Election results: Schlange defeats Wheeler to stay on MSJC board

With 63.64 percent of the votes tallied, it appears that Gwendolyn Schlange has been re-elected as Area 3’s board trustee for Mt. San Jacinto College. Schlange, a Hemet resident, has completed 17 years on the board, and will serve four more, despite political newcomer Mark Wheeler’s effort to take the seat.

According to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters’ Web site Tuesday evening, Wheeler had received 2,652 votes (29.65 percent), while Schlange received 5,105 (70.35 percent) votes.

Despite the loss, Wheeler said he ran for public office to “get his toes wet.”

“I did it as more of a learning exercise than for what I could get out of it,” Wheeler said. “I do see public office as personally rewarding, but also as an opportunity to be useful to people.”

Wheeler, a Hemet resident, said in looking at how the college is currently being run, there is much to be improved.

“It is the second fastest growing community college in the nation,” he said. “But the district is turning away 90 percent of prospective students because they are not creating enough new sections.”

If elected, Wheeler planned to address more of the students’ needs, including new class offerings that would keep students in-district.

“The board right now is unapproachable,” he said.

He also said the district is throwing away millions of dollars on land purchases, as other colleges like Cal State San Marcos are coming into the district and using free public facilities.

As for whether he will run for public office again in the future, Wheeler said it is too soon to say.

“I would like to find myself more and more into politics, but without an opportunity to prove myself I won’t be able to establish a constituency,” he said.

A freelance writer, Wheeler spent many years in information technology, working for Nestle, Paramount Studios and the Los Angeles County Courts.

Schlange, who spent 45 years as a schoolteacher in Hemet, said she is prepared to serve another four years.

“I am in excellent health, I have energy and I still have a good memory,” Schlange, 81, said Tuesday evening.

“But it is not about me personally,” she said. “It is about the college. If this vote holds up, we appreciate the vote of confidence given to the academic excellence of Mt. San Jacinto College and the transfer qualifications, the valuable nursing program, technology training and job skills offered to all our students. Thank you to all citizens who voted.”

Maggie Avants is the education editor for SWRNN. Comments or story suggestions can be sent to mavants.swrnn@gmail.com.

Tags: election, Gwendolyn Schlange, Maggie Avants, Mark Wheeler, mt. san jacinto college, Riverside County Registrar of Voters, SWRNN

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