One candidate named Galvan did win an election in Elgin this month.
The better known one, business consultant Joe Galvan, ran against incumbent Dave Kaptain for the post of mayor of Elgin in the April 7 Consolidated Election. The election drew more than 7,000 voters, but Kaptain defeated Galvan. But five days before that Jorge Galvan of Elgin won an election that attracted just 120 voters to become the student representative to the Elgin Community College Board of Trustees.
The seven regular board members seated Galvan at their meeting Tuesday night and issued a proclamation of appreciation for the work of the outgoing student board rep, Joel Severson.
Galvan the Younger — who pronounces his name like the English word “George” — said he is not related to Joe Galvan and has never met the man. During the past school year, Jorge has been president of the Elgin Community College Student Government.
He defeated two other candidates for the student seat on the board of trustees.
Galvan said he is a lifelong resident of Elgin and graduated from Larkin High School in 2012. He said he originally enrolled at Elgin Community College with the idea of studying toward a degree in marine biology, but has decided to switch his emphasis to aerospace engineering, so he will stay at the college for another year.
“I went from the sea to the sky,” Galvan joked.
The student board member comments on issues, attends public meetings and casts an advisory vote on issues.
Asked if he wants to push the board members to work on some specific issues, he said he would like to work on the possibility of reducing the soaring price of textbooks. He said one faculty member negotiated with a textbook publisher and was able to reduce the cost of one textbook that had come with a sticker price of $300 per copy.
Severson, the son of an Elgin clergyman, said he will study bio-engineering after graduating from Elgin Community College this year but has not yet decided which college or university he will attend. He has a 3.6 grade-point average at the college.
“I thank you for your patience and teaching me so much,” Severson told his fellow trustees as the changeover took place. He said later that his year on the board had given him the chance to attend a national meeting in Washington, D.C., at which he met First Lady Michelle Obama, and to attend other trustee-association and lobbying meetings in Springfield, Chicago and Naperville.
Severson’s time on the board included some contentious meetings on such issues as outsourcing the custodial staff and raising President David Sam’s pay. But Severson did not make many public comments on those issues.
In the April 7 consolidated election, two of the adult board seats were up for election. Incumbent Donna Redmer, who has been the board chair this year, was re-elected, but incumbent Robert Getz was narrowly defeated by attorney Jeff Meyer of Elgin. Redmer expressed thanks for Getz’s 12 years of service on the board and all the board members gave him a round of applause.
Board members have scheduled a special meeting at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, to seat Meyer and internally elect a new chairperson and vice chairperson.