Board Committee Meeting Notes
Audit and Finance Committee
Chancellor’s Conference Room
Meeting Date January 12, 2006
Present: Chair Bill Withrow, Trustee William B. Riley, Trustee Alona Clifton, Chancellor Elihu Harris, Vice Chancellor
Tom Smith, Inspector General Gail Waiters, PFT President Michael Mills, Faculty Member Joseph Bielanski,
Faculty Member Gary Perkins, League of Women’s Voters Representative Helene LeCar, East Bay News Service
Independent Representative Sanjiv Handa, and Recording Secretary Kashi Yamashita
Chair Withrow convened the meeting at 5:12 p.m.
Action: Chair Withrow moved approval of the Agenda for today’s meeting (January 12, 2006), which was seconded by
Trustee Clifton with full committee consensus. Action regarding the minutes of December 8, 2006 were carried to
the meeting of February 16, 2006.
The following chart shows action/assignments for District administration following review of various items by the
Committee:
Respondent Item
Requester/
Due Date
Waiters
Chair
Item No. 3 – Status report from the Inspector General
Inspector General Gail Waiters gave a brief presentation on the status of several items in Withrow
development as follows:
Trustees
Riley
 The webpage for the Office of the Inspector General is under construction and after Board Clifton
approval of policy, complaint form, and frequently asked questions (FAQ), will be placed
on the site.
 Regarding the ability to complete the forms interactively, Waiters will check with the
Information Technology Department Webmaster for assistance
Trustee Withrow asked if the items submitted via the website or sent by email would ensure
anonymity of the complainant. Waiters and Gary Perkins clarified that with proper
programming, such as ecommerce, forms could be completed and transmitted without exposure
of the source or location.
Sanjiv Handa recommended Ms. Waiters communicate with the City of Oakland Auditor’s
Department to see how their site is done.
There was brief discussion regarding protection of whistleblowers in the District.



Smith
Anonymity is ensured by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) against any concerns
related to possibility of retaliatory actions as addressed in the OIG policy
In matters of criminal activity reported, Police Services may be contacted for appropriate
action
Person engaging as whistleblower has legal remedy as source of protection against
retaliation
Item No. 4 – Enrollment management, including a status report on the enrollment figures for
each of the colleges
Vice Chancellor Smith gave a brief presentation on enrollment matters for the four colleges in
the absence of Howard Perdue.




Due to overspending at the colleges, no budget augmentations are slated for spring 2006
Regarding productivity, the gap has narrowed from 12% to approximately 1% down due to
late enrollments
There is a change in state funding in that Peralta has been funded at 17,775 (base plus
growth) and had been using 18,000 as a planning base
There is a possibility of reaching growth through creative outreach and weekend classes
although a final analysis of the numbers have to be done after meeting with Perdue
Withrow
Riley
Clifton
Audit & Finance Committee
January 12, 2006
 $1.6 million is the projected growth funding – Peralta may have to spend some money to
reach growth
 17,656 is the current enrollment, leaving the District at less than 1% under maximum
growth which could possibly be made up by running some special intercessions and
working with faculty, this is very preliminary data
 Student enrollment headcount is projected at 5% down although there are fewer students
taking more classes
 Phenomenon is there are fewer students enrolling in more than one class (per Helene Le
Car, this is a growing trend of older students taking more than one class)
 The colleges are running more sections than last year and there is no funding for running
additional sections
 Some classes slated for cancellation were allowed to remain open with the promise of late
enrollment in light of the holiday closure; enrollment was met
2
Trustee Withrow asked how students are contacted re class cancellation – what mechanism was
in place to get students enrolled in other classes.

Harris
Smith
Counselors, instructors, and deans conduct phone banks to notify students of the class
closure – Michael Mills suggested if there is a shortage of personnel to make calls, hire
student employees to place phone calls
 Students are encouraged to express enroll at campus (there is no long line to wait to register
at College of Alameda)
 Students are advised to enroll in classes by instructors for the following semester (strategy
to increase enrollment)
Item No. 5 – Status report on medical care bond program to include a coverage of the
investment process
Tom Smith reported that the Other Post-Employment Benefit (OPEB) bonds were sold
December 19, 2006 in New York City, which represents a significant moment in Peralta’s
history to negotiate the sale of medical benefit bonds with the strategy to offset future liability
and addressing rising healthcare costs. The District has been contacted by New York Times
and Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Tribune has printed an article already. A press
conference is planned for early February with an invitation to Phil Angelides, State Treasurer,
and Donald White, Alameda County Treasurer to do a live PCTV broadcast. Business media
and television stations will be contacted and the broadcast will be uploaded statewide through
satellite transmission.
Withrow
Riley
Clifton
On the investment side, proposals were submitted from LaSalle Bank, Northern Trust, and
Union Bank of California, all with similar pricing; however, the larger banks wanted to charge
two basis points with an array of transaction costs. Union Bank was selected as the custodian,
offering three basis points with no transaction costs.
Smith
Item No. 6 – Eligibility for lifetime healthcare benefits.
Smith briefly reported that the bargaining contracts specify employees, after 10 years of
employment, become eligible for lifetime medical benefits upon retirement. Chair Withrow
asked for a specific definition of retirement. Smith stated retirement from Peralta as PERS or
STRS eligible.
Withrow
Riley
Clifton
Thuy
Nguyen
Chair Withrow asked that statistics be prepared by Human Resources Benefits Department and
brought back to the Audit & Finance Committee at a future date verifying accurate census data
of employees eligible for current and post retirement benefits.
Future Mtg.
(no date
specified)
Chair Withrow and Trustee Riley asked for a definition for Human Resources of the legality of
an employee retiring from Peralta, then becoming gainfully employed by another agency yet
maintaining Peralta’s lifetime benefits. Is this permissible or is there any legal definition to
clarify this issue.
Item No. 7 - Discuss status of Bond Funds currently available and unencumbered and
existing prioritized requirements
Smith provided a spreadsheet of Measure E expenditures and commitments (projects on the
drawing board) for the committee as follows:
Future Mtg.
(no date
specified)
Withrow
Riley
Clifton
Thuy
Nguyen
Harris
Smith
Audit & Finance Committee
January 12, 2006
 Total Measure E bond of $153,200,000, less approximately $58 million in expenditures,
$83.9 million in commitments, leaving a remaining balance of about $11.3 million in bond
funds
 Remaining balance of $11.3 million for projects may be shifted around and that number
could grow based on the priorities of projects for the District
3
Chair Withrow asked what percentage of the $83.9 million was in commitments. Smith stated
$72.6 million which has not been submitted to the board for approval to date.
There was lengthy discussion regarding methods of presenting potential projects to the Board
and the Board’s involvement in the decision making process. Chair Withrow expressed
concerns that in his opinion and as expressed by other Board members, there was not a
sufficient mechanism in place to monitor and evaluate existing and/or future projects.
Chancellor Elihu Harris, Trustees Riley and Clifton, and Tom Smith explained that this
undertaking of providing prioritization of constantly changing projects would be a gargantuan
assignment. Some projects have ADA and legal requirements, bid specifications and processes,
shared governance and campus facility meetings input, fiduciary judgment of the efficacy of a
project, and some plans are 5-10 years out. Facilities committees with prioritized lists require a
tremendous amount of staff time. Some of the projects have been in the “hopper” since 2000,
and are just now coming to fruition.
Chair Withrow stated he would write-up a statement of requirements to bring back to the
Committee. His report will contain the need for prioritization involving workplace safety and
conditions, and short-term and long-term projects.
Item No. 8 – Discuss the potential for a new bond measure to address serious deficiencies in
plant equipment throughout the District
Tom Smith shared that he would be meeting with Bond Counsel (Dale Scott) tomorrow to
begin putting together a schedule for development of the Proposition 39 facilities bond measure
planned for the ballot November 2006. They will be working on the requirements for the
measure which will be put into a proposal and presented to the Chancellor and the Board.
Initial calculation for the allowable amount of the bond is $300 million.
Chancellor Harris stated the bond language would include the projects identified in the facilities
plan and the educational plan, sorting out equipment needed for the last 30 years at the
campuses.
Item No. 9 – Financial status for the current fiscal year
Smith reported:
 Finance is in the process of designing monthly financial statements
 There are two outstanding accounting and payroll ledgers no.’s 1300 and 1400 open since
July 2005 - the design is transparent and the data is in the system.
The Finance
Department had not previously been able to post the information; however, since we are
now designing the platform for the financial statements, we are in the position to post the
data
 Target date for the financial statement is February 2006 which will include January
 Projection is looking positive and the District will make base with the current enrollment
figures and we have a positive reserve
Withrow
Riley
Clifton
Withrow
Riley
Clifton
There was lengthy discussion regarding enrollment management and strategizing to increase
future enrollment numbers, including changing faculty service areas (FSA) of some tenured
instructors to meet requirements of changing demands in curriculum, class consolidation,
developing new courses, canceling non-thriving classes, and reinventing/revitalizing programs
such as CIS, looking at changing industries and retraining faculty.
Trustee Withrow commented that it may be worthwhile for the District to consider consulting
with industry headhunters to assist designing curriculum, such as training for legal secretaries.
The meeting adjourned 6:30 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 16, 2006, 5:00
p.m.