Numark Wins Seat on El Camino Community College Board of Trustees

Torrance City Councilman Cliff Numark beat out university technology administrator G. Rick Marshall for the Area 5 seat on the El Camino College Board of Trustees on Tuesday night.

Numark, 44, earned 57.9 percent of the vote, while Marshall received 29.2 percent. Aria Shafiee earned 12.9 percent.

Numark earned support from multiple South Bay educators due to his stance on the Southern California Regional Occupation Center, or SoCal ROC. He has said that he supported efforts to keep it separate from El Camino College.

"This was an incredible win—and it could not have happened without your great help!" Numark wrote on his campaign website. "I look forward to serving the public and helping improve higher education!"

Trustee Area No. 5 includes South Redondo Beach, the Hollywood Riviera and part of Torrance. (A map of all trustee areas is available online.)

Thiswas  the first election in which voters in trustee areas could only vote for a representative from that area. Previously, trustees were elected at-large, meaning that anyone within the community college district could vote for any of the trustees.

Maureen O'Donnell, who previously represented Trustee Area No. 5, lived outside the trustee area as of February 2012, according to the Daily Breeze. If she wanted to run for re-election, she would have had to move. Because of this, she was not considered an incumbent.

Nevertheless, she told the Breeze that "she long ago decided against running for re-election in 2013," wrote reporter Rob Kuznia.

North Redondo Beach is part of Trustee Area No. 3. Elections for that seat will be held in November 2015.