Cabrillo trustee leaves board meeting after confrontation over racist comments; staff criticize rest of board for inaction

During Monday night’s meeting of Cabrillo College’s governing board, when a trustee abruptly departed as he was confronted for racist comments, college employees pointed out that after years of anti-bias training and anti-racism mission statements, board members still failed to publicly confront a peer for inappropriate statements.

During two meetings in a row, audience members were stunned as board member Steve Trujillo made insensitive and racist remarks about Black people. First, at last month’s meeting, he singled out a Black school staffer to ask his opinion about a racist video. Then at Monday’s meeting, when confronted about that comment, Trujillo said he didn’t mean to cause harm, described his long-term relationship with a Black man and abruptly left the meeting. Both times, the rest of the board did not interrupt him. 

Employees and faculty groups have denounced Trujillo’s comments as racist and called out the board’s inaction. 

Trujillo opened his statement Monday night by saying, “Most of you don’t know that I had a domestic agreement … with a man for seven years, African American.” He continued discussing the man’s recent death and failed to apologize for his comments but said he meant no harm. Employees again criticized board members for failing to speak up when Trujillo referenced his Black partner. 

He walked out of the meeting as the interim student trustee Vivianna Moreno and Vice President of Student Services Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah confronted him about his statements referencing his Black partner as again tokenizing Black people. 

“I believe my Uber car is out there waiting for me,” Trujillo said. “So I’m going to wrap this up and bid you all good night.” 

Prior to his departure, during their trustee reports, several board members apologized and committed to participate in further training. Chair Donna Ziel told Lookout that trustees haven’t yet selected what specific training they would do. 

Last month, as the board discussed a Black History Month resolution, Trujillo said he was disgusted by a racist video of Barack and Michelle Obama posted on President Donald Trump’s social media and asked a Black employee in the crowd how he felt about it — singling out the man as if he were a representative of all Black people. The senior administrator at the college declined to respond. The governing board didn’t address Trujillo’s comments and passed the resolution. 

Alta Cilicia Northcutt, the college’s student life director, told Lookout that last month’s meeting made her feel “dejected” and “disappointed” because the trustees didn’t respond in the moment, particularly after many college leaders attended anti-bias training designed to prepare them for these kinds of situations. 

“We talk about how we need to speak up,” said Northcutt, one of 12 Black employees at Cabrillo. “And then, when the moment hits us, there was no space for that.”

Ziel said several complaints were filed in recent weeks against Trujillo, who represents Area 7, encompassing the areas outside of Watsonville. The board moved to create an ad hoc committee to investigate whether he violated board policies. Ziel and board member Ken Wagman will investigate and present a report for the board by the next meeting. 

A recent campus climate survey showed that Black employees feel unsupported by the college. In the April 2025 survey, 62% of Black employees (eight out of 13 at the time) said they had experienced microaggressions or targeted harassment that challenged their confidence and sense of inclusion on the campus. They also reported feeling “hyper-vigilant” and an “additional responsibility to represent their communities, even at the expense of their own well-being.” 

After Trujillo departed Monday’s meeting, two Black employees expressed their frustration about the board’s inaction. Lisa Joyner, a dean at the college, said the Cabrillo’s Black employees are “mistreated in many ways,” and won’t continue to sit back and allow it to continue any longer. 

“You all are supposed to be our leadership, you’re supposed to step up when injustices are happening,” said Joyner. “It’s very painful.” 

In response, board member Dan Rothwell said that the board had already censured Trujillo two years ago — for posting profanity on social media against Trump and other Republicans — and this new ad hoc committee will determine if it will do that again. In that case, the board members asked legal counsel if they could impeach and remove him, Rothwell said. The lawyer said the only way to remove Trujillo from his elected position would be with a recall vote.

“So we’ve tried to deal with Steve. Steve is a very difficult person to deal with,” said Rothwell, who added that he tried to recruit local community members to run against Trujillo but hasn’t found anyone who’s willing. 

Board member Adam Spickler added that getting Trujillo to correct his behavior is unlikely. 

“I think we’re all in agreement: Trustee Trujillo’s behavior isn’t likely to change based on anybody’s actions,” said Spickler. 

Jasmine Northcutt, administrative assistant to the dean of student services, disagreed, pointing out that the board had many alternatives. Board members could have, for example, told Trujillo his comments were off topic and redirected him, but they didn’t.

“It’s not just Steve,” she said. “Steve is not the only issue in this room.”

Up until this point in the discussion about Trujillo, Cabrillo College president and superintendent Jenn Capps had been silent. Her first day on the job was Jan. 20. Capps acknowledged it was a difficult conversation and said she was committed to working through it. 

“I appreciate all the courageous voices for sharing their experiences,” said Capps. “We’ve got some work to do, to create an environment that is free of harm.”

The next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 6. 

FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to include the name of Lisa Joyner, dean of Academic Counseling, Career and Educational Support Services at Cabrillo College.

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