Ollayos, Causey and Sauceda for ECC board

Voters chose incumbent Clare Ollayos and challenger Angela Causey for two 6-year seats on the Elgin Community College board of trustees, according to unofficial results with 99 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday. Art Sauceda won against Nadia Daley in a race for the single 4-year seat.

Ollayos and Risé Jones were the two incumbents running for the 6-year seats — Jones was appointed in December to replace John Dalton, who left after being elected as a judge. Elías Palacios was also running for the longer term.

Ollayos lead with 12,455 votes, followed by Causey with 12,169. Jones trailed with 8,601 votes and Palacios had 5,991.

Jones, though disappointed her time on the board was cut short, said Ollayos and Causey will do good work on the board.

“Clare has the heart of the college and Angela has the heart of the community so they’ll make a great pair,” Jones said.

For the 2-year seat, Sauceda lead with 11,692 votes. Daley had 9,565.

Sauceda said it was a close race and Daley was a tough opponent.

“I think my experience was the deciding factor on what I can contribute to the board,” Sauceda said, adding that he looks forward to continuing a tradition of success at the college.

Daley, an ECC grad, centered her campaign on the need to improve relationships with faculty and expand environmental programs. Sauceda, a retired accountant, said he hopes to bring cultural diversity to a board without a Latino trustee and wants to make sure ECC keeps offering a quality, affordable education.

Causey works at the Housing Authority of Elgin and serves as founder and senior pastor of Outreach Fellowship Christian Center in East Dundee. One of her key campaign issues is expanding career training programs and education for adults. She also highlights the need to better internal relationships at ECC.

Ollayos, who has been on the board since 1995 and has served on a range of state and national community college associations, is a chiropractic physician in Elgin. She hopes to continue building partnerships with area businesses for internship and job opportunities for students.