Board of Trustees Report
Harbor College
March 9, 2011
Budget and Finance Committee
The meeting dealt exclusively with a protest appeal of the awarding of the contract for
the Owner Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP). I did not attend the meeting.
Committee of the Whole
Georgia Mercer began the meeting with a hearty congratulations to Miguel Santiago and
Mona Field on their reelection to the Board. She described Field's strong showing, which
allows her to avoid a runoff even though she had several opponents, as remarkable,
especially given the recent LA Times articles. Sylvia Scott-Hayes concurred. Miguel
Santiago chaired the meeting, as Vice President of the Board. He said that no
discussion of The Times’ articles would take place until the Open Session.
Chancellor LaVista introduced Scott Lay who then reviewed the state budget situation.
Given that we are all familiar with the main outlines of his comments, I will just note
some particular points: he thought it would take five to seven years for the state to
recover from the current recession; he'd like to see a "core value" conversation in the
community colleges, given the prospect of drastic cuts; he believes the public is willing to
vote for the tax extensions (52% in last poll). Under his leadership the League has
organized much more advocacy by the colleges themselves.
The chancellor then segued into a presentation of specific recommendations to the
Board for changes in lobbyist Patrick McCallum's contract. They include a requirement
that he report to the Board in person on a quarterly basis, that he itemize his work in his
monthly invoices, and that his contract be reduced by 20% over the course of the next
ten months. Additionally, his contract would be extended till the end of 2014. McCallum
is in agreement with these changes.
The second item of business was supposed to be a half-hour discussion of bond energy
plan issues, a follow up to the three presentations by Lloyd Silberstein made over the
course of the last few months. Silberstein answered two questions submitted in advance,
having to do with central plant planning, but there were no questions at all from the
Board at the meeting itself. This led to an abrupt end of the discussion.
The third item was an update on Trade's follow-up report for ACCJC. Joe Ratcliff and
Lourdes Brent reviewed the steps taken to meet the four recommendations of the visiting
team last year. The discussion focused on program review completion and SLO
assessments. Trade claims to have 100% completion now of program review and to
have gone through two implementation cycles recently. The high number of courses be
archived (963) led to some Board questions. Trustees asked for information about
program viability and SLO assessment processes around the district. I suggested that a
report be presented in the near future.
Open Session
Marvin Martinez welcomed the Board and reviewed recent progress at Harbor. Two
summits have been held to build community and deal with accreditation issues.
Construction is proceeding on the library and science complex, as well as a parking
structure. And, for the first time in over ten years, Harbor is projecting a balanced
budget. For this, he thanked the Senate, the Guilds, and the students.
Senate President June Smith said everyone was very happy to have Martinez as
president, adding that the spirit of cooperation at Harbor was back. She also thanked me
for my efforts as DAS president. Faculty Guild President Rod Oakes, Laurie Miner (Staff
Guild), and Claudia McKinney (SEIU) followed with brief welcoming comments. ASO
President Brendan Binns called Martinez a "great president who works well with
students." In conclusion, Martinez noted that students from Harbor's new Culinary Arts
program just returned from Las Vegas where they won a number of medals.
Mercer reviewed the election results, with Santiago and Field reelected, Steve Veres
elected to fill one open seat, and Scott Svonkin forced into a run-off for the other.
Field reported briefly on the FACCC conference in Sacramento the preceding weekend.
Binns added that seven students from Harbor attended.
Resolutions were passed in support of Labor History Week (April 309), National Library
Week (April 10-16), and Community College Month (April).
Several public speakers commented on the recent articles in The Times.
Ron Martinez, a contractor, claimed that he was fired by BuildLACCD for raising the
multiplier rate ("body shop") issues described in The Times’ article. He said there were
no such mark-ups in the private sector.
Laura Gutierrez from the Van de Kamp Coalition said the Board had been warned, and
mentioned the four lawsuits they've filed. Miki Jackson, also from the coalition, spoke of
the shame and embarrassment brought on all the colleges and said the Board was
responsible, accusing it of stonewalling her and her colleagues.
John Walsh, from the community organization Hollywood Highlanders, said further
investigations will follow. He predicted that The Times would support "progressive
Latina" Lydia Gutierrez in her runoff with Scott Svonkin, whom he called the
"establishment candidate."
Mission activist Norma Ramirez urged an investigation by Attorney General Kamala
Harris. Two student members of her coalition complained about "pay for play," referring
to contractors donating to the campaigns of trustees, and called for Board resignations.
Freddie McClain, a long-time Trade professor, said the bond scandal was a big topic for
his students, who urged him to speak to the Board. He said the trustees had been
"asleep at the wheel," but he praised the chancellor and Trade President Chip
Chapdelaine for their work on the bond program.
Three decisions were reported out of Closed Session:
Monte Perez, currently the chancellor of Moreno Valley College, has been chosen to
become the president of Mission, effective May 1. Perez has a PhD from USC and a
long-time familiarity with the Los Angeles area.
A settlement was reached regarding a claim against Harbor (no details were provided). It
will require a $400,000 payment.
Executive Facilities Director Larry Eisenberg's contract was terminated, effective March
11. Tom Hall, currently the Facilities Director, will take Eisenberg's position on an interim
basis, beginning Monday, March 14.
Committee reports from Kelly Candaele and Miguel Santiago followed (see above).
In his Chancellor's Report, LaVista began by praising Marvin Martinez and reviewing the
importance of creativity in STEM fields. Martinez then introduced his vice presidents and
Craig Sutherland, a veteran engineering professor who followed with an extensive PPP
on the aerospace program at Harbor. (I've asked Sutherland to send me a copy of his
PPP for wider distribution.) Three students spoke at the end, each testifying to how
much the program had changed their lives, giving them new-found focus.
Speaking of The Times’ articles, the chancellor said he didn't mean for the numerous
rebuttals sent from his office to excuse the district from criticism but rather to provide
balance, given that the issues raised by The Times were isolated problems. He
reiterated five arguments in support of the bond program: the positive audits, both
financial and performance; the good hard cost/soft cost ratio; the good percentage of
projects completed on time and on budget; the safety record; and, finally, its
achievements in terms of sustainability.
Acknowledging problems, he said three steps had been taken: the creation of the IG
office; the establishment of the whistle-blower policy; and the enhanced work of the
Infrastructure Committee. He will recommend to the Board a full review of the bond
program, including looking into the need for an ethics code as well as more external
resources to monitor the program, and reassessing all planning and oversight
processes. He asked for some time to give more thought to these recommendations.
Nancy Pearlman said the district had a "great bond program," and that she was insulted
by the pay for play suggestion. She pointed out that she was supported primarily by a
wide range of non-contractor donors.
Scott-Hayes thanked the chancellor for pointing out steps taken so far, but
acknowledged that "some things could have been done better.”
Candaele had specific suggestions. He said they should look at the multiplier rate
structure again, asking if someone was gaming the system. He would like to see the
whole building commissioning issue revisited, given the Times revelations about
Mission. He wondered if contractors shouldn't be given a letter grade and give contracts
accordingly, as opposed to awarding the low-bidder. Finally, he would like to look at how
information is conveyed, as "there's been a crack in trust and information is not getting to
the Board."
Santiago mentioned the swift action taken today and the extensive review promised.
Mercer said the Board was committed to improving the program and would redouble its
efforts. Field and Park offered no comments.
The Consent Calendar was approved unanimously after a few questions were
answered, one from Park concerning change orders.
Comments
The improvements at Harbor were impressive. Senate/administration relations are 180
degrees better, after years of strife. The budget is balanced for the first time in over a
decade, calling into question the "structural problem" excuse used by Linda Spinks for
many years. The Engineering Department presentation was really quite impressive:
clear, forceful, compelling. I'm eager to review the PPP.
I was surprised by the timing of the Board's termination of Larry Eisenberg's contract, not
by the action itself. I never thought that he could hold on to his position after The Times’
articles all came out. In my view, he should have been fired two years ago, when the
Board was first informed that the energy program had spun out of control and that there
was evidence of considerable mismanagement regarding consultant hiring and
compensation. They had an opportunity then, and another one year later, and both times
the Board declined to take action. For that, we are all now paying the price, as the
district's good name has been thoroughly blemished. In Sunday's Times, civic leader
Connie Rice compared our bond management to LAUSD's in the 90's (think Belmont
High School). Ouch.
Fortunately, the chancellor continued to take a different tack from his initial very
defensive rebuttals. I was sorry, however, to see the performance audits cited again
positively, given their limited usefulness. Offhand, the proposed steps sounded positive,
especially the suggestion of enhanced funding for the District Citizens Oversight
Committee. The lack of financial support for the DCOC was a crucial early error that was
never fixed.
Some of today's public speakers have spoken to the Board in the past and used
dangerously exaggerated arguments and destructive personal attacks. In that sense,
they weren't the best public representatives. From all I've heard, however, there's a lot of
anger among the public toward the Board and district management, and we're likely to
hear much more of it. I'm certainly hearing the same from colleagues. Steps announced
at this meeting were clearly necessary, but more must follow.