Ordinarily a fellow named Matthew Schauer would not have much of a shot at getting elected to Area 1 of the Rancho Santiago Community College District, which includes central Santa Ana. But this year might be different. He is running against two Latino candidates who just might split the Latino vote, allowing Schauer to prevail in the November election.

Schauer was appointed to the Santa Ana Housing and Redevelopment Commission by Council Member Sal Tinajero. Schauer is the Warehouse & Inventory Control and Purchasing Manager at CalPack Foods, according to his Linkedin page.  CalPack Foods is a manufacturing facility in Torrance that specializes in the production of high quality food, juice, and beverages.

Schauer is also a Public Administration Student at USC.  His experience includes an internship for Under Secretary Maria Otero back in 2010. You can read his candidate statement here.

The other candidates running for Area 1 of the RSCCD Board of Trustees include:

• Frank “Tito” G. Alaniz, Jr. – A banker and nonprofit director. He does not appear to have a social media profile. He is a former U.S. Marine. You can read his candidate statement here.
• Zeke Hernandez – this is the guy that the former Area 1 Trustee, Jose Solorio, is supporting. Hernandez also has the support of the majority on the RSCCD Board. But get this – he is the chief executive of a district contractor, according to the Voice of OC. The district’s board approved $511,000 in contracts with Hernandez’s nonprofit on June 13. So of course the RSCCD Board has endorsed him! They are already in bed with him. He is by the way a perennial candidate and he NEVER wins. Hopefully that trend will continue in November. You can read his candidate statement here.

It makes zero sense to vote for Hernandez when his friends on the RSCCD Board have been enjoying luxury travel on the taxpayers’ dime and they made a construction mistake that’s costing over $20 million to fix – not to mention their support for the Santa Ana College Foundation’s ridiculous program in Saudi Arabia.