> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Rob Rader on His Qualifications for Santa Monica College Trustee - URL: https://www.smdp.com/rob-rader/ - Published: 2004-10-27T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T05:21:00.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import Endorsed by: Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, California School Employees Association, Chapter 36 at Santa Monica College, LA County Democratic Party, Santa Monica Democratic Club, Pepperdine Young Democrats, Santa Monica College Faculty Association, Santa Monica-Malibu Education Team, The Santa Monica Mirror, More than 50 individuals ranging from local politicians to college educators to activists. Question #1: In 100 words or less, what about your background makes you a qualified Santa Monica College Trustee? As an executive for MGM Studios, I negotiate for a living. As Chair of the Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition — Santa Monica’s largest neighborhood group — I have resolved many disputes between businesses and residents. As Finance Committee Chair of the Bayside District Corporation (Third Street Promenade), I help our businesses prosper. As a law professor at Pepperdine, I am sensitive to the needs of Malibu. I am a member of SMC’s General Advisory Board and SMC Associates. I, therefore, bring a wide variety of public service and business experience to help Santa Monica College serve its students and our community even better. Question #2: In 300 words or less, do you agree with the way the SMC administration dealt with last year’s budget shortfall (i.e., the elimination of several academic programs)? What would you have done differently? Is it wise for the college and students to bring back those programs? Criticizing prior boards is not the way to move forward productively. Let’s be tough on the problems, not on the participants. I will not begin a working relationship with fellow Board members by second-guessing their prior decisions. The College needs to do a needs-based study to determine what programs can serve the community. This requires market research to find out what jobs there will be for graduates. All vocational programs must lead to jobs for their students. Otherwise, they are merely vanity programs. The recent Accreditation Study of SMC made it clear that we must measure student learning outcomes. The College does a fantastic job of transferring students to the University of California and Cal State systems; we need to measure just as rigorously what the outcomes are for vocational programs. The College must reach out to local businesses. A vocational program without business support and involvement is always destined for mediocrity for three reasons: (1) local businesses can keep the curriculum geared toward useful technical skills; (2) local businesses will hire students from programs they are involved in; (3) during times of budget crisis, local businesses will protect those programs from cuts. Finally, all programs must have understandable financial numbers. As someone who reviews audits, I believe SMC needs greater transparency on a department-by-department basis, so we can easily view how much each department costs. Thus, I believe that SMC needs to: (1) Study what vocational programs are viable in our community, (2) get local businesses involved in those vocational programs, and (3) make the operational costs of those programs transparent to the community. I believe we can bring back Automotive Technology using this process. It may not look exactly like the previous program, but it will be even stronger and more integrated into our community’s needs. Question #3: In 300 words or less, why do you think the city of Santa Monica and SMC have had a strained relationship for years? How would you bridge that gap? The College is in a difficult position because its funding is derived from the number of students it serves. Thus, it is forced to constantly increase its enrollment. The City appropriately wants to protect residents, especially in the Sunset Park and Pico neighborhoods, from the effects of that growth. As Chair of the Wilshire/- Montana Neighborhood Coalition, I too have tried to curtail growth and to reduce the negative effects on our quality of life. So, I start off with a sympathetic ear to neighborhood concerns. I have effectively conveyed to the College the concerns of the Friends of Sunset Park and the Pico Neighborhood Association to restrict further growth into their residential areas. In the past, I have personally assisted Sunset Park residents in obtaining parking. I would set up standing committees at the College that would solicit neighborhood concerns on an ongoing basis and I would make sure that all development issues get a fair public hearing with neighborhood input. I would continue the policy of funneling growth to the satellite campuses: Madison, the Academy of Entertainment Technology on Stewart, the Emeritus College, the Airport campus and (in the near future) the Bundy campus. If the bond proposal passes, I would want to break ground on a Malibu campus to further reduce strain in Santa Monica and to share the benefits of the College. In the long run, I want to lobby to change the way the state funds community colleges so that the pressure to grow is reduced, which will benefit colleges like SMC that are in built-out areas. Finally, having been endorsed by a majority of the Santa Monica and Malibu City Council members, I know I can work with them to make the College and our cities even better communities, for residents and for students. Question #4: In 300 words or less, there have been tensions between faculty and college administrators in recent years. Why do you think the faculty is upset and what’s the first step toward addressing their concerns? There are three reasons for the strained relationship: (1) lack of agreement on budget numbers; (2) lack of opportunities for all stakeholders to have meaningful input; and (3) the budget crisis that forced more severe budget cuts. I am a negotiator for a living for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and I deal with extremely difficult parties’ interests conflict. My job is to make sure a deal gets done. I teach my students at Pepperdine the skills I’ve learned on “getting to yes.” I have brought these same skills to bear as Chair of the Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition and as Finance Committee Chair of the Bayside District Corporation (Third Street Promenade). In these groups, I show respect to all sides and listen to all positions. I have repeatedly fought for residents to have meaningful input in Santa Monica affairs and I urge all readers to go to www.wilmont.org and check the correspondence, all written by me, invariably requesting greater input into public process. As a Trustee, I would bring this same ethic to the Board. All parties must be given a chance to participate in shared governance and must feel that their participation had an effect on the outcome. The College has made great strides in its Working Groups on Shared Governance, but more needs to be done. Public process is not mere window dressing and I will not treat it as such. Regarding budget transparency, I have overseen the audits by the Bayside District Corporation as well as audits at MGM. I, therefore, have the necessary business and public finance skills to make SMC’s numbers more comprehensible to all parties. For these reasons, I know I can improve relations on the campus between the faculty, the workers and the administration. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 27, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102704.pdf?ref=smdp.com)