Mission College

* Re “New Group Criticizes College Board,” July 31.

If Mission College is to have any status in the educational arena, it needs to hire a president who is as well-educated as the best faculty member, which means he or she should have a doctorate. He or she should also have knowledge and capabilities for fund-raising, in addition to a business sense and communications expertise. Anything less is just not good enough. What we do not need is someone who owes political favors to anybody. (Saeed Ali is state Sen. [Richard] Polanco’s aide, and liaison to the Legislative Latino Caucus.) No school should be pressured to accept or choose a president because one or more groups or persons demands that they do in a certain time frame. The best person for the job is the one who should be selected, and that person may take time to find. The school began with terrific leadership; we need to find that leadership again. Perhaps that is what the board is looking for in candidates.

The advisory committee is just that: “advisory.” The board is under no obligation to accept any of the choices, and those who feel they have been given a slap in the face or feel the need to cry for their rights because their choices were ignored do not understand the selection process, or that this is not a political process. I think the latter is exactly what our politicians think this is all about, a political chance to further their own agendas. What else is new?

ENID JONES

Sylmar