Board of Trustees Report
Southwest College
March 12, 2008
Infrastructure Committee
A major recycling program will begin at City, Valley, and East on April 1, and then be expanded to
all the others as soon as possible, according to Larry Eisenberg. Some IC members have long
asked why we didn’t have such a program, and so the committee was pleased to see something
get started, but the timing surprised them. Concerns were raised that faculty hadn’t been notified.
I said that we would get the word out right away and try to use this as a teachable moment—an
example of sustainability in practice. According to the research done by Recycling Strategies, the
firm contracted to run the program, only 10% of the waste from classrooms and offices is not
recyclable. All the rest can be reused. In fact, everything other than food and food wrappers
should be put in the blue bins that will be provided. Posters will be placed in each classroom, and
the bins will be clearly identified, but faculty support will be crucial to the success of the program.
Committee of the Whole
The special meeting was devoted entirely to a presentation in support of a third bond. After the
Chancellor’s introduction, a number of us spoke about various factors that argue in favor of an
additional bond. Gary Colombo spoke about the regional economic impact of the district (we
contribute almost 2% to the total income generation of the county), the growing need for high
tech/high skill jobs, and the growing “under-skilled” nature of the local workforce. He concluded
by touching on our low “capture” rates of high school graduates and on the colleges’ recent
updating of their Ed Master Plans to bring them into line with emerging CTE needs, as well as the
Basic Skills Self Assessment, et al. Bob Garber and Tom Rosdahl spoke about the planning
process at Pierce, one that was clearly based on strong shared governance principles. Marvin
Martinez then talked about emerging technologies and continued job growth in major areas. I
then spoke about our Sustainability Project and the new curriculum that we hope to develop.
Larry Eisenberg detailed the history of the projects in the first two bonds: 47 are in design, 255
have been designed and DSA approved. 73 are in construction, and 185 have been completed.
Of those finished, about a dozen are major ones. Larry added a list of “what we’ve learned” over
the last several years. Mark Rocha then concluded the session with a rousing pep-talk sort of
speech, exhorting the Board to agree to a third bond on the November ballot.
Board members had a number of questions, ranging from the amount requested ($2.9 billion was
the maximum figure mentioned) to the titles given some of the proposed projects. Georgia Mercer
asked if regionalization had been factored in to the proposals. Nancy Pearlman suggested that
we go for an even larger amount. In the end, the Board wanted to have another meeting as a
Committee of the Whole to discuss the issue further. The date was tentatively set for April 9,
given that the next BOT meeting day on March 26 will be devoted almost entirely to the selection
of a new trustee.
Open Session
Velma Butler was recognized, since she was the recent recipient of the Alan Randolph Institute
Award.
Duke Russell spoke (as at almost every Board meeting) about the loss of the athletic field at City.
This time he cited a letter he received from Al Gore. He had written Gore, asking for support.
There were two committee reports (see above).
Five resolutions were passed, in honor of Cesar E. Chavez, and in support of CCC Month, Child
Abuse Prevention Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month (and Denim Day on April 23), and
Labor History Week.
In his report, Chancellor Drummond cited the transformation of the Southwest campus, with the
recent completion of two buildings and extensive landscaping. A lot remains to be done, but the
college looks dramatically different from one year ago.
All of the proposed revisions to board rules that we passed in December were approved, as was
the adoption of the new rule on bilingual instruction. This latter item did arouse questions,
however. Nancy Pearlman wanted to know how extensively it would be applied and what groups
it was meant to serve. I summarized the points discussed at our meetings, reiterating that it was
meant to be used sparingly and stressing the wish to bring marginal groups into the education
process. Mona Field asked about the min quals for someone teaching such a course. The
Chancellor stressed that details needed to be worked out in consultation.
Comment
We should have been told earlier about the recycling program roll-out, and I’ve complained to
Larry about this, but it doesn’t seem to be a major problem. It’s great to see it finally happen. I’ve
never understood why we weren’t doing this many, many years ago.
The Board seemed generally receptive to a new bond, but understandably had lots of questions. I
thought the presentation was well done, for the most part.
Southwest looks great! I hadn’t been on campus since last July, and I was really impressed with
the recently completed buildings and new landscaping.
David
213-891-2294
dbeaulieu@email.laccd.edu