7 Candidates Vie for 3 Seats on COD Board

All 3 Incumbents Face at Least 1 Challenger in Nov. 5 Election

PALM — All three incumbents on the Board of Trustees for College of the Desert faces at least one challenger in the Nov. 5 election; one of the trustees faces two. Each is vying for a four-year term.

In Trustee Area 2, Beatriz “Bea” Gonzalez, who has held office since 2020, faces two challengers: Mary Jane Sanchez and Kenneth Snell.

Sanchez, an educator, healthcare professional, and former COD Board of Trustee, from 2012 to 2020. She was the first Latina to chair the COD Board of Trustees. This particular race will be a rematch of the 2020 race when Gonzalez unseated Sanchez, Gonzalez nabbed 17,577 votes, or 52.6%, while Sanchez netted 15,826 votes for 47.4%.

Snell writes for the Coachella Valley Times, which is published by PIPELINE Advisors LLC, a private company. He could not     immediately be reached for comment.

Gonzalez is the director of expanded learning at Coachella Valley Unified School District.

Trustee Area 2 (Desert Hot Springs, Thousand Palms, Sky Valley, Indio Hills, Desert Center, Sun City, Cactus Summit and a portion of Palm Desert)

In Trustee Area 3, Ron Oden, unanimously appointed to the board in 2023 following Fred Jandt’s resignation, is facing a challenge from Rocio Conde, an educator, in the election. Conde was the founding president of the Coachella Valley chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. She applied for the seat after Jandt’s resignation. In November 2003, he was elected the first gay African-American mayor of Palm Springs, California, after serving eight years on the city council.

Trustee Area 3 includes Palm Springs and a sliver of Cathedral City.

Mark W. Meyer is challenging Bonnie Stefan, the incumbent board member who has held the position since 1999. Stefan, an educator at Desert Sands Unified School District, has been a long-time fixture on the board.  She currently serves as chair of the board. A resident of Indio since 1981, Stefan is one of the college’s longest serving board members.

Meyer serves on the board of the COD Alumni Association and has over 40 years of experience as an executive in the technology industry, according to his LinkedIn page.

Trustee Area 5 includes Indio, Bermuda Dunes, La Quinta and parts of Palm Desert.