On Jan. 14, Dave Hunt was sworn in as the newest member of Clackamas Community College’s Board of Education. For those of you who don’t know what a board of education is or what it does, here’s the lowdown. A board of education oversees school policies and budgets. They also work directly with the president of the college. They are even in charge of hiring the college’s president. CCC’s Board of Education is composed of seven representatives, each one electedted to represent a different zone that makes up CCC’s college district. Hunt is the newest addition to the board and represents the Gladstone district.

So what qualifies Hunt to join the Board of Education and make decisions for CCC? Hunt was the Speaker of the Oregon House in 2009 and worked in the Oregon House of Representatives until 2012.

“I accomplished a lot,” Hunt said. “As a Speaker of the House, I helped set up Oregon’s first Rainy Day Fund and had a hand in developing the Healthy Kids Act.” A Rainy Day Fund is a reserved amount of money that gets set aside when times are good and saved for when things go badly, economy wise. The state of Oregon didn’t have a Rainy Day Fund until 2007. The Healthy Kids Act is a health insurance act that now covers 90,000 kids all over the state of Oregon.

How exactly does one select a new member of the board?

“We advertise in the newspapers that we have an open position, and provide contact information to secure an application, and the due dates for submitting those documents,” said board member Jean Bidstrup in an email. “The board chair appoints a committee of the current board person in the zone where there is an opening. The committee reviews all applications and interviews the prospective candidates and makes a choice based on the experience and qualifications of the candidate.”

Hunt is looking forward to being a new member of the board and helping to reinforce all of the positive changes going on around campus, especially after the bond measure passed in the latest election.

“The good news is that I don’t think it’s about changes as much as it’s about continuing the forward progress in terms of good quality staff and programs, attracting quality students, effectively implementing the new capital construction bond and securing resources from the state,” said Hunt.

Bidstrup wrote that Hunt was an easy hiring decision, because his years of public service and experience in politics made him an ideal candidate.
“Mr. Hunt has worked on behalf of the college for several years,” Bidstrup wrote. “He has many years of service within the legislature and is now working as a leader in workforce development. These are just a few of the experiences and credentials he would bring to the board. That made it an easy decision to make.”

Joanne Truesdell, president of CCC, is also excited to have him on the board as well.

“I think he’s a wonderful addition,” Truesdell said. “He has a good background. The number of community college bills being considered in this state keeps going up and his experience makes him a wonderful addition.”