Dallas College wraps up board elections, fills seat of late trustee

The last Dallas College board election aimed to fill in the seat of the longtime trustee who died last year.

Dr. Catalina Garcia and Lynn Davenport faced off in a runoff on Saturday for the District 1 seat, which encompasses North Dallas and Lake Highlands. Garcia, 84, is a retired physician, and Davenport, 50, is a former professional recruiter.

Garcia — who won more than 63% of the votes — will serve for two years, filling in for the late J.L. “Sonny” Williams, whose term expires in 2024. Garcia will need to run again in 2024 if she wants to be reelected for six more years, the usual term length.

Former incumbent Gretchen Minyard Williams, 65, took over the seat after the death of her husband, J.L. Williams — a Minyard Food Stores president and minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Gretchen Willams, a realtor who has served as co-chairman of Minyard Food Stores, did not make it into the runoff after falling behind competitors in May.

Garcia previously said that she wants to increase the college’s involvement with high schools to nurture and fortify a student pipeline, focusing especially on students who may not be considering pursuing a degree because of associated costs.

Noting that the college has neglected its English proficiency curriculum, Garcia said she wants to reprioritize such studies in order to not have an “ignorant” workforce.

The Dallas College system originally consisted of seven colleges — each an individual institution part of the Dallas County Community College District — before administrators merged them in 2020.

Trustees must navigate bouncing back from pandemic-related losses and setbacks, work with a new chancellor and maneuver the consolidation.