Long-time Monterey Peninsula College trustee faces challenge to seat from Seaside homeless commissioner.

The Monterey Peninsula College Board of Trustees has seen its fair share of drama in the past after a dysfunctional couple years. While things have leveled out, this upcoming election could bring just one change to the dynamic.  

Seaside and Sand City residents will get to choose between seven-year incumbent Rosalyn Green and Seaside Homeless Commission chair Ben Strickland in the Monterey Peninsula College Board of Trustees election for the Area 1 seat on Nov. 3. 

The board consists of five trustees from areas across the Monterey Peninsula, and a student representative. Trustees oversee the college’s budget, hiring decisions and more. From 2022 to 2024, they saw a period of dysfunction as bickering members made it impossible for them to choose their own governing positions even after a restorative justice mediation session meant to resolve their tension. 

Green says the current board has been cohesive compared to the past.

In reflecting on her seven years on the board, she says she wished she had been able to make the board’s conversations more accessible to residents, as board meetings can feel distant to everyday life. 

“My motivation (to run) is personal because MPC helped shape my and my children’s life, and I know what access to this college can mean for a family,” Green says. “I want that to remain available to the next generation.” 

Green is a Seaside native and civil rights advocate. She obtained degrees from MPC and CSU Monterey Bay, and worked at Monterey Peninsula Unified School District for over a dozen years as a physical education teacher. 

She says her biggest accomplishment was stabilizing MPC and hiring a permanent superintendent/president, Marshall T. Fulbright III, from when she was chair of the board.

She especially hopes to represent Black, military and immigrant families from Seaside and Sand City, strengthen their connection to MPC and make them aware of opportunities available to them through the college.

She also points out that she had never seen Strickland, her opponent, in a board meeting. Strickland says this is true; he has never attended the meetings, which are publicly available.

Despite not having attended a meeting, Strickland says he’s qualified because of his experience on the Seaside Homeless Commission and his years as a tutor for college students. He earned multiple associates degrees from MPC, worked in private security for several years, and is a Navy veteran. 

He says his health had recently improved, which made him consider running for office. He first considered running for a Seaside city council seat, but decided to run for the MPC board instead, his motivation being that he felt qualified for the role. 

He hopes to prepare students to transfer, ready students for the workforce and increase the enrollment of the school.

“I have a good sense of what students need because I was a student there over the years,” Strickland says. 

Green has been endorsed by the Democratic Women of Monterey County, Monterey County Democrats, Progress Monterey County and Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte. Strickland has been endorsed by the Monterey County Republican Party. 

Green has no publicly reported donations and Strickland has reported $215 in donations, mostly from himself. 

Strickland says he’d still be interested in attending a board meeting even if he lost.