Hornet Media and the Fullerton Observer interviewed Kyle Miller, running for the Area 7 position of the NOCCCD Board of Trustees, at a candidate forum at Fullerton College on Oct. 7, 2024. The Hornet reached out to his opponent, incumbent Ryan Bent, but he has declined a video interview and not provided responses to emailed questions.

This video series is a joint production of the Fullerton Observer, a volunteer-run community newspaper, and Hornet Media, the student-run media outlets housed in the Fullerton College journalism program. 

Interviews have been edited for length and clarity but have not been independently fact-checked. 

View live coverage of local elections returns on Nov. 5, 2024, at 7 p.m. on Hornet Media’s YouTube channel @fchornetmedia 

Video Transcript:

Hornet Media   

What is your specific experience and background that makes you the most qualified to be a member of the NOCCCD Board of Trustees? 

Kyle Miller   

Well, I have a broad experience in the private sector and the public sector. I’ve been a small business owner, so I know what it’s like to market a good product, which in the college arena, you have to attract students for enrollment. I’ve also been a mayor of a city of Labra heights, so I feel like I have learned in that position to work with other agencies, learn how cities work with school districts, and learn how to be a good advocate for whatever public agency that you’re representing. I’ve also been CEO of a chamber of commerce, so I know the value of working with businesses in terms of workforce development, for quality career pathways for for those students that want something as an alternative to the degree programs. And then my day job, I am a policy advisor for a state senator. So I I advise on a variety of issues, for example, education and transportation, which, of course, are two big ones that affect students.  

Hornet Media   

Did you attend a community college? If so, where did you go and what did you study? If not, what is your educational background? 

Kyle Miller   

I did. It was a little while ago. I’ll put it that way, but it was Mount SAC college, and I took care of all of my general ed there. I moved on and got a degree in business administration and management, and then since then, I’ve also taken some certificate programs at USC. 

Hornet Media   

How frequently do you come to Fullerton College, Cypress College, or NOCE, to meet students and talk with them about their needs? 

Kyle Miller   

Well, I’ve talked with several students at all three campuses. In fact, several of them have volunteered for my campaign, and I spoke with the faculty as well and what they think they’re going to need to meet the needs of the students. And also, the reason I’m here is this is a great opportunity, and I like to never pass up a good opportunity to connect directly with students and find out what their needs are. Just like when I served on council as mayor, you need to be in touch with your constituency, and in this case, would be the students. So that’s how I’ve approached it. 

Hornet Media   

With the increased cost of living, what initiatives would you advocate for to improve college affordability and access to financial aid for students? 

Kyle Miller   

Well, of course, I want to expand financial aid. As I said, I’ve built relationships on the county level, the state level and the federal level. That’s a federal program. So we would make the case, you know, we’d advocate for expanding financial aid staffing in that department fully and keeping track of that, because that is a major component of students attending or not attending, is the financial aid that they can receive given the rising mental health challenges of our students. 

Hornet Media   

How do you plan to enhance mental health services and support systems such as ownerships, housing support, meals and academic support services within our colleges? 

Kyle Miller   

Well, a lot of those systems are already in place, but they’re underfunded. So you know, this district happens to be sitting on a giant reserve larger than it needs to be, and they need to make investments. And that’s, that’s one of the places they should. As I said, I do policy analysis and advising for a senator. I’ve worked with other school districts, excuse me, college districts, and so we’ve talked about student housing being built on campus. We’ve talked about, you know, grant programs that can for like, on a needs basis students, I know at Rio Hondo, they dedicated a parking lot for people to stay over when they needed to. That’s a temporary fix, but, but it’s a different world today, and you have to really as much as you can support those students, students who need it so they can stay in, get that degree or that workforce development training and, you know, get get some quality education and off to a better job and a career like, like we all want to do. Oh. 

Hornet Media   

Both Fullerton College faculty and Classified Senate say the main thing that can improve student enrollment is hiring more full-time faculty and full-time counselors. Students agree that insufficient full-time staff leads to delays and misinformation for them. Do you support the hiring of more full-time faculty and staff in the district?  

Kyle Miller   

Absolutely, and in addition to that, I support competitive wages and benefits for existing staff and faculty in order to grow enrollment by attracting quality, quality educators, because they’re leaving. I mean, when they can go down the road to another college district and make almost double that’s a problem. So you need, you need to invest. And one of the areas you need to invest is in your staff and your faculty, because really, as a district, you only have those that do degree programs that you offer and your infrastructure, and you have to choose wisely as a trustee, to invest in all those for the sake of the students. 

Hornet Media   

There have been debates on the Board of Trustees over what flags can be flown on campus, and the proposal the phrase “dismantle oppressive institutional structures” in the mission statement. How will you advocate for equity initiatives within the district to address issues like systemic racism and discrimination affecting students?  

Kyle Miller   

Well, it’s one of the reasons I chose to run. My opponent is incessantly politically grandstanding. He’s actually yelled at students and faculty. Called them thugs and persons of low character just because they disagreed with his political rhetoric. I feel like that’s not the he doesn’t understand the assignment. He is an academic term that’s not his role as a trustee. Your role as a trustee is to be as supportive and welcoming to all students that want to that want to come to your campuses. So why you would rail against a pride flag, for example, and alienate 10 to 15% of potential candidate, excuse me, potential students, that’s just bad policy you need it’s not your role as a trustee. You just need to focus on student-centered decision-makings and be welcoming to all students.  

Hornet Media   

Fullerton College campus safety has requested that its officers be able to carry an ASP, an expendable baton for self protection. Do you agree that they should carry an ASP, which is technically a weapon, or do you think officers should only be allowed to carry pepper spray, which is the current policy, and should focus mainly on the deterrence, presence and community engagement? 

Kyle Miller   

You know, I think there was an incident recently, and that’s why this issue came up. But campus safety officers are under different guidelines and actual police in terms of weapons. So I think before you jump right to arming campus safety, I think you should increase visibility, hire more so that the incident that happened hopefully wouldn’t take place which he was left alone. And so I think a first step to try and resolve that problem would be to increase the numbers and follow their mission, which is to be engaging and visible.  

Hornet Media   

Do you believe more having hiring more campus safety will create more overall [safety]? 

Kyle Miller   

I think campus safety, excuse me, hiring more, having the pepper spray, yeah, greater visibility is a first step. I’m not positive that’ll work, but I would start there, rather than going right to arming them. 

Hornet Media   

And what do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities facing NOCCCD in the next few years? 

Kyle Miller   

Well, you know, funding is always an issue student enrollment, I think you have to focus on that. It’s not just a college problem. It’s all around. But I think building those relationships, like I said earlier, with businesses, with the different levels of government, so that you’re always getting your fair share of funding, and then on the flip side, being in tune with students and what students are looking for, and evolving your programs to meet their needs. Because unlike K through 12, where students have to go, where they’re told college, they can go anywhere they want, so you have to, you have to have things that students are looking for, and that takes funding, and it takes proactive measures to instead of reacting when it’s too late.