Election 2026 · School and college districts
LA Community College Board, Seat 2
Adriana Cabrera, Kristina Irwin, Roy Payan, Robert Payne and Steven F. Veres (incumbent) are the candidates for LA Community College Board, Seat 2 on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) runs nine public community colleges. A seven-member Board of Trustees, elected by voters, governs the district. Trustees serve staggered four-year terms, and a student trustee is also chosen each year.
Summary by CityHallPass, not the official text or legal advice. The official text controls: LA County's official election information.
| Who votes | Every voter in the Los Angeles Community College District (elected districtwide) |
|---|---|
| Term and pay | Four-year term. Trustees are paid $2,000 a month, according to the LA Times (2024). |
| How it works | No primary. All five candidates are on the November 3 ballot, and whoever gets the most votes wins, even without a majority. Seats 2, 4 and 6 are on the ballot; vote once in each. |
| Party labels | Nonpartisan |
What it means for the City of LA
LACCD's nine colleges are Los Angeles City College, East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Pierce College, Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, Los Angeles Valley College, Los Angeles Southwest College, West Los Angeles College and Los Angeles Mission College. Trustees are elected at large, so City of Los Angeles voters who live in the district vote on every seat on the ballot.
At a glance
| Steven F. Veres | Robert Payne | Kristina Irwin | Adriana Cabrera | Roy Payan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2 primary | None held for LACCD | None held for LACCD | None held for LACCD (ran for State Senate, 14.1%) | None held for LACCD | None held for LACCD |
| Last LACCD race | Won Seat 2 in 2022, 66.3% | Lost Seat 7 in 2024, 20.5% | None | None | None |
| Latest public poll | None found | None found | None found | None found | None found |
| Raised, Jan 1, 2025 to Sep 19, 2026 | $999, plus $12,000 in late gifts Sep 21-24 | Under $2,000 (Form 470) | Under $2,000 (Form 470) | Under $2,000 (Form 470) | Under $2,000 (Form 470) |
| Outside or allied spending for / against | $3,666.67 / $0 | $0 / $0 | $0 / $0 | $0 / $0 | $0 / $0 |
The candidates
Adriana Cabrera
Cabrera's ballot designation is Educator. She filed a Form 470 on September 24, 2026, stating she expects to raise and spend less than $2,000 (Form 470). No campaign website, questionnaire or news coverage of her candidacy was found.
Kristina Irwin
Irwin lives in Los Angeles and listed her job as real estate agent when she ran as a Republican for State Senate District 24 in the June 2, 2026 primary (Daily News/Southern California News Group questionnaire). She placed fourth of 10 with 42,939 votes (14.1%) and did not advance (Secretary of State, Statement of Vote). She told the questionnaire she had held no prior political office.
Roy Payan
Payan's ballot designation is Disabled Student Advocate. He filed a Form 470 on July 31, 2026, stating he expects to raise and spend less than $2,000 (Form 470). No campaign website, questionnaire or news coverage of his candidacy was found.
Robert Payne
Payne says he grew up in Pacoima, attended a junior college, wrote 21 novels, founded a nonprofit in Guatemala and has taught at Los Angeles Mission College (campaign site). The LA Times listed him in 2022 as a writer, researcher, writing instructor and documentary director (LA Times, 2022). He ran for Seat 6 in 2022 (26.9%, against Gabriel Buelna) and Seat 7 in 2024 (20.5%, against Kelsey Iino) (2022 results; 2024 results).
Steven F. Veres Incumbent
Veres lives in the San Fernando Valley, was a student activist at UCLA and has worked as a teacher, college instructor, journalist and news editor (campaign site; LACCD bio). He is a former mayor of San Fernando and was staff director for state Sens. María Elena Durazo and Kevin de León and Assemblymember Cindy Montañez (LACCD bio). He first joined the board in 2011, left after one term to run for City Council in 2015, returned in 2017, and won Seat 2 again in November 2022 with 66.3% (campaign site; LA Times, 2017; 2022 results). He is the board's second vice president for 2026 (LACCD Board Overview).
The job
Powers. State law puts each community college district “under the control of a board of trustees.” The board sets policy for and approves academic and facilities plans, approves courses and programs, employs all staff and sets their pay and benefits, and “determine[s] and control[s] the district’s operational and capital outlay budgets” (Education Code 70902). LACCD says its board also selects and appoints the Chancellor and the college presidents and reviews site and facilities development (LACCD). The board has seven members elected at large to four-year terms, plus a student trustee chosen each year (LACCD Board Overview). The student trustee casts an advisory vote before the other members vote (Education Code 72023.5). The LA Times reported in 2024 that trustees are paid $2,000 a month (LA Times).
Budget. District staff presented the 2026-27 Final Budget at a September 9, 2026 special board meeting (agenda, which attaches the presentation and the full budget book).
- All funds total $9.5 billion. The largest pieces are the Building Fund of bond money ($7.5 billion), the unrestricted General Fund ($1.1 billion), student financial aid ($374.6 million) and restricted grant programs ($299.4 million) (2026-27 Final Budget book, attached to the Sept. 9 agenda).
- Unrestricted revenue is $994.2 million. Of that, $907.1 million comes from the state’s Student Centered Funding Formula (2026-27 Final Budget book).
- Reserves: a General Reserve of $64.6 million (6.5%) and a Contingency Reserve of $34.8 million (3.5%), as board policy requires (2026-27 Final Budget book and presentation, attached to the Sept. 9 agenda).
- The budget assumes flat enrollment and “No salary increases.” The presentation notes the labor contracts expired June 30, 2026 (Final Budget presentation, attached to the Sept. 9 agenda).
- College allocations range from $167.1 million for East Los Angeles College to $36.6 million for Los Angeles Southwest College (Final Budget presentation, attached to the Sept. 9 agenda).
Students. LACCD’s January 2026 fact sheet says the nine colleges enroll “nearly 200,000” students a year (LACCD fact sheet). In 2024-25 they awarded more than 44,300 degrees and certificates, including more than 5,600 transfer degrees, and gave out $334 million in financial aid. About half of students report incomes near or below the poverty line. In 2024-25, 58.2% of students were Hispanic, 18.9% white, 8.0% African American and 5.6% Asian (LACCD fact sheet).
Bonds. Voters have approved five construction bonds: Prop A (2001), Prop AA (2003), Measure J (2008), Measure CC (2016) and Measure LA (2022). KPMG’s audit for the year ending June 30, 2025 counts $14.3 billion authorized and $6.79 billion spent, with about $7.9 billion left. Of what is left, $5.3 billion is Measure LA money (KPMG performance audit, Feb. 19, 2026). KPMG found no significant control deficiencies and no significant charges that broke bond rules. It made six low-priority recommendations, such as requiring sign-off on schedule reports and tracking contractor delays (KPMG performance audit). Measure LA passed in November 2022 with 62.3% of the vote (LA County results). The board votes to issue bonds. On October 8, 2025 it approved Measure CC bonds, Series F (minutes).
Audits. The outside audit of the district’s 2024-25 finances received an “unmodified” opinion. That means the auditor found the statements fair in all material respects (minutes). The board accepted it on February 18, 2026 (minutes). The bond financial audits for 2022-23 through 2024-25 also received unmodified opinions (March 4, 2026 minutes).
Accreditation. The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) accredits the colleges. None of the nine appears in the ACCJC lists of actions on institutions from January 2025 through June 2026 (ACCJC).
Student housing. The district planned to spend up to $150 million in Measure LA money on 800 to 1,600 student beds at Los Angeles City College and Pierce College, the LA Times reported (LA Times, Sept. 4, 2026). On September 2, 2026 it canceled the bidding and said it will run a new competition (LA Times, Sept. 4, 2026). In March 2026 the board adopted a resolution giving current and former foster youth priority in district student housing (March 4, 2026 minutes).
Leadership. The board named Alberto J. Román chancellor in May 2025 on a contract of about three years paying $440,000 a year, the LA Times reported (LA Times, May 8, 2025). The previous chancellor, Francisco Rodriguez, left in 2024 (LA Times, May 8, 2025).
How the seat is filled. No LACCD race was on the June 2, 2026 primary ballot (LA County results). LACCD trustees are elected only in November, with no primary and no runoff: “the person who gets the most votes in each seat wins,” as the LA Times described the 2024 race (LA Times). State law lets a district board move its elections to the statewide general election date (Elections Code 1302), and a plurality elects (Elections Code 15452). So every qualified candidate for the seat is on the November 3 ballot, and the winner may have well under half the votes. Candidates pick which seat to run for, and every voter in the district votes on every seat on the ballot.
Records
Steven F. Veres
Time on the board. Veres says he has served since 2011 “with a two-year interval” (campaign site). The LA Times editorial board wrote in 2017 that he served one term, ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2015, and was then running to return (LA Times, Feb. 13, 2017). He won Seat 2 in November 2022 with 633,509 votes (66.3%) over Jason R. Aula (18.4%) and Glenn Trujillo Bailey (15.4%) (LA County results).
Roles. He chairs the board’s Facilities Master Planning and Oversight Committee, which oversees bond construction (Feb. 4, 2026 minutes). The board elected him second vice president for 2026 on a 5-2 vote, with Gabriel Buelna and Nichelle Henderson voting no (Dec. 17, 2025 minutes).
Votes and actions, August 2025 to July 2026 (from board minutes):
- Bond measure. In 2022 he voted to place the $5.3 billion Measure LA bond on the ballot and backed it: “I fully support the district’s plan” (LA Times, 2022).
- Budget. He voted yes when the board adopted the 2025-26 Final Budget on September 10, 2025 (minutes).
- Software contract. On February 4, 2026 he voted to table the cancellation of a planned Oracle contract to replace the district’s business software. That motion failed 3-3. He then voted with the 5-1 majority to cancel the Oracle negotiations after staff said the two sides could not agree on terms (minutes).
- Hospitality program. On March 4, 2026 he asked the board to reconsider ending East Los Angeles College’s hospitality certificate, citing workforce needs for upcoming major events in Los Angeles. The item was pulled for further review (minutes).
- Clean energy. On April 8, 2026 he moved a resolution recommitting the district to 100% clean electricity by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2040. It carried (minutes).
- Legal contracts. On October 8, 2025 he asked staff to explain a new bench of outside “conflict counsel” law firms before the board approved it. He was absent for that meeting’s vote to issue Measure CC bonds, Series F (minutes).
- Federal agents on campus. He was not present for the August 6, 2025 vote on a resolution asking all law enforcement officers near LACCD campuses to wear visible identification. It passed 6-0 (minutes).
- As an officer, he co-sponsored most of the board’s commemorative resolutions in 2026, such as those for Black History Month and Career and Technical Education Month (Feb. 4, 2026 minutes; Apr. 8, 2026 minutes).
Ethics and court records.
- In March 2011, while a San Fernando councilmember, he received an FPPC warning letter for accepting a $1,250 gift of travel in 2009 above that year’s $420 gift limit. The FPPC said he believed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation had paid, and it closed the case with a warning “due to the mitigating circumstances” (FPPC warning letter; FPPC case 2016-19137).
- No City Ethics Commission enforcement order names him, including for his 2015 City Council run (City Ethics enforcement orders). No FEC matter names him, and he is not a State Bar licensee (FEC legal search; State Bar search). Searched Sept. 30, 2026.
Robert Payne
Career. Payne describes himself as a writer who put a novel on the New York Times paperback best-seller list, taught high school, and later taught at colleges and universities, including Los Angeles Mission College (campaign site). In 2024 the LA Times listed his occupation as writer, researcher and documentary director (LA Times, 2024).
Past races. He lost Seat 6 to Gabriel Buelna in 2022 with 250,773 votes (26.9%) and lost Seat 7 to Kelsey Iino in 2024 with 294,762 votes (20.5%) (2022 results; 2024 results).
Record. In 2022 he opposed Measure LA until the district showed “financial transparency before the district receives more billions” (LA Times, 2022).
Ethics and lawsuits. No public enforcement actions were found in FPPC or FEC records, and neither State Bar licensee named Robert Payne lists a Los Angeles-area address (FPPC case search; FEC legal search; State Bar search). Searched Sept. 30, 2026.
Kristina Irwin
Career. Irwin listed her job as real estate agent and her residence as Los Angeles in a 2026 questionnaire. She said she had held no other political office (Southern California News Group questionnaire).
Past races. She ran as a Republican for State Senate District 24 in the June 2, 2026 primary and placed fourth of 10 with 42,939 votes (14.1%) (Statement of Vote). Democrat John M. Erickson (20.5%) and Democrat Brian Goldsmith (18.3%) advanced (Statement of Vote).
Record. She told the questionnaire she had held no political office (Southern California News Group questionnaire).
Ethics and lawsuits. No public enforcement actions were found in FPPC or FEC records, and she is not a State Bar licensee (FPPC case search; FEC legal search; State Bar search). Searched Sept. 30, 2026.
Adriana Cabrera
Career. Her ballot designation is Educator (County Registrar candidate list). No biography, employer or past race was found.
Ethics and lawsuits. No public enforcement actions were found in FPPC or FEC records, and she is not a State Bar licensee (FPPC case search; FEC legal search; State Bar search). Searched Sept. 30, 2026.
Roy Payan
Career. His ballot designation is Disabled Student Advocate (County Registrar candidate list). No biography, employer or past race was found.
Ethics and lawsuits. No public enforcement actions were found in FPPC or FEC records, and he is not a State Bar licensee (FPPC case search; FEC legal search; State Bar search). Searched Sept. 30, 2026.
Where they stand
Issues come from the questions the LA Times asked LACCD candidates in 2022 and 2024 (enrollment, the budget, students’ basic needs, online classes and the bond) (LA Times, 2022; LA Times, 2024) and from the district’s current business: student housing and bond oversight. None of the five candidates answered a 2026 media questionnaire that we found. Veres’s 2026 campaign issues page lists goals without numbers or dates, such as “Develop affordable student housing” (campaign issues page). Payne’s campaign site was checked September 30, 2026. It still describes a Seat 6 race, so it appears not to have been updated for 2026.
| Issue | Steven F. Veres | Robert Payne | Kristina Irwin | Adriana Cabrera | Roy Payan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student housing | No specific proposal. Record: chairs the facilities committee overseeing bond projects, including the housing plan canceled Sept. 2, 2026 (minutes; LA Times). | In 2022, pressure cities to up-zone around the colleges for dense student housing (LA Times, 2022). | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. |
| Bond spending and oversight | No specific proposal. Record: voted to place Measure LA on the 2022 ballot (LA Times, 2022). | Wanted “financial transparency” before new bonds (LA Times, 2022); proposes “more critical review of designs and costs” of construction contracts (campaign site). | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. |
| Cost to students | Continue working to expand tuition-free education; no amount or program named (campaign issues page). | Publish assigned readings digitally “at near-zero cost” (LA Times, 2024). | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. |
| Part-time faculty | No specific proposal. | “Equal pay and health care for the adjunct faculty” (campaign site). | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. |
| Enrollment and completion | Measure success by “degrees and certificates earned and successful transfers, not enrollment alone”; no target (campaign issues page). | Test all new students for learning style before classes start (campaign site); hire faculty with industry experience (LA Times, 2024). | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. |
| Career training | Expand paid internships and apprenticeships; no number (campaign issues page). Record: asked the board to reconsider ending ELAC’s hospitality certificate (Mar. 4, 2026 minutes). | Recruit industry to offer training classes for credit (LA Times, 2024). | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. | No specific proposal. |
On the other ballot measures
LACCD voters also decide 14 state propositions and County Measures A and E. Voters inside the City of Los Angeles also see City measures FD, TE, LA, PL, EE, PRK, PRT and SC. The LACCD board placed no measure on this ballot (County measures list). No statement by any Seat 2 candidate on these measures was found on campaign sites, in questionnaires or in news coverage.
| Measures | Steven F. Veres | Robert Payne | Kristina Irwin | Adriana Cabrera | Roy Payan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Props 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position |
| County Measures A and E | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position |
| City measures (City voters only) | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position | No stated position |
Endorsements
No newspaper editorial board endorsement in this race was found as of September 29, 2026. The LA Times editorial board endorsed Veres in 2017 (LA Times).
Steven F. Veres
From his campaign endorsements page, checked September 30, 2026:
- Elected officials: State Treasurer Fiona Ma; state Sens. María Elena Durazo and Ben Allen; Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez; Mayor Karen Bass; City Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Heather Hutt; LACCD Trustees Sara Hernandez, Andra Hoffman, Kelsey Iino and David Vela (campaign list).
- Party: Los Angeles County Democratic Party (campaign list).
- Unions: Los Angeles Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; AFT Local 1521; AFT Staff Guild; UTLA; LA/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council; SEIU Local 721; SEIU Local 99 Education Workers United; Teamsters Joint Council 42; IBEW Local 11; Sheet Metal Workers Local 105; UNITE HERE Local 11 (campaign list).
- Organizations: LA League of Conservation Voters, Southern California Armenian Democrats, Stonewall Democratic Club, Westside Young Democrats, West Hollywood/Beverly Hills Democratic Club, North Valley Democratic Club (campaign list).
Robert Payne
No endorsements found. His campaign site lists none for 2026.
Kristina Irwin
No endorsements found for this race.
Adriana Cabrera
No endorsements found.
Roy Payan
No endorsements found.
Polls
No public polls of this race were found.
Money
LACCD candidates file with the LA County Registrar on NetFile. A candidate who files a Form 470 states that they expect to raise and spend less than $2,000 in the year and files no itemized reports (FPPC Form 470).
| Steven F. Veres | Robert Payne | Kristina Irwin | Adriana Cabrera | Roy Payan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contributions, Jan 1, 2025 to Sep 19, 2026 | $999 | Form 470 | Form 470 | Form 470 | Form 470 |
| Late contributions, Sep 20-28, 2026 (Form 497) | $12,000 | none | none | none | none |
| Spent | $17,122.26 in 2025; $13,125.84 in 2026 through Sep 19 | under $2,000 | under $2,000 | under $2,000 | under $2,000 |
| Cash on hand, Sep 19, 2026 | $41,290.12 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Debts | $2,393.98 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Loans or own money | none | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Sources: Veres’s Form 460s (Jul-Dec 2025; Jan-Jun 2025; Jul-Sep 2026), late reports (Sep 22; Sep 25) and the others’ Forms 470 (Payne; Irwin; Cabrera; Payan). Spending figures are the calendar-year totals on the Form 460 summary pages. The Veres committee began 2025 with $66,649.23 in cash, the same amount his 2022 committee reported at the end of 2024 (2022 committee, Jul-Dec 2024 Form 460; Jan-Jun 2025 Form 460).
Who is giving
Method: every itemized contribution on the committee’s Form 460s from January 1, 2025 to September 19, 2026, plus Form 497 late reports through September 28. A donor is a name plus ZIP code. ZIP codes are assigned to the City of LA when at least half the ZIP’s area is inside the City, and to the rest of LA County by Census ZIP-to-county data. Data: LA County NetFile.
Steven F. Veres. Veres reported no contributions in 2025 (Jan-Jun 2025 Form 460; Jul-Dec 2025 Form 460) and two in 2026 through September 19: $500 from Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur’s re-election committee and $499 from one individual (Form 460). After September 19 he reported $12,000 more: $10,000 from the AFT Staff Guild Local 1521-A COPE Fund, $1,000 from the LA/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council PAC and $1,000 from one individual. That makes five donors and $12,999. Unions gave $11,000 (84.6%) (Sep 22 late report; Sep 25 late report). The staff guild’s own report dates its $10,000 check September 14 (AFT Staff Guild Form 460); Veres reports receiving it September 21. Donors in City ZIP codes gave $11,499 (88.5%) (Form 460; Sep 22 late report; Sep 25 late report). There are too few donors to measure small-donor share, same-employer groups or industries.
Robert Payne, Kristina Irwin, Adriana Cabrera and Roy Payan. Each filed a Form 470, so no donor-level data exists (Payne; Irwin; Cabrera; Payan).
Outside spending
No independent expenditure report (Form 496) naming a Seat 2 candidate was filed with the County as of September 29, 2026 (County NetFile portal).
One committee formed to support three LACCD candidates is spending in the race. The Coalition for LA Community College Reform to Support Veres, Harris, and Winston, sponsored by the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, AFT Local 1521, registered on September 2, 2026 (Form 410).
- Money in: $250,000 on September 14 from the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild COPE (Form 460).
- Spent through Sep 19: $148,500. For Veres it paid $3,666.67 to Tzunu Strategies for campaign consulting on September 18. It reported this payment as a contribution to Veres’s committee. The rest went to Randall Winston (Seat 6, $141,166.67) and Darryn Harris (Seat 4, $3,666.66). It had $101,675.18 left (Coalition Form 460).
- Who funds it: the Faculty Guild COPE reported all of its 2025-26 receipts as unitemized contributions under $100: $217,866 in July-December 2025 and $53,856 in January-April 2026 (Jul-Dec 2025 Form 460; Jan-Apr 2026 Form 460).
Key moments
Debates and forums. No candidate debate or forum for Seat 2 was found.
Faculty union picks a slate (September 2026). The faculty union’s committee registered to support Veres, Harris and Winston. For Seat 6 that meant backing a challenger over sitting Trustee Gabriel Buelna (County candidate list; Form 410). Veres’s campaign site also lists the faculty and staff guilds as endorsers. No public comment from any candidate about the committee was found.
Housing bid canceled (September 2026). The board was set to vote September 2 on starting talks with CTI Housing to build student housing (LA Times, Sept. 4, 2026). The district canceled that meeting (Sept. 2 agenda), then canceled the bidding (LA Times, Sept. 4, 2026). No comment from Veres was found. As facilities committee chair, he oversees the bond program that would pay for the housing (Feb. 4, 2026 minutes).