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Vicki Carpenter MSJC Trustee · Area 3
Volunteer
Re-Elect
Vicki

Carpenter

for MSJC Trustee
Area 3
Strong Leadership Focused on Students Committed to Our Community

Mt. San Jacinto College · Board of Trustees · Area 3

Keep MSJC Moving Forward.

Menifee has no public university. For most families here, Mt. San Jacinto is higher education — the one place you can train for a career without a forty-minute drive out of the county. I have spent seven years on this board making sure it keeps up with how fast we are growing.

Portrait of Vicki Carpenter

Placeholder — 240 px source, far below production quality. Needs an original file from Vicki.

Election Day · Tuesday, November 3, 2026 | Mt. San Jacinto Community College District, Trustee Area 3
2018
Serving on the MSJC Board of Trustees since September 2018
Clerk
Currently serves as Clerk of the Board
1981
Working in this valley since — Menifee resident and president of the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce

The Record

What this board has done while I've served.

Anyone can list priorities. A record is the part you can check. Here is what the board has actually voted on, built, and delivered since 2018 — with dates.

Needs from Vicki — the single most valuable thing she can send us
2018

Seated on the Board of Trustees for Area 3

Appointed in September 2018, and returned in 2022 without opposition.

2026

Measure AA delivered — every project, finished

The district's $295 million 2014 facilities bond closed out with its final project: a $50 million Math & Science building at the Menifee Valley Campus, dedicated in February 2026.

2026

Helped hire MSJC's next superintendent/president

Served as Vice Chair of the search that selected Dr. Tawny Dotson as the district's 8th superintendent/president, who began July 1, 2026 after Dr. Roger Schultz's 18 years leading the college.

2025

Accreditation reaffirmed for the full seven years — with zero compliance requirements

ACCJC reaffirmed MSJC through 2032, the longest term the commission grants, listing no compliance requirements and issuing two commendations — one of them for the college's Veterans Resource Center.

2021

Held the district together through the enrollment collapse

Enrollment bottomed at 10,419 FTES in 2021‑22 — down 13.4% from the pre‑pandemic peak of 12,032. Every California community college took this hit. What happened next is the part that differs by district.

2025

Enrollment back to 13,868 FTES — and past where it started

A 33.1% recovery off the 2021‑22 low, and 15.3% above the pre‑pandemic peak. MSJC did not just recover; it grew.

2025

Temecula Valley reached state Center status

Enrollment across the district's centers rose from 2,393 to 6,849 FTES in a single year as Temecula Valley attained formal Center designation from the state.

2026

A clean audit, with zero findings

The FY2024‑25 independent audit, reported January 2026, returned an unmodified opinion with no financial‑statement, federal, or state findings — including clean testing of dual enrollment and the state funding formula.

2026

Running for re-election in Area 3

Asking Area 3 voters to keep an experienced hand on the board through the district's next phase of growth.

Priorities

Three things I'm focused on next term.

Three, not a generic list of every issue in public life. A community college trustee governs a budget, hires a president, sets policy, oversees facilities and accreditation — the priorities here should be things this board can actually decide.

Drafted from MSJC and county data — needs Vicki's sign-off and her own words

Training for the jobs that actually pay here

The two biggest warehouse occupations in this region pay about $44,000 to $47,000 a year. A registered nurse earns $140,000. Health care added 6.5% more jobs this year while construction shrank. MSJC is the bridge between those two numbers, and for most families in Area 3 it is the only bridge. Statewide, seven of every ten qualified nursing applicants never get a seat — and the Inland Empire has the lowest per‑capita health workforce in California. Expanding nursing capacity here is the most useful thing this board can do.

Keeping college within reach of home

There is no public university with a main campus anywhere in this district. The nearest one you can start a bachelor's degree at is UC Riverside — 24 miles and better than half an hour from Menifee. Meanwhile our own high schoolers head to college at 51%, against 66% statewide. That gap is not about ambition. It is about distance, and MSJC is the answer to it.

Room to grow, without putting it on the taxpayers

Menifee is the fastest‑growing California city over 100,000 since the last census, and our 2014 bond is now fully delivered — the last project, the Math & Science building, opened in February. MSJC is one of the few districts in California in genuinely strong financial shape: strong reserves, the highest bond rating, a clean audit with zero findings. That strength exists so it can be spent on students. My priority is turning it into the classrooms and labs the next ten thousand students will need.

Transfer success runs underneath all three of these — more students in the door only counts if they finish and move on.

Figures above are drawn from MSJC's published finance presentation (Oct 31, 2024), the FY2024‑25 audited financial statements (Jan 8, 2026), the FY2026‑27 tentative budget, and the 2026 ACCJC Annual Report.

Endorsements

People who have worked with me are willing to say so.

The clearest edge in the race. Vicki has verbal commitments from state senators, an assemblymember, a county supervisor, every member of her city council and councilmembers in neighboring cities, community leaders, former elected officials, and all of her fellow board members. Neither opponent has a single endorsement listed anywhere.

Names as sent by Vicki (Aug 23) — still needs each person's written blurb + publish permission before this goes live
Kelly Seyarto
State Senator
Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh
State Senator
Natasha Johnson
Assembly Member
Chuck Washington
Riverside County Supervisor
Marion Ashley
Former Riverside County Supervisor
Ricky Estrada
Menifee Mayor
Ben Diederich
Menifee City Council
Dean Dienes
Menifee City Council
Bob Karwin
Menifee City Council
Dan Templeton
Menifee City Council
Lesa Sobec
Former Menifee City Council
Bill Zimmerman
Former Mayor, City of Menifee
Jeremy Smith
Canyon Lake Mayor
Josh Steeber
Canyon Lake City Council — to be confirmed
Tim Sheridan
Lake Elsinore City Council — to be confirmed
Lori Stone
Murrieta City Council
Cindy Warren
Murrieta City Council
Linda Krupa
Hemet City Council
Chris Carnes
Valley Wide Director — to be confirmed
Dr. Roger Schultz
Former MSJC Superintendent
Inland Valleys Association of Realtors
Organization
Southwest Riverside County Association of Realtors
Organization
Tom Ashley
Community Leader
Calvin Smith
Community Leader
Brian Sylva
Community Leader
Jackie Johanson
Community Leader
Katie Luna
Community Leader

Two rules this section must never break. Fellow board members are identified as community leaders, never as trustees — Vicki flagged that as a conflict, and it holds on every piece we produce. And no faculty, counselor, or administrator endorsement appears here at all, for the same reason.

About

Thirty-five years in this valley.

It has been an honor to serve as your Mt. San Jacinto College Trustee for Area 3. I am seeking re-election to continue advancing affordable, accessible education, responsible stewardship, and strong pathways from the classroom to careers and four-year universities.

Student success stays at the center of every decision I make — dual enrollment, university transfer, career education, veterans services, financial aid, student wellness, and programs that prepare students for high-demand jobs. It also means transparent governance, fiscal responsibility, and the careful use of taxpayer dollars.

My commitment to this community goes well beyond the board table. These roles have shaped how I listen, collaborate, and build consensus — and before all of it, I began my career as a paralegal and have worked in real estate since 1991. I live in Menifee.

I respectfully ask for your vote so I may continue serving our students, protecting public resources, and helping MSJC transform learners, communities, and lives.

Above is adapted from Vicki's own submitted candidate statement (Aug 21) — her words, trimmed for the web so it doesn't repeat what's already in the Record and Priorities sections. Full statement is in the repo if you want to compare or restore anything cut.

Community roles

  • CurrentDirector, California Association of Realtors
  • CurrentDirector, Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce
  • CurrentDirector & Membership Chair, Rotary Club of Menifee
  • CurrentDirector, Menifee Union School District Foundation
  • CurrentTrustee, Local Candidate Review Committee, Inland Valley Association of Realtors
  • CurrentAdvocate, Domestic Violence Shelter
  • PastPresident, Rotary Club of Menifee
  • PastPresident, Inland Valleys Association of Realtors
  • PastPresident, Menifee Valley Medical Center Foundation
  • PastPresident, MSJC Foundation
  • PastDirector, Hospice of the Valleys
  • 2025City of Menifee “Hometown Hero”
  • 2024Outstanding Citizen of the Month, City of Menifee
  • 2020Senator Morrell’s Woman of the Year
  • 2016Menifee Citizen of the Year

In the community

Real photographs, no generated images.

Every image on the finished site will be a real photograph of Vicki in this community. That is a deliberate choice, and it also keeps the campaign clear of California's AI-disclosure rule if any of this imagery is ever boosted as a paid social post.

Waiting on high-resolution originals from you
Vicki at MSJC — campus, board meeting, or a program event.
Vicki in the community.
Vicki in the community.

Get Involved

Three ways to help between now and November 3.

Get in touch

Reach out and let's talk about how you can help — or come to a meet and greet. No door-knocking, no phone banks. Just a conversation.

Contact Vicki

Request a yard sign

Signs go up across Area 3 in the fall. Give us an address and we will bring one by.

Request a sign

Contribute

Only if Vicki wants donations on the site. Requires the committee and a political payment processor that captures name, address, occupation and employer at $100 and above.

Pending decision