Patricia Ashley

A retired television producer and an administrator for a charter school in the Eagle Point School District are running for a seat representing Zone 4 on the Rogue Community College Board of Education. 

Jonathan Bilden, a business officer at Crater Lake Academy who was sanctioned by the Teachers Standards and Practice Commission after accusations of sending more than 300 inappropriate text messages to a female student in the 2012-13 school year, is challenging Patricia Ashley, an incumbent board member who used to work for NBC in Oklahoma and Los Angeles, among other locations, in the special election Tuesday, May 16.

The seven-member RCC board has oversight over the institution’s policies, finances and president. RCC has campuses in Grants Pass, Medford and White City.

Bilden’s previous government experience includes Eagle Point City Council, the Eagle Point School Board and the Governor’s Regional Solutions Advisory Council. 

Ashley’s only government experience is with the RCC Board of Education.

Jonathan Bilden 

During the 2012-13 school year, Bilden was investigated by police and the Eagle Point School District after a female student and her parents filed a report alleging that, over a month-long period, Bilden sent 300 text messages during school hours, on weekends and late at night that made the student “feel uncomfortable.”

Bilden was an assistant volleyball coach at Eagle Point High School, and the student was a volleyball player, according to media reports of the incident.

At the time, Bilden said the accusations were “heinous rumors” and a union attempt to retaliate against his wife, an EPHS teacher, for not participating in an employees’ strike.

The law enforcement investigation resulted in no charges being filed. But Bilden was placed on the state’s educator sanction list by the Teachers Standards and Practices Commission.

In response to questions about the incidents and his fitness for an education position, Bilden told the Rogue Valley Times: “It’s a pretty traumatic experience; very traumatic for me and my family. After an actual investigation, there was no criminal wrongdoing found.”

Bilden added that he has worked at Crater Lake Academy for nearly 10 years and passed all background checks from the state.

“I’m compliant with all of that,” Bilden said. “There’s really not a lot more I’d like to talk about.”

Bilden said he is running to be an RCC board member because he is passionate about workforce development, career and technical education, and working for Crater Lake Academy, which provides early college and career training programs in partnership with RCC-Table Rock.

“Our graduates having the ability to have meaningful careers after they leave high school is really important to me,” Bilden said. “RCC, to me, is such an important piece of that. These community colleges are very unique community assets.”

After graduating from Eagle Point High School, Bilden studied business at RCC, but his path getting there was nontraditional.

“I jumped right into college; (it) wasn’t a right fit at that time. Had to get through employment, had to drop. I realized I still do need some sort of post-secondary experience, so I started again with RCC,” Bilden said. 

When he enrolled, he said he did not have a pathway to graduate.

“When I was doing some RCC classes, I learned about the SOU program, so I jumped over,” Bilden said. 

Bilden enrolled in an SOU program in innovation and leadership even as he was working a job and starting a family.

“It was a brand-new program at the time,” he said. “They had partnered with a bunch of regional businesses to help people get a business degree. So, I heard that and went, ‘Oh, that speaks to me,’ so I jumped over to them.”

The program helped bolster his credentials working with Crater Lake Academy.

“I love what I do; it’s very rewarding,” he said. “If (families) want something a little different, we can offer that.”

Bilden said the RCC Board of Education has done “good work” and he does not begrudge his opponent. 

“I personally have nothing wrong with Pat; I think Pat’s been serving well for years,'” Bilden said. “I had a strong passion for (running) and I said, ‘You know, I’m going to throw my name out there.'”

In terms of priorities if he is elected to the board, one thing Bilden said he would do is work to make sure the community college is meeting the needs of the workforce over the next 10 years.

“I would imagine it’s a lot of communication with regional employers,” Bilden said. “The employer’s on the ground floor, they see the trends. I imagine RCC is talking to some of the employers. We’re going to need skilled employees.”

Bilden would also like to make sure RCC is building its partnership with high schools.

“I’d love to see if we could get more of our high school graduates who are also graduating with associate’s degrees,” Bilden said. “I know there’s a lot of work that would have to go into that, but I think we can do it.” 

Bilden said he would also like to see more apprenticeship programs.

“I think there’s a lot of jobs locally that we can better serve,” Bilden said. “RCC is that player who can fill that void.”

Patricia Ashley

Ashley was appointed to the board in 2005 and elected in 2007. She is running for her fifth term.

“Community college board is not high on the political list,” Ashley said. “As a matter of fact, I used to laugh and I’d say, ‘If you wanted a dead-end political job, it would be community college board member.’ Because it is local, it has all sorts of rewards personally for me.”

By that, she meant being able to witness events like RCC commencement. 

“It’s rare that I don’t have a tear in my eye when I hear stories of how the change in people’s lives have been created through their work there,” Ashley said. “I think that’s why people run for community college board; they know this is important to individuals in our community.”

She describes her approach to being a board member as being “an advocate for the students” and she said she tries to advocate for RCC as much as possible within the greater community.

Ashley said she is proud of being a part of the selection of a new RCC president. Randy Weber, hailing from a community college in his home state of Kansas, was appointed July 1, 2022. 

If she is re-elected to the board, Ashley’s three priorities for RCC are: academic success for the students, increasing overall enrollment and financial stability for the college.

“Let’s say in welding that they want to develop additional skills in welding so they can increase their pay,” Ashley said. “If we can do that, that to me is success. It’s a continuing conversation in community college circles — how do you judge what success is?”

The board can help increase enrollment by supporting new RCC initiatives, she said.

“(Board support) comes in several different ways, in which we agree that is a good idea they are pursuing,” Ashley said. “Also, in asking questions about how things work. It’s been a combination of our support — which sometimes maybe be financial — to make it easier for students to come to college. Those are the ways we can affect things.”

Ashley said RCC is fortunate to have an “exceptionally good” finance staff. 

“They are people who are constantly looking ahead,” she said. “Because of that, our school is quite financially secure at this point.”

Ashley contrasted herself from Bilden, but did not mention anything about his past investigations.

“I would prefer not to answer any question about my opponent,” Ashley said. “What I would like is for people to vote for me because they think that I’m doing a good job and they would want me to continue.”

“I have experience in how the college, the board, and the community work, both separately and together,” Ashley said. “As a member of the RCC board, I will bring that experience to aid the new president of the college in his work.”