Update: March 18, 1:13 p.m. “Andersen” has been changed from “Anderson.”

Update: March 17, 4:28 p.m. “Ken Brown” has been changed from “Kenneth A. Brown.”

“Bill Beverly” replaces “William Beverly.”

El Camino’s president will be retiring in early 2016, and finding his replacement will be a task that the Board of Trustees plans to approach with the necessary steps.

In their March 16 meeting, the board decided on which five search consultant firms to interview later this month that will potentially find the replacement for President Tom Fallo.

Community College Search Services, College CEOs, Ralph Andersen & Associates, Educational Leadership Services and PPL (Professional Personnel Leasing), Inc. are the five firms to be interviewed.

Before the board formally made a decision of the firms, former trustee member Ray Gen was given a few minutes to comment on the search for Fallo’s successor.

Gen said that the search for Fallo’s replacement is indeed important, but expressed his views against bringing in a potential replacement from outside the state.

“We don’t have to do a national search,” Gen said. “We just have to find the right person who understands us (EC), understands Compton (the Compton Center) and knows how to move forward.”

In his address, Gen argued that the presidential position requires someone who is familiar with the relationship between both campuses or at least familiar with California procedures.

Gen also brought up concerns he had when he was a member of the board as a similar search process was conducted. Hiring a search consultant firm is not necessary, he said.

“I think we’re spending a lot of money,” he added.

Trustee member Cliff Numark thought that Gen’s comments had “good perspective.”

“I think the bottom line is that we want the best leader possible for El Camino,” Numark said.

Numark agreed that hiring someone who has extensive knowledge in California’s community colleges and EC’s procedures would be beneficial, but he said that the board will have to look at all factors in order to find the right person.

“It depends on what the search firm comes up with,” he said. “We want the best people.”

When deciding on the firms, trustee Vice President Ken Brown said that he was primarily, but not exclusively, looking for companies that were based in California and had California placement experience.

Bill Beverly, president of the board, mentioned he used a similar method and expressed his confidence in the selected firms.

“I think any one of these people can do the job,” Beverly said.

In a special meeting on March 30, the board will interview the selected search consultant firms.

The next Board of Trustees meeting will be on April 13.