ESCANABA — Steve O’Driscoll said it was unfortunate that he was forced to resign as a Bay College Board of Trustee last December.

As a member of the Gladstone and Bay College boards, O’Driscoll was told he had to resign from one or the other because Bay had a contract with Gladstone on its early middle college program. He decided to leave the Bay College board. The state then stopped the early middle college program at Gladstone.

O’Driscoll now wants his position back at Bay College.

“Unfortunately, it was only a month after I stepped down from the Bay College board. If things had happened in a different order, if the early middle college program had been stripped before I resigned, I wouldn’t have had to resign at all I would have been able to finish out my six year term,” said O’Driscoll.

O’Driscoll said he offers viewpoints that are under-represented on the Bay Board. He has college age students himself, represents the theater community and understands the needs of manufacturers in the area.

“It is not just my interest as a manufacturer that I see, I see EMP, Vanaire, Independent Machine. I look at the needs that they have, whether it’s the employment vacancies that they have or the training that they desire from a community college. I know what programs could be successful at Bay because of that,” he said.

O’Driscoll said the college needs to do more to embrace the early middle college program to to expand participation in the fifth year of high school to earn a college degree or certificate.

He is running to finish the four years of the six year term that he left. Stephen Davis was appointed to the position in January. He is also running for the partial term.