Janet Rivera still remembers the campaign she never thought she would win. In 1994, a teachers union colleague urged her to run for Delta College Board of Trustees. She found herself on the ballot against two well-endorsed men, Rivera said, one decades older and the other decades younger.
She said she leaned on community ties and her political instincts, and won with 76 percent of the vote. Thirty years later, Rivera has become the longest-serving trustee in Delta’s history. Now, she says her current term will be her last.
“I’m 74 years old. We need the new blood,” Rivera said with a laugh, her tone equal parts proud and relieved. “I have to tell you how proud I am of our board that we have now…To have that is a blessing for us.”…