STEVEN F. VERES

Why Thrive LA endorses STEVEN

The Los Angeles Community College District serves nine colleges across the region and controls billions of dollars in public facility spending. Seat 2 voters have two acceptable choices: a veteran trustee with deep institutional knowledge and a record on job-focused tax credits, or a real estate professional and former charter school trustee running on fiscal responsibility and lower taxes. The district's priorities should be workforce readiness, careful stewardship of bond dollars, and accountability to the taxpayers who fund it, and both candidates can advance that work. Steven F. Veres Steven F. Veres has served on the LACCD Board of Trustees since 2011 and currently holds the position of 2nd Vice President. He is a former mayor of the City of San Fernando and a former state legislative staff director, and he has worked as a teacher, college instructor, journalist, and news editor. He lives in Sherman Oaks. Veres brings more than a decade of board experience and a working knowledge of how Sacramento funds and regulates community colleges. As a legislative staffer, he helped negotiate the tripling of California's Film and Television Tax Credit, an effort to keep entertainment production and the jobs it supports in Los Angeles instead of losing them to other states. He also helped develop the California Homeless Hiring Tax Credit, which rewards employers who hire people working their way out of homelessness. At LACCD, he has presided over nearly $4 billion in facility improvements across all nine colleges and has led efforts on student housing challenges. That spending demands rigorous oversight, and his experience positions him to deliver it. Kristina Irwin Kristina Irwin is a first-generation immigrant from the former Yugoslavia, a real estate professional, and a parent of three based in Pacific Palisades. She holds a bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from California State University, Northridge. Irwin has built her public profile on government accountability and fiscal responsibility to taxpayers. She ran for State Senate District 24 in 2022 on lowering individual, business, and gas taxes, and she criticizes government overreach and unnecessary mandates. She brings direct education governance experience as a recently completed elected trustee at Palisades Charter High School, and she serves on the Santa Monica College General Advisory Board. Her endorsements include former Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, and former State Senate Democratic Majority Leader Gloria Romero. Steven Veres and Kristina Irwin both offer Seat 2 voters a serious, experienced trustee.