The Uncontesteds

Voters will actually decide four seats for the ACC board on May 10, but Place 1 is the only contested seat. Places 2, 3, and 5 will be occupied by the following:

Place 2: John-Michael Cortez will replace John Hernandez, the current board chair. A public outreach specialist for Capital Metro, the McNeil High and UT graduate has served on a variety of boards including Austin Partners in Education, Liveable City, the city's Zoning & Platting and Planning commissions, and AISD's Task Force on Strategic Plan and as outreach director for U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett.

Place 3: Incumbent Nan McRaven was elected to the board in 2002 and is currently vice chair. According to her biography on the ACC website, she is Texas state director of the Trust for Public Land and previously worked for Freescale Semiconductor and Motorola, as vice president of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and as director of personnel and budget for Travis County. She has taught at ACC as an adjunct teacher and at UT's LBJ and business schools.

Place 5: Raul Alvarez knows the ins and outs of elected office, having served on the Aus­tin City Council 2000-06. Since June 2007, he's been grassroots community coordin­ator for AISD's Office of Redesign. "My work with AISD has heightened my understanding of the broad range of educational needs in our community," said Alvarez when he announced his run for the seat, "and I believe that by serving on the ACC board, I can use my knowledge of our community's diverse needs and my experience in public service to help make the community college branch of our educational system even stronger." He'll be filling out the unexpired term of Rafael Quintanilla, who is moving out of the district.