Board election set for Nov. 6
Kathy Johnson
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: News
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As for Board President Maria Elena Martinez (no relation to Alma Martinez) trustee for Area No. 2, she is unopposed this year.
The consolidated election for the board seats will be held this Nov. 6.
Mendez, trustee for Area No. 4, has been on the board for the last seven years, but appears to be losing support on campus as the results show from the Political Action Committee Election for the endorsement of Martinez that shows support for the new candidate.
An overwhelming 37 yes votes were cast last week by the committee to support Area 4 challenger Martinez with only four no votes and 14 ballots that were invalid.
Several sources said that Medez needs to be replaced because of his unbecoming and unprofessional behavior last year.
One source said, what he said (to Dr. Rose Marie Joyce, Rio's president last year) was wrong. Board members should never speak like that.
The incident involving Mendez and Joyce occurred during the summer of 2006 when Joyce refused to approve a charge for an ocean view room for a convention at Mendez's request.
This escalated into a verbal showdown before a board meeting where Mendez reportedly called Joyce obscene names and shouted other obscenities in front of several witnesses.
As a result, Joyce filed a public complaint, seldom if ever done, with the Rio Board. Mendez was then censored by the board and lost his board presidency.
The new comer, Martinez, wife of Richard Martinez a board member of Little Lake City School who is running for re-election this year, is at the very least familiar with board affairs.
Mendez is President and CEO of Urban Strategies (West), a governmental, public and political affairs firm.
He has been active in government since he began his college education at Rio Hondo holding many seats such as Student Trustee for Rio's board and the California Community College board.
Mendez has also served on the Democratic Party Los Angeles County Central Committee, Executive Board of the California Democratic Party, and the State Democratic Party's Organizational Development Committee during 2004-05.
Current Board President Martinez is the Vice-President of Student Services at San Bernardino Valley College and a previous student of the community college system.
Currently Martinez is a member of the Latina Leadership network of the California Community colleges, the National Institute for Leadership Development and the League of Women Voters (LWV).
Involved in many organizations she has volunteered for the Lions Club, active in Pennies for Pines, a reforestation effort by the Pico Rivera Women's Club, and serves on her local school board. Martinez is a single mother, who enjoys camping with her daughter, and she has been involved in the Girl Scouts and Bobbie Sox Baseball according to a her profile in LWV's newsletter.
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