcommittee of board members, Cuevas and Adam Spickler, recommended that the board change its name after a period of research and community engagement. In November 2022, board members, including a student member, voted 7-1 to change the name. Spencer was the only trustee to vote against the name change. 

However, in the months following and during the name selection period, community members opposed to the name change elevated their cries against it. Finally, a new name selection task force recommended that the college not change its name because of how divisive the issue had become in the community. In September, the board voted to delay the discussion of the name change to 2028 –  by that time, all the members on the board will have faced reelection votes. 

Information for interested candidates

For those interested in filling the remainder of Vega’s seat, the board is asking candidates to submit an application and statement of interest and qualifications to the President’s Office at Cabrillo College by Aug. 30 at noon. Applicants must reside and be registered to vote in Trustee Area 5, which includes the city of Watsonville. 

To submit an application by email, send the application documents to Ronnette Smithcamp, executive assistant to the president, at rosmithc@cabrillo.edu. To submit the application in person, take it to Cabrillo College – Student Activities Center (SAC) West Room 204, 6500 Soquel Drive in Aptos.

For the applicants interested in being on the November ballot for the seat’s upcoming term, or the other three seats up for election this fall, candidates should reach out to the Santa Cruz County Office of Elections to confirm which district they reside in and verify that they are registered to vote in one of the corresponding districts. The candidates then need to file their applications for the November election. 

For questions about the application processes, reach out to the Santa Cruz County Office of Elections at (831) 454-2060 or the Cabrillo College President’s Office at 479-6302.