Governing board of California community colleges elects new president, vice president

The governing board for California’s community college system has a new president and vice president for the 2021 calendar year.

The board on Monday elected Pamela Haynes to serve as president and Amy Costa as vice president.

Haynes, who ran unopposed for president, will replace outgoing board president Tom Epstein. She previously served as vice president under Epstein. Haynes is also an elected trustee for the Sacramento-based Los Rios Community College District.

Costa, former chief deputy director for budget at the California Department of Finance, was elected vice president over Hildegarde Aguinaldo, who is assistant general counsel for the dialysis company DaVita.

Of the 15 board members present for Monday’s meeting, Costa received eight votes and Aguinaldo received six. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalaki, an ex-officio voting member of the board, abstained from the vote.