Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Incumbents win in PCC Board elections

Photos and story by James Hill

Familiar faces are returning to the Portland Community College Board of Directors for 2013-14.

Denise Frisbee, Jim Harper, Kali Thorne Ladd and Gene Pitts all won their respective board elections in May. But there will be one new face to the group – Ken Madden, who was elected to represent zone 5 (Beaverton and West Portland). He replaces David Squire, who served in the position the past six years.

The PCC Board of Directors consist of seven members elected by zones to four-year terms. The board members govern the college which includes selecting the president, approving the hiring of other staff and faculty, approving the college budget and establishing policies that govern the operation of the college.

Frisbee, who served as board chair this year, was first elected in 2005 to lead zone 1 (Lake Oswego) and subsequently was re-elected in 2009. Now retired, she was an attorney and director for the Department of Planning and Building Services for the City of Lake Oswego. A member of the Oregon State Bar since 1976, Frisbee served as board liaison for PCC’s 2008 bond campaign.

Harper, also first elected in 2005 to zone 4 (West Hills and parts of Columbia, and Washington counties), has spent more than 40 years with PCC. He has been a student, a volunteer and member of the PCC Foundation Board for 26 years. He won the Pacific Region Trustee Leadership Award from the Association of Community College Trustees, a national organization based in Washington, D.C., in 2011.

Ladd was appointed to zone 2 (North Portland and portions of Columbia County) to replace Harold Williams, who passed away last summer. Ladd is co-founder of KairosPDX, a non-profit organization focused on equity and access to quality early learning opportunities. She also spent five years working in the City of Portland’s Mayor’s Office as the Education Strategies Director.

Representing zone 6 (Washington and Yamhill counties), Pitts was first elected in 2009. He has been with Intel Corp. since 1988, and is a senior leader as Technical Marketing Director in Hillsboro. Prior to that, Pitts worked at Westinghouse Electric in Asheville, N.C., and Milliken and Co. in Spartanburg, S.C.

Madden is the owner of Madden Industrial Craftsman and Madden Fabrication in Beaverton. He previously served on the PCC Foundation board since 2003 and was recently elected chair of the Beaverton Area Chamber of Commerce.