At a special meeting preceding the regular monthly meeting of the Hartnell College Board of Trustees Tuesday night, four candidates for the District 5 seat that will become vacant Thursday were interviewed and gave presentations on topics of interest to college governance. Following all presentations, the board selected Celia Perez Martinez to become the new District 5 trustee. She will be sworn in at the September 9 meeting.
Ms. Perez Martinez is the Public Works Superintendent of the City of Pacific Grove. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Georgetown University and attended Columbia University in New York City to study business. She has held a number of community service roles, including as a member of the Monterey Regional Stormwater Group and the York School boards, and as a supporter of Madonna Del Sasso, the Rodeo Association, and Relay for Life.
At the regular meeting of the Board, three administrative appointments were announced. Keith Holtaway will become Hartnell’s new director of the Small Business Development Center. A graduate of Glassboro State College in New Jersey, Mr. Holtaway has served as chief executive officer of the Downtown Association of Santa Cruz since 2002. He has worked as a consultant to the Central Coast Small Business Development Center for a number of years. He started his own business, Pizza My Heart, in 1981, and grew it to include four locations before selling it in 1997.
Hartnell alumna Elizabeth Estrella has been named the interim dean of developmental education. Liz earned her BA from UC Santa Barbara and her MA from San Diego State University. She has completed her coursework for an Ed.D. in educational leadership at University of LaVerne. Ms. Estrella has been a counselor at Hartnell since 2000.
Carla Juarez has been appointed to the interim project director position with the High School Equivalency Program. Ms. Juarez has been at Hartnell for two years as the coordinator of its Foster & Kinship Education, and Independent Living programs. She earned her B.A. in communication from Biola University and her M.S. in counseling from CSU Fullerton.
