Kinnamon to bankroll a CSUSB student in COD Board race against Ruben Perez

At a campaign fundraiser at Willie's Modern Fare in Rancho Mirage Wednesday, former College of the Desert Superintendent/President and Trustee Area 4 candidate Joel Kinnamon made a surprise announcement:

Former COD student trustee Larissa Chavez Chaidez will run for the Trustee Area 1 seat in the eastern Coachella Valley against board chair Ruben Perez.

She will have the backing of Kinnamon, his endorsers and his money.

Kinnamon told The Desert Sun he plans to donate $10,000 to kickstart her campaign.

Kinnamon's own campaign has raised over $100,000, mostly contributed by himself and his husband, Christopher Parman, county files show.

More: Former COD President Joel Kinnamon launches campaign for seat on COD Board of Trustees

More: Aurora Wilson launches COD Board reelection campaign with at least $40K in the bank

More: Map mix-up knocks Brian Nestande out of COD trustees race, months after he launched campaign

Chavez Chaidez plans to file her campaign with the Riverside County Registrar of Voters on Thursday.

If she wins, Chavez Chaidez, 23, would replace Perez as COD's youngest trustee. Chavez Chaidez turns 24 on Sunday.

She served as the student trustee in 2020-21 and also served as a senator and then vice president for the Associated Students of COD.

Student trustees participate in open-session board meetings and exercise a non-binding vote on most issues. However, they are excluded from the board's closed sessions and action items related to personnel, disciplinary actions and other confidential issues.

Currently, Chavez Chaidez is a student at Cal State University San Bernardino at the Palm Desert campus.

At Kinnamon's fundraiser, Palm Springs City Councilmember Christy Holstege spoke before Chavez Chaidez to endorse Kinnamon. Then, Chavez Chaidez addressed the crowd of about 50 people to launch her campaign.

"I've seen everything from enrollment, cancellation of bond projects and much more," Chavez Chaidez said. "Sadly, we haven't seen any changes made to fix this problem, and the people that are being affected directly are mainly the students."

Although a group of valley residents has claimed the college has "canceled" or "abandoned" bond projects, the board, including board chair Perez, voted earlier this year to reaffirm their commitment to bond projects.

Yet, plans for a $30-plus million automotive education center in Cathedral City were stalled for about half a year and plans for a $350 million campus in Palm Springs have remained unclear since COD Superintendent/President Martha Garcia took office one year ago.

More: How far along are College of the Desert's Palm Springs campus plans? Answers keep changing

More: College of the Desert votes to develop Roadrunner Motors at original Cathedral City site

More: Amid pressure from city, COD board chair vows 'Cathedral City Roadrunners project will happen'

Perez is one of three trustees that voted to appoint Garcia last summer.

Kinnamon is running to replace another trustee, Aurora Wilson. The third, Bea Gonzalez, represents most of the valley north of I-10 and is not up for reelection until 2024.

Trustees Fred Jandt (Palm Springs and west Cathedral City) and Bonnie Stefan (east Palm Desert, Bermuda Dunes, some of La Quinta and Indio) voted against Garcia last summer and are not up for reelection until 2024.

Bad blood simmers between Kinnamon and Perez

As a board member, Perez voted in 2020 to extend Kinnamon's superintendent/president contract through 2024.

Then, their relationship soured.

Kinnamon retired in 2021 to care for his ailing parents, and the board voted to appoint Garcia over longtime COD administrator Annebelle Nery. After the vote, Kinnamon expressed his disappointment that Nery was not selected as his replacement.

At a faculty meeting shortly after Garcia's appointment, Kinnamon also made accusations against the board of trustees that the hiring of Garcia was improper. In a recording reviewed by The Desert Sun, Kinnamon said Garcia's hiring amounted to a coordinated effort between several board members, including Perez, and some elected officials, including Perez's father, Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, and his employer, State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, whose district covers Imperial County and parts of the Coachella Valley. Martha Garcia previously led Imperial Valley College and was named by Eduardo Garcia as a 2018 Imperial Valley woman of the year.

Ruben Perez told The Desert Sun there was no conflict and he was not influenced by either man, adding he "resented" Kinnamon's comments.

Now, Kinnamon is funding the campaign of Perez's opponent for the board of trustees.

More: Ex-COD president says politics tainted search for successor; trustee Ruben Perez rejects allegations

COD enrollment: another campaign issue

Chavez Chaidez said Wednesday she is concerned about COD's declining enrollment.

COD, one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state in 2015, saw enrollment decline by at least 16% between fall 2019 and fall 2021.

Garcia said nearly a year ago, a goal of hers was to boost enrollment by at least 10% by the fall term this August.

With weeks to go before the first day of school, enrollment is actually down 9% relative to this time last year, according to COD data.

Chavez Chaidez did not have a specific plan to boost enrollment when The Desert Sun asked her how she would meet her stated goals. However, it is often not the role of the board to create specific plans, but rather to provide direction and vision to college administrators.

The bilingual communications studies major, fluent in English and Spanish, did say, "I think one of the big issues is not a lot of students know about great resources College of the Desert has."

She also told The Desert Sun that, if elected, she feels prepared to balance school work and potentially a job search with her board position.

"I have experience with that," she said referring to her time as student trustee.

Chavez Chaidez would not comment on her opinions of Garcia's or Perez's leadership although she previously served on the board with Perez and is running to replace him.

"We want to run on the issues," said her boyfriend, former COD student trustee Arturo Delgado. Delgado served on the board just before Chavez Chaidez and appears to be very involved in her campaign.

Perez filed his candidate intention statement and initial campaign paperwork for the nonpartisan board position this spring, but he has not disclosed how much funds, if any, he has raised.

The Desert Sun was unable to reach Perez for comment.

Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com or @Writes_Jonathan.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Kinnamon to bankroll COD Board candidate in race against Ruben Perez