Issues
What Randall will fight for.
Every student—regardless of their background—deserves access to an affordable, high‑quality education that leads to a good‑paying career and a brighter future. Here is Randall’s plan to deliver it as an LACCD Trustee: six priorities, each with concrete steps.
Connect students to good‑paying jobs.
A degree or certificate should lead somewhere. Randall will make LACCD the hiring pipeline for Los Angeles—linking every program to a real job, a real wage, and employers who are ready to hire.
Los Angeles is in the middle of a historic building boom: transit lines, airport modernization, climate infrastructure, and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As Deputy Mayor, Randall helped develop the City’s first‑ever Capital Infrastructure Plan—public investment meant to deliver more equitably and leave a lasting legacy. Those projects need a trained workforce, and LACCD students should be first in line.
At the Strategic Growth Council, Randall’s investments included workforce development partnerships with California community colleges. He knows what makes these programs work: employers at the table from day one, paid experience, and credentials that stack into careers.
What this looks like
- Apprenticeship pipelines with the building trades — expand pre‑apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs with partners like IBEW Local 11 and SMART Local 105, so students step from the classroom into a union career.
- Public projects, local hires — work with the City, County, Metro, and LAWA so LACCD graduates are the first hired on the infrastructure Angelenos are paying for.
- Grow what works at Trade‑Tech across all nine colleges — short‑term, high‑demand certificates in health care, clean energy, EV and building technology, early childhood education, and cybersecurity, with clear wage data for every program.
- Paid internships and earn‑and‑learn — paid placements with City and County departments, hospitals, and local employers, because unpaid experience is a luxury most students cannot afford.
- One front door to a job — career services that stay with students after graduation, with job placement tracked and reported to the public.
Meet students’ basic needs so they can finish.
Students do not drop out because they cannot do the work. They drop out because of a rent bill, a broken car, a child with no care, or a textbook they cannot afford. Randall will put the basic needs and resources that keep students enrolled on every campus—and make them easy to actually get.
This is personal. Randall’s father was the first in his family to attend college. His mother was a special education teacher. He learned early that education transforms lives—and that the students with the fewest safety nets need the most from their college.
As a Judge Advocate in the California Army National Guard, Randall also knows the veterans returning to our campuses, and what it takes to make a college work for someone balancing service, work, and family.
What this looks like
- A basic‑needs hub on every campus — food, transit passes, child care referrals, and emergency grants in one place, so a flat tire or a missed paycheck does not end a semester.
- More counselors, not more forms — cut the counselor‑to‑student ratio and make financial aid help (FAFSA and the California Dream Act) available in the evenings and on weekends, when working students can actually show up.
- Every eligible dollar claimed — a district‑wide push so no student leaves state and federal aid, Cal Grants, or LA College Promise tuition relief on the table.
- Veterans served like the priority they are — fully staffed Veterans Resource Centers at all nine colleges and a smooth path from GI Bill benefits to a degree or certificate.
Accelerate affordable student housing.
No one learns while they are worried about where they will sleep. Randall will accelerate affordable student housing to address the housing insecurity affecting nearly 70% of LACCD students.
He has done this work at scale. As Executive Director of the California Strategic Growth Council, appointed by Governor Jerry Brown, Randall directed more than $1.3 billion in investments supporting affordable housing and community revitalization across California.
As a California‑licensed architect and the City of Los Angeles’s Deputy Mayor of Infrastructure and Climate Resilience, he knows how to move a project from a line in a budget to a building students can live in.
What this looks like
- Build on land the district already owns — use Measure LA bond dollars and state student‑housing funds to put affordable housing on and next to campuses, starting where the need is greatest.
- Shorten the timeline — set clear delivery dates for every housing project, report on them publicly, and clear the approvals that keep projects stuck on paper for years.
- Housing plus support — pair every new building with case management, meal access, and emergency housing for students in crisis today.
- Partner, don’t go it alone — bring the City, County, nonprofit developers, and the building trades to the table so projects pencil out and get built by local, union labor.
Start earlier. Finish faster.
The best way to make college affordable is to help students finish it. Randall will expand dual enrollment so high school students start earning free college credit before they graduate—and make transfer to a four‑year university a clear, guaranteed path.
Randall is a product of this system’s promise. He mentors graduate students, has lectured at UCLA and West Los Angeles College, and this fall joins West Los Angeles College as an Adjunct Instructor. He has seen how many students lose time—and money—to classes that do not count, transfer rules that change, and a lack of simple guidance.
What this looks like
- Dual enrollment in every high school — expand partnerships with LAUSD and neighboring districts so students in every neighborhood can earn college credit for free while still in high school.
- A clear path to the CSU and UC — promote Associate Degrees for Transfer and guaranteed admission agreements so students know exactly which classes to take and where they lead.
- Protect and grow the LA College Promise — keep the first years tuition‑free for eligible students, and make sure families know it exists.
- Classes when students can take them — evening, weekend, and flexible online options built around working adults and parents.
Spend every dollar where it counts.
LACCD manages a $1.1 billion operating budget and a $5.3 billion construction bond. Voters trusted the district with that money. Randall will make sure it reaches classrooms, counselors, and housing—and that the public can see exactly where it goes.
Randall has managed public money at scale and under scrutiny: more than $1.3 billion in state investments at the Strategic Growth Council, and the City of Los Angeles’s infrastructure portfolio as Deputy Mayor. He brings an architect’s eye for what a project should cost and an attorney’s insistence on accountability.
What this looks like
- A public dashboard for every bond project — budget, schedule, and status, updated and posted online, so students and taxpayers can hold the district to its word.
- Classrooms and students first — measure every spending decision by whether it helps students enroll, stay, and finish.
- Reverse the enrollment slide — the district has lost students since 2021. Randall will push for a real enrollment and re‑engagement plan, because every empty seat is funding and opportunity lost.
- Strong independent oversight — back the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee and act on its findings and the district’s audits.
Protect LACCD’s mission.
LACCD exists to provide accessible, high‑quality education for every student who walks through the door. Randall will protect that mission.
He is in the classroom himself. Randall mentors graduate students, has lectured at UCLA and West Los Angeles College on leadership, sustainability, and public service, and this fall joins West Los Angeles College as an Adjunct Instructor teaching Leadership Skills for the Public Sector. He sees what students and faculty need, because he is there every week.
What this looks like
- Open to everyone, always — defend open access and the programs that serve immigrant, returning, and adult students, regardless of what happens in Washington.
- Stand with faculty and staff — the people who teach and run our colleges deserve a real voice in decisions and the stability to do their jobs well.
- Safe, welcoming campuses — modern, well‑maintained facilities and a campus climate where every student belongs.
- A board that listens — regular campus visits and open office hours, so students, faculty, and neighbors can reach their trustee directly.