Board of Trustees Report
Pierce College
September 7, 2011
Finance and Audit Committee
The first part of the meeting dealt with the new bond issuance policy, which is being
drafted by Jeanette Gordon and staff at the request of new Board members Scott
Svonkin and Steve Veres. Up to now, there has been no written policy, just a set of
procedural protocols. Given the enormous size of the building program and the fact that
a formal, written policy is common at other agencies, the two trustees called for the
district to adopt one as their first action item last month. Issues discussed included the
membership of the selection panel, with Svonkin asking for a public representative, and
the need for completion of conflict of interest forms. They would like to have the greatest
amount of "sunshine" possible in the process. Veres said it was hard to be clear about
the past process from reading the documents available, though Gordon insisted that the
procedures had been open and fair.
Up to now the great majority of the bond issuance work, according to the new trustees,
has gone to Citibank and other Wall Street firms. This led to a sharp disagreement
between Svonkin and Jerry Gold, the district's bond finance advisor. Svonkin clearly
would like to see local firms getting much more of the business. One concern of his is to
boost local employment. Gold, to the contrary, pointedly warned the committee not to
include language in their policy that would exclude non-local firms, as it may not be in
the district's best financial interest. He also said the large Wall Street firms employ as
many local workers as the smaller local ones. Svonkin insisted that no firms were being
eliminated with the new policy, just that local firms would be given a priority. After Gold
persisted with his concern, Svonkin accused him of giving the district bad advice in the
past. He said the past practice had constituted "unfair competition" and "doesn't smell
right." He then abruptly terminated the discussion and moved the agenda.
The next item was about bidding for a waste management contract with the district. Up
to now, the work has been done on a regional basis only, not districtwide. There was
discussion about the current recycling policy, with Nancy Pearlman expressing surprise
that recycling was not being fully utilized. Veres expressed interest in selecting a firm
that included an educational component in its practices. Svonkin was concerned that any
firm selected offer decent working conditions to its employees.
The committee will return to both topics at its next meeting. Its final action was to
recommend to the Board the adoption of the 2011-12 budget. This was done without
discussion, other than Gordon’s statement that the district had a strong total balance and
would not need to take out any bonds to address likely mid-year cuts.
Open Session
Kathleen Burke-Kelly welcomed the Board to Pierce, noting that it was, in fact, 107
degrees outside. She then introduced faculty and staff leaders, as well as her
administrative staff.
Van De Kamp Coalition leaders Laura Gutierrez and Miki Jackson complained about the
District Citizens' Oversight Committee, claiming that it didn't have the controller's audit
report on its agenda and that some committee members were hostile to guests. John
Walsh from Hollywood Highlanders delivered an extended tirade against Inspector
General Christine Marez, claiming that Art Gastellum got her the job and that Richard
Alatorre and Mayor Villaraigosa were behind Gastellum. (Gastellum's firm Gateway is
the project manager at Mission, and he’s a long-time political contributor).
Daniel Wright, attorney for the Coalition, offered a resolution calling for the release of
documents about the Atwater center. District bond counsel responded that over 14,000
documents have already been given to the Coalition and that there is uncertainty as to
just what material they are still seeking. The resolution died for lack of a motion.
Miguel Santiago announced that the Board had approved a settlement of $212,000, and
that General Counsel would have more information for anyone interested. He added that
the Board was considering returning to Closed Session after the General Session
concluded.
Svonkin reported on the Finance and Audit Committee meeting by just announcing that
the committee would recommend to the full Board the adoption of the 2011-12 budget.
Three classified workers were honored with a resolution on their retirement. Sadly, one
of them, Hector Monzon, an office aide at Trade Tech for 33 years, recently died of
cancer.
The Board then passed a resolution directing the chancellor to adopt the Office of the
Controller’s audit recommendations (as opposed to its findings, as discussed at their last
meeting), and present them with an action plan in early October. In early November he is
to report to them regarding progress on the implementation of the plan. Tina Park called
for a review of the district culture that allowed "this to happen" and thanked the
chancellor for the steps that he has taken to date. Svonkin said the resolution shows the
trustees take the audit findings (sic) seriously and will do all they can to avoid the
recurrence of the mistakes of the past.
Santiago then announced that Wendy Gruel, City Controller of Los Angeles, has agreed
to conduct a review of the selection process for the IG, working in conjunction with the
district. If she finds anything inappropriate, she will refer it to the district attorney's office.
He then detailed other steps that have been taken by the Board. The trustees adopted
the resolution unanimously. Veres then reported that the Ad Hoc Committee, formed in
response to the audit, has met and will be bringing forward items to the full Board. The
IG selection has been part of their discussions. The chancellor said his Blue Ribbon
bond program panel will have its report completed in October. Meanwhile, the
Controller's Office auditors are returning this week to talk further with senior staff.
In his report, Chancellor La Vista warmly welcomed Tyree Wieder back to the district.
She will serve as Interim President at East for the academic year, as the selection of a
permanent replacement for Ernie Moreno takes place. A salute to Moreno will take place
at the next Board meeting.
He reported that the staff and Resource Table representative response to a possible
Capital Construction Committee meeting shift to early evening was positive. The Board
is considering starting that meeting at 5:00, as opposed to 3:30.
Finally, he noted that October will be designated AIDS Walk Month by the district.
He then reviewed Pierce College's history and many accomplishments. Some highlights:
Pierce has more acreage than UCLA, offers classes in 180 majors, were national
champions in women's swimming in 2007, and have been extremely successful in
women's soccer. He then introduced Burke-Kelly, who gave a presentation on the
accreditation, budget, and construction challenges facing Pierce this year. She
concluded with a photo montage set to the Beatle's "Baby, You're a Rich Man." The title
is the Pierce theme for the year (“rich” in the non-money sense of the word).
LaVista concluded his report by saying that he supports the steps the Board has taken
regarding the bond program, but that the real business of the district is the work being
done at Pierce and the other eight colleges.
There was discussion about several items on the Consent Calendar, most of a minor
nature. One sharp dispute emerged, however. Svonkin proposed that the travel
allowance part of Wieder's proposed contract be removed, given the budget difficulties of
the district. Mona Field objected that it wasn't appropriate to single out one president,
and Kelly Candaele agreed. After considerable discussion, Svonkin's motion failed, as
Veres withdrew his second. Svonkin then attempted to reintroduce his motion in a new
guise, but that effort also failed. A motion by Veres was passed. It directs the chancellor
to present a report to the Board on the broader issue of travel allowances for presidents
and senior staff.
A second item noted was the awarding to KPMG of the contract to conduct performance
audits of the bond program. That work has been done by Moss Adams for the last
several years.
The Consent Calendar was then passed unanimously, with the contract for Wieder
included. (Svonkin recorded a No vote on some items.)
The Board passed an emergency resolution to allow for further repair work to the Allied
Health Building at Valley College. Svonkin and Amber Barrero, the student trustee, both
wanted to know why the work was necessary.
The Board passed the 2011-12 budget. There was no discussion, as it had been
discussed at several earlier meetings. They also voted to cancel the study sessions that
they had established earlier this year.
Finally, I said that faculty leaders would be pleased to see the Board take action
regarding the hiring of the IG, and also pleased to see Moss Adams replaced, as we
were never happy with their work. I urged the Board to be cautious about moving to an
evening meeting schedule, given that it was already a very long day for administrators
and faculty leaders, with many of us starting our work at 7:00 or earlier.
The meeting was adjourned in honor of Hector Monzon.
Comments
Terribly hot! Yikes.
The treatment of Jerry Gold at the morning committee meeting was troubling. The issue
is not a simple one. While we all want to give work to local firms, if it means greater
costs for the district, that’s problematic. In any case, there should be room for
disagreement.
It’s too bad the Board waited as long as it did, but asking Wendy Gruel to look into the
hiring of the IG is a promising step forward.
David
David Beaulieu
District Academic Senate President
Los Angeles Community College District
(213) 891-2294
dbeaulieu@email.laccd.edu