Luis Barrera Castanon
CA · Member, Santa Monica Community College District Board of Trustees
Luis Barrera Castanon is a Santa Monica College trustee, appointed in February 2025, and an SMC alumnus who earned a doctorate after arriving as an undocumented teenager. He focuses on transfer and career pathways and publishes trustees' board votes online.
Where Luis Barrera Castanon stands, based on their records
Supports
Government Efficiency (1 record), Public Education Quality (1 record)
Mixed record
Government Spending Reduction (3 support · 2 oppose)
Track record
Track record — Government Efficiency
Government Efficiency · 1 support
Made the motion to hand the campus bookstore's course materials to an outside company (Slingshot) under a 5-year contract. The bookstore had been losing about $1 million a year. It passed 5-0.
May 6, 2025Supports Government Efficiency
Source: admin.smc.edu
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 3 support · 2 oppose
Voted to commit $126 million of Measure SMC bond money to build affordable student housing with about 250 apartments and 746 beds. It passed 6-1.
September 8, 2026Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: admin.smc.edu
Made the motion to make final the layoffs of classified college staff that the board started in February, after a hearing officer's decision. It passed 5-2.
May 5, 2026Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: admin.smc.edu
Seconded the motion to freeze pay raises and require two unpaid furlough days a month for all college managers and confidential staff, saving about $1.95 million. It passed 5-0.
April 7, 2026Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: admin.smc.edu
Seconded the motion to put every dean and other educational administrator job on the list of contracts the college might not renew, so all could be considered for cuts. It passed 6-1. He also voted for a similar 4-3 change adding all classified manager jobs to a staff layoff list.
February 3, 2026Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: admin.smc.edu
Seconded the motion to adopt the college's 2025-26 budget, which had a $327 million general fund. It passed 7-0.
September 9, 2025Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: admin.smc.edu
Track record — Public Education Quality
Public Education Quality · 1 support
Seconded a board resolution backing a city parcel tax to give steady funding to Santa Monica-Malibu public schools. It passed 7-0.
August 4, 2026Supports Public Education Quality
Source: admin.smc.edu
Track record — General
General · 6 records
Made the motion to cancel layoff notices for a group of classified managers the college chose to keep after cutting about 20% of its management staff. It passed 5-2.
May 5, 2026
Source: admin.smc.edu
Voted for a failed motion naming two specific people as co-chairs of the college president search committee. It lost 3-4.
March 23, 2026
Source: admin.smc.edu
Seconded the motion approving the college's plan to act on an outside review of the 2024 campus shooting response, and rehiring the reviewer to track progress. It passed 7-0.
December 2, 2025
Source: admin.smc.edu
Voted with the full board to change the college president's contract so she retires Dec. 31, 2026. The change added a post-retirement payment of up to $250,000 and two paid 30-day sabbaticals.
October 7, 2025
Source: admin.smc.edu
Seconded the motion to raise the student health fee to the state maximum starting fall 2025, to pay for health, basic needs and mental health services. It passed 6-0.
April 1, 2025
Source: admin.smc.edu
Was appointed to a vacant seat on the Santa Monica College board by a 4-2 vote, then confirmed by a unanimous vote. He serves until the November 2026 election.
February 4, 2025
Source: admin.smc.edu
Past race Luis Barrera Castanon ran in:
- Santa Monica Community College District Governing Board Member · November 3, 2026 · Santa Monica Community College District · incumbent