Hal Plotkin
took office as
 Foothill-De Anza Community College District Trustee
December 15, 2003

Read Hal's Thank You Message

 

California State Senator John Vasconcellos says:

“I have known Hal Plotkin more than 20 years. I know him to be an honest, caring and committed, smart and strategic leader who believes in people and in learning and in our California Community Colleges. He's well-known for his technological and educational expertise, and will help generate new policies and programs that will assure innovation in the curriculum and enhance our Colleges, all the while attending to the fiscal integrity of a system hard hit by budget cuts.”


Former State Senator Becky Morgan says:

“Hal Plotkin’s work as a writer has honed his investigative skills and his interest in many subjects of significance to community colleges. As a former Foothill College student, he understands the importance of accessibility and quality teaching for all students. He will be a real asset to the Board.”

 

            Bio

           Campaign Platform 

           List of Supporters

           Get Involved

           Make a Contribution

           Published Archives

           Contact

            

 

Hal Plotkin

 

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo says:

"Hal Plotkin's business and technology expertise will serve our community colleges well. I'm proud to join the distinguished list of educators and community leaders who support Hal's campaign for the Foothill-De Anza Community College Board."   

 

 

 

Dear Friends:

Thank you for visiting my campaign web site.

We won.

The unofficial election tally shows us winning 27,035 votes, more than 4,700 ahead of our nearest competitor.

I will take my seat on the Board Dec. 15.

I am deeply grateful for all the invaluable support I received in this campaign: endorsements, contributions, help in shaping our message, fundraising events, calls to voters, volunteers putting in hours upon hours of tedious work getting out campaign mailers, going door to door, and handing out literature. During the campaign I made many new and wonderful friends, and was delighted to see many old friends rally to the cause. It's inspiring to know that so many people care about our community colleges, making government work, and building a better future together.

No words can adequately thank everyone who contributed time, money, ideas, and shoe leather to the effort. Please know that I will work diligently in the years ahead to justify your faith and confidence. Working together I know we can accomplish great things.

Season's Greetings, Peace, and Thank You,

Hal


 

 

We Support Hal Plotkin for Foothill-De Anza Trustee (partial list):

The Foothill-De Anza Faculty Association
SEIU Local 715 Foothill-De Anza Chapter Council
California School Employees Association Chapter #96
Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club
Democratic Activists For Women Now
Committee on Political Education (COPE)
The Palo Alto Daily
The Mountain View Voice

The Hon. Anna Eshoo, Member, U.S. Congress
The Hon. Zoe Lofgren, Member, U.S. Congress
The Hon. Mike Honda, Member, U.S. Congress
The Hon. Byron Sher, Member, California State Senate
The Hon. John Vasconcellos, Member, California State Senate
The Hon. Becky Morgan, Former Member, California State Senate
The Hon. Steve Westly, California State Controller
The Hon. Ed Zschau, Former Member, U.S. Congress
The Hon. Joe Simitian, Member, California State Assembly
The Hon. Liz Kniss, Member, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
The Hon. Dianne McKenna, Former Member, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Fomer Mayor, Sunnyvale
The Hon. Larry Stone, Santa Clara County Assessor, Former Mayor, Sunnyvale
The Hon. Ted Lempert, Former Member, California State Assembly
The Hon. Paul Fong, Member, Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees
The Hon. Judith Moss, Member, Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees, Former Mayor, Mountain View
The Hon. Sandy Hay, Member, Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees
The Hon. Andrea Leiderman, Member, Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees
The Hon. Jay Jackman, Former Member, Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees
The Hon. Matt Neely, Member, Mountain View City Council
The Hon. Nick Galiotto, Member, Mountain View City Council
The Hon. Mary Lou Zoglin, Member, Mountain View Council, Former Member, Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees
The Hon. Matt Allen, Former Mayor, Mountain View
The Hon. Michael Chang, Mayor, Cupertino
The Hon. Dolly Sandoval, Member, Cupertino City Council, Former Member, Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees
The Hon. Patrick Kwok, Member, Cupertino City Council
The Hon. Richard Lowenthal, Member, Cupertino City Council
The Hon. Gilbert Wong, Planning Commissioner, City of Cupertino
The Hon. Yoriko Kishimoto, Member, Palo Alto City Council
The Hon. Nancy Lytle, Member, Palo Alto City Council
The Hon. Betsy Bechtel, Fomer Mayor, Palo Alto, Former President, Foothill-De Anza Foundation
The Hon. Leland D. Levy, Former Mayor, Palo Alto
The Hon. Aggie Robinson, Former Member, Palo Alto School Board
The Hon. Ellen Fletcher, Former Vice Mayor, Palo Alto, Former Member, Palo Alto City Council
The Hon. Bob Fenwick, Former Mayor, Los Altos Hills, Member, Los Altos Hill City Council
The Hon. Dean Warshawsky, Member, Los Altos Hills City Council
The Hon. Breene Kerr, Member, Los Altos Hills City Council
The Hon. Julia Miller, Mayor, Sunnyvale
The Hon. Manuel Valerio, Member, Sunnyvale City Council
The Hon. Pat Vorreiter, Member, Sunnyvale City Council, Former Mayor, Sunnyvale
The Hon. John Howe, Member, Sunnyvale City Council
The Hon. Cindy Chavez, Member, San Jose City Council
The Hon. Jim Beall, Member, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
The Hon. Rod Diridon, Jr, Member, Santa Clara City Council
The Hon. Nonette Hanko, President, Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District
The Hon. Nancy Pyle, Trustee, San Jose/Evergreen Community College District
Lawrence Lessig
Amy Dean
Pat Millar
Emily Thurber
Rod Diridon, Sr.
Peter Boland
Marcia Allen
Karen Lemes
John Lemes
Ross Stein
Diana Hembree
Richard Alexander
Martin Gorfinkel
Mary Hughes
Mildred Kohn
Jeff Weintraub
Tom Cochran
Steve Chessin
Midge Cowley
Lisa Rein
Christina Redse Stefanek
Peter Rosenthal
Robert Pierce
Terry Trumbull
Marcy Plunkett
Truman B. Cross
Irina Cross
Hilda Korner
Irene Leaffer Levine
Barbara Emerich
Janet Owens
David M. Swartz
Philip H. Stephens
Daniel Ledford
Elisabeth E. Nordman
Peter A. Szego
Harry Levenberg
Fran Cochran
Nancy Grimley Carleton
Sidney Weintraub
Frank Briski
Suzan B. Stewart
Andrew Byrnes
Vince Cortese
Phyllis Garrison
Paul Chesler
Jill Chesler
Beth Grobman
Kurt Gravenhorst
Karl Schaffer
Ami Chen Mills
John Stefanki
Bobbie Nipper
William Tinsley
Samantha Young
Jared Tinklenberg
Helen Pickering
Kenneth Harper
John Atkins
Mae Lee
James Kim
Blanche Monary
Add My Name to this List!

 

Hal Plotkin Bio

Hal Plotkin is an author and financial analyst whose work has focused primarily on education, economics, public policy, technology and science.

Plotkin was appointed by the Speaker of the California State Assembly to a two-year term on California State Economic Strategy Panel. An advisor to numerous local, state and federal officials, he was an organizer of the 1994 World Economic Development Congress Summit Meeting in Madrid.

Plotkin worked his way through Foothill College and San Jose State University, earning degrees in history and behavioral sciences. He is running for the Foothill-De Anza Board of Trustees to assist and strengthen the system of public education that made his achievements possible.

Plotkin is a member of the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Friends of the Palo Alto Public Libraries. He and his wife, award-winning journalist Loren Stein, are Palo Alto homeowners.

Plotkin was a founding editor of Marketplace, the daily economic and business news program broadcast nationally via Public Radio International (and heard locally on KQED-FM). An expert on finance, he is the former Silicon Valley correspondent for CNBC.com and served as the technology columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFgate.com.

He is a contributing writer at Harvard Business School Publishing whose work has been published and cited worldwide.

Plotkin’s record of achievement and local public service has earned him praise and endorsements from a diverse group of community leaders. For more detailed biographical information, click here.

 

Campaign Platform: Hal Plotkin on Issues Facing the
Foothill-De Anza Community College District

Foothill and De Anza are outstanding institutions that serve our community well. The challenge for the governing board is to maintain and build on the excellence that already exists.

Preserve and Extend Access: Provide support to faculty and staff members who are developing new technologies and software that is designed to make higher education more accessible.

Promote Learning: Support efforts to measure and improve teaching methods and learning outcomes.

Reduce Financial Hardships on Students: Create incentives for faculty and staff to organize, maintain and print low-cost public domain learning materials in place of expensive and often-outdated textbooks. Sales of licenses to use these new, more current scholastic resources will generate royalties for the faculty, staff and district.

Support Job Training and Skill Development: Expand and strengthen programs that help workers develop current skill sets needed by the high technology, medical and dental industries as well as in other areas such as entertainment, broadcasting, and the creative arts.

Ensure Fiscal Responsibility: Examine and safeguard the district’s budget and expenditure patterns to prevent unexpected surprises and sudden program cuts.

Open Bidding Process: End as many single source contracts for goods and services as possible while encouraging open and transparent processes that make it easier for interested vendors to pre-qualify and compete for district contracts.

Support for the Environment: Continue the district’s progress in protecting our environment with programs that translate environmental concerns into practical business skills that have an impact in the marketplace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Paid for and authorized by the Hal Plotkin for Foothill-De Anza Trustee Committee 650/949-0693 FPPC ID#1255256

Open Letter to Faculty Here