About last night (the board meeting)

Craig's “Instructional Coordinator”:

As you know, at the end of August, long-time faculty leader Wendy Gabriella gave up the IVC Academic Senate Presidency, a position she held for many years, to become “Instructional Coordinator of Academic Programs, Office of Instruction, for the 2009-2010 academic year.” (See Wendy’s new assignment, 8/27/09.) The position evidently entails 100% reassigned time.

As the Instructional Coordinator (IC), Wendy is essentially VPI Craig Justice’s assistant and, evidently, his representative (she reportedly explains), which occasionally creates odd circumstances in which a member of faculty leads a gaggle of administrators.

There’s a certain amount of talk in the hallways about that. Some people don’t like it. Not a bit.

The “Dean of Academic Programs” (DAPS):

This circumstance has a peculiar history. As I explained in August,

It is no secret that VPI Justice … has been encumbered by startlingly numerous responsibilities since he came to IVC two or three years ago. That problem led to a proposal, last spring, to create a new IVC deanship—a Dean of Academic Programs, Student Learning, and Research [DAPS]. The proposal, however, was rejected by the SOCCCD board, perhaps owing in part to the need for frugality (or, anyway, its appearance) during this period of fiscal stress.

I first reported on the board’s rejection of the DAPS idea back in April (Notes on last night’s board meeting). At the time, I noted a peculiar moment during the April board meeting:

Chancellor [Raghu] Mathur stated that he supported the [DAPS] proposal. Oddly, he even seemed to say that, if the position is approved and [IVC Prez] Glenn [Roquemore] sends up a candidate, he’ll support that recommendation too! … Sounds like Raghu has been in the woodshed.

Woodshed? Allow me to explain. At the time (and, I suspect, ever since), tensions existed between Wagner and Mathur. The story, at any rate, was that Mathur had angered Wagner by somehow undermining some elements on his agenda (as board President). Mathur, of course, is a long-time opponent of Wendy’s (for reasons that need not be explained for those familiar with this blog). But, owing to their work together on IVC’s accreditation task force, Don and Wendy (and IVC Prez Glenn Roquemore) had developed a good working relationship. They were pals, more or less.

And so: Mathur’s curious remark at the April board meeting suggested to some observers (to me anyway) that, some time before the board meeting, Wagner had read Mathur the riot act about his interference with Roquemore and Justice’s plan to pursue this new deanship—and perhaps ultimately to give Wendy the job.

But then August came around and Wendy became “Instructional Coordinator,” i.e., Craig’s assistant. Many observers saw Wendy’s appointment to that position as either (a) a way around the board’s decision to reject the new dean position—or (b) a convenient transitional situation until the atmosphere becomes right to bring back the DAPS idea—or (c) both (a) and (b).

Good freakin' grief!

Naturally, anyone who believes in fair and open hiring processes will cringe at the possibility that administrators would pursue a new position—such as a deanship—with a particular person in mind to fill that position. And, gosh, many of us who have battled the forces of slime and darkness since 1996 have regarded “fairness and openness” as, well, a big part of what we were fighting for.

About last night:

OK, so here’s the thing. In recent weeks, various people have been telling me to look for DAPS (that “new” dean position) to appear on the agenda for the board’s October meeting. That sounded pretty unlikely—why would Glenn/Craig recommend a position that, only six months ago, the board had rejected? Still, I looked for it when the agenda finally became available late last week.

But it was nowhere to be found. Thus, when, here on Dissent, I previewed issues for the October meeting, I made no reference to DAPS. I just figured that the people I talk to didn't know what they were talking about. It happens.

Except they did know what they were talking about. Today, several people informed me that, at last night’s board meeting, during the closed session, Don Wagner was hopping mad (at Mathur?) that the DAPS item had been “pulled” from (or had not been placed on) the agenda.

Was this a replay of Mathur’s anti-Wendy and anti-Glenn/Craig shenanigans of April?

Who the hell knows. Not me, that's for sure.

And how does Wagner and Fuentes’ cozy relationship on the campaign trail figure into all this? It’s plain that Fuentes is pulling out all the stops to help Wagner get elected as Assemblyman for the 70th District. But Fuentes is not the kind of guy who just helps guys out. Strings are attached. And Fuentes’ has long been Raghu Mathur’s only strong supporter on the board (aside from John Williams, who has become a cardboard figure).

You’d think that, if Fuentes gets what he wants from Wagner, he’s gonna get Wagner’s “hands off” of Mathur.

Good grief. You figure it out. I'm goin' to the gym.

Poor personal hygiene?

More Anger After College Statement on Suspension of 4 Profs (Inside Higher Ed)

Southwestern College, a community college outside San Diego, has been under fire since last week's suspension of four faculty members, following a protest that criticized the administration. With professors saying that they are being punished for expressing their views, the college late Monday issued a new statement -- but that statement (while noting that one suspension has been lifted) only further angered the professors. The statement says: "Four faculty members were placed on paid administrative leave on Thursday, October 22, 2009, and three faculty members remain on paid administrative leave at this time, pending the outcome of the investigation. Please understand that no formal charges or allegations have been made against any College faculty member or employee at this time. The student rally held between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. on October 22, 2009, is not the focus of the investigation. The college is investigating safety and security issues that arose after the approved organized student rally. The college respects, values and is committed to lawful free expression and the student rally provided an opportunity for our students to voice their concerns and to underscore the challenges that all community college students, and community colleges, are experiencing. The college is committed to maintaining a safe environment for our students and staff, which is the focus of the investigation."

College officials did not respond to requests for clarifications on the statement. But Philip Lopez, an English professor who is president of the faculty union, said that the statement only added to the questions about the incident. If the college is now on record as saying that there are no charges or allegations, why is it appropriate to remove faculty members from their classes and ban them from campus, he asked. Lopez said this action violates basic due process rights. "If there are no charges, why were we placed on leave?," he asked. "Rumor? Reputation? Union-busting? Poor personal hygiene?"

UCI law dean Chemerinsky to represent teacher sued by student (OC Register)

From DtB file D

From DtB file K

"Let's kill all the lawyers": the October board meeting

Dang! How come I can't cite this sign as harassment?

Showed up for the board meeting tonight, six minutes late. D’oh!

As I entered the “Ronald Reagan” School Book Depository, James Wright was being recognized as the 2009 “Outstanding Administrator of the Year.” Jim Gaston was up next as “Outstanding Manager of the Year.” He noted his lack of humility. Funny guy.

The IVC Foundation people played a nice little slide show jam packed with goofy factoids about students training for jobs that don’t yet exist, learning knowledge that is obsolete before they get out to the parking lot. Toward the end, somebody seemed to pull the plug on it. No fade out, nothing.

Nasty, busy administrative fingers

Tom Fuentes seemed terribly pleased about the whole thing. Told a goofy story about seeing a “gentleman” at UCI reading a book this morning. Gotta keep learning things, said the guy. Tom next spotted this same guy in the slide show.

What does it mean? I have no idea.

The only “public comment” was from Saddleback College Academic Senate Prez Bob C, who presented a packet of material concerning the dangers of smoking, of second-hand smoke, etc. I do believe that Bob and students want to make the Saddleback campus smoke free.

Tod Burnett introduced a dozen or so students from Egypt—evidently, they are participating in a State Dept.-funded program involving 20 community colleges around the country. These kids seemed friendly, glad to be here.

Board reports were mostly unremarkable, though Dave Lang did introduce his theme for the evening: that the district will be receiving significantly fewer Basic Aid bucks ($17 million, I think) and that the district/board has strayed from its guidelines for spending such money. He also said he was concerned about articles he’s read about students having difficulty being accepted for transfer.

Once again, John Williams gave no report at all. He’s become the board’s cardboard figure trustee.

Chancellor Raghu Mathur reported that he had participated in a “fashion show” at the Laguna Woods Republican Club. Sounded like hell. He looked like sh*t.

Fuentes said something unpleasant about matching money for—I didn’t catch it, maybe scheduled maintenance—something about the extra Basic Aid money the colleges are getting for increased enrollments. Gosh, I just can’t listen to the man anymore.

I think he said that he didn’t like last month’s decisions about Basic Aid spending, and so he wanted to move toward a “reconsideration” of that item. Nancy Padberg pointed out that it would be unfair to yank funds that have already been promised. Fuentes snorted. I guess Mathur will come back with more info next time. Gosh, this sounded important, but, like I said, I just can’t stand to listen to this stuff anymore. Sorry.

There was a slightly weird and very earnest presentation of “veterans outreach” at the two colleges. (See slide show.) I don’t think there’s anybody who doesn’t support veterans and these programs, and, as usual, the trustees fell over themselves praising the vets and the presentation. The latter, though highly praised, seemed a bit like a dream or even a nightmare, as though something was very wrong and nobody was saying what it was. Maybe it was just me. Sometimes I’m just not fit for human company.

In the end, Fuentes made a speech about the importance of veterans in Orange County. Blah, blah, blah, he said. Gosh, really, I can hardly stand to listen to the man.

I think he mentioned his liver.

Jim Gaston was asked to discuss item 6.1, a contract with Neudesic for software for the “Sherpa project.” Big bucks (up to $900K) are involved. Gaston was pretty excited about all the whizbangery that he and his people were setting up that would help students when they try to enroll in a class but it’s closed. Something will pop up and say, “Dude, sorry you can’t enroll in this class, but why did you want it in the first place? Maybe we can direct you to something that fits your schedule!” And then menus and photons and such will pop up and guide students to the promised land. Evidently, what we’ve got going for students online is so epoch-shatteringly cool and attractive that other districts wanna buy it from us, and so, you see, this Neudesic thing is actually an investment!

The board discussed a policy revision of something called “Academic Renewal.” Evidently, a student can sometimes ask to have a whole semester of grades deleted from their record (although nothing is really deleted, said Gary, as though that would reassure everyone) in order to delete just one unfortunate grade. Lang and others seemed puzzled by all this. Me too. Whatever, they approved it.

More than a dozen Egyptian students

The board checked out the two colleges’ faculty hiring priority lists. Lang wanted to get a ballpark figure of how many of these hires would be pursued. Mathur yammered for a while about how we’ve gotta keep an eye on the 50% Law (which requires that at least half of expenditures go to faculty salaries and benefits), blah, blah, blah. He couldn't give a “definitive” number. But Lang kept pressing, asking for an “educated guess,” and so Mathur spit out “20-25,” though I think I heard somebody yell “30.” Lang just smiled that dubious Milquetoast smile of his.

I've forgotten why, but, at some point, Marcia Milchiker referred to Shakespeare’s line that we should “kill all the lawyers,” and that inspired eyebrow archery and a slow burn from Don Wagner. But it was all in good daffy fun, I guess. You know Marcia.

One of the slides for the Veterans presentation had sported a misspelling--of the word “college” (an “l” was left out). At some point, I think Don slyly attributed the blunder to the jokers at USC who had made a video for the veterans programs. This was evidently a jibe intended for Tom, who is a notoriously avid booster of all things USC, whatever that means.

At long last, we got to item 7.5, the nasty little report that Fuentes had requested about “college professors in Orange County.” For years, said Tom, he has encountered people from the State University and the UC systems who were “surprised” by community college salaries. Well, said Tom, this report vindicates such reactions, what with the average salary at CSU Fullerton being $6,000 less than the average at SOCCCD.

Fuentes was cherry-picking. In fact, the UCI salaries were much higher than SOCCCD salaries, and, of the four county CC districts, SOCCCD salaries were second from the bottom.

Bill Jay noted that, when it comes to salaries, it is very hard to compare apples with apples, and besides you’ve got to consider the great difference in instructor “load” between systems.

Nevertheless, in the end, Fuentes pronounced the report “informative” and “interesting.”

God, he hates us.

"This is Union Busting"

Some of us have been worried about the lack of news coverage on the situation at Southwestern College.

Tonight a San Diego television affiliate has an update:

"One of 4 Southwestern College instructors suspended after a rally against school budget cuts talked to 10News about why he is not teaching at the moment.

Faculty union leader Philip Lopez has taught English at Southwestern College for more than 30 years. Last Thursday, students held a rally in protest of sweeping class cuts to fill a budget gap. Lopez was not at the rally, but two instructors were and four were ultimately placed on administrative leave.

Lopez showed 10News the letter he received, which cited a penal code dealing with "causing a willful disruption."...

"Clearly, this is union busting. Dr. Chopra has a reputation for retribution. We're accused of willful disruption, but they are the ones disrupting classes for students by putting us on leave. They are hypocrites,' said Lopez."

To read it in its entirety — and to view a taped interview with Lopez which includes footage of last week's rally, click here.

No free speech for faculty at Southwestern College?

Last Thursday

The odd and alarming Southwestern College situation is covered in this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:

Can Free Speech Be Furloughed?

Last Thursday, several hundred students held a peaceful and evidently unremarkable protest over the cancellation of 400 (more) courses next semester. Almost immediately after the rally, four professors who had supported the rally were suspended and barred from using campus email. Included among them was “the current and former presidents of the faculty union.”

The letters that the four faculty members received telling them that they had been suspended immediately did not say why. But the letters referenced (by number) a section of California's penal code that bars people from "willfully disrupting the orderly operation of the campus."

Southwestern officials could not be reached to explain why they took this action. The college's spokeswoman was recently laid off and she has not been replaced. The college's president, Raj Chopra, is reportedly on vacation and his e-mail reply says that he will be off campus until November 13. Chopra's executive assistant gave local reporters a statement that said that the reason for the suspensions could not be made public….

The IHR interviewed our pal Phil Lopez (“100 Miles Down the Road”), who teaches English at Southwestern:

Lopez said that the union – an affiliate of the National Education Association – has consulted with union lawyers and is demanding a hearing, which the college must schedule within seven days. He said that the rally received widespread support because the students and faculty members were questioning how the college is responding to the budget crisis. While state cuts are severe, he said, the college has insisted on keeping a reserve fund that is twice as large as necessary, when cutting its size might save more courses. He noted that the cuts planned for next semester will be about one fourth of courses in many departments.

Regardless of one's views of the college's strategy, he said it was wrong for professors to be kicked off campus without any explanation and apparently because they criticized the administration. In his case, he said, he was forced to miss a meeting with administrators Friday at which he was to have represented faculty interests, because he was ordered off campus.

"Clearly the administration doesn't think there is such a thing as the First Amendment," he said.

The President of CCA (of CTA), Ron Norton Reel, issued a statement yesterday:

"In misguided actions by administrators who have no respect for the rights of faculty, reports that at least four instructors at Southwestern College have been suspended with pay after taking part in a campus rally against severe cuts are extremely disturbing," he said. "When a college president and governing board support cutting 25 percent of all course offerings and exclude faculty from important decisions, the right response is to challenge these cuts. State education cuts are threatening the future of this college and many others. Retaliating against faculty for standing up for their school and students is a reckless course of action."

See Faculty votes No Confidence in Chopra (Southwestern’s student newspaper)

From the Southwestern College Sun (May)

Morons have the upper hand

Gosh, I don’t know whether to be pleased or horrified. I was getting used to the idea that our nation is more anti-science than others:

Teach both evolution and creationism say 54% of Britons (The Guardian)

More than half of British adults think that intelligent design and creationism should be taught alongside evolution in school science lessons – a proportion higher than in the US.
…
About 54% of the 973 polled Britons agreed with the view: "Evolutionary theories should be taught in science lessons in schools together with other possible perspectives, such as intelligent design and creationism."

In the US, of 991 adults responding to the survey, …51% agreed that evolution should be on the curriculum alongside other theories, like intelligent design.

Across the 10 countries, 43% agreed with this statement.

It was found that Britons were almost three times more likely than Egyptians to want creationism and intelligent design to be included in the teaching of evolution….

Yeah, Egypt. That’s where they killed all of those pigs ‘cause of swine flu. You can’t get swine flu from pigs, but they killed ‘em anyway.

If Creationism is a “theory,” it is a remarkably bad one. It implies that our planet is only a few thousand years old. Clearly, it is not.

In science, when a hypothesis implies X and X is not true, you dump it.

Meanwhile, “evolutionary theory,” by which I suppose people understand some sort of synthesis of Darwinian natural selection and genetics, implies all sorts of things, including some very remarkable things, and those things turn out to be true.

“Intelligent design” is merely a recasting of the old “argument from design,” which received a stake through its heart when Wallace and Darwin described the mechanism that explained the apparent fact of “evolution,” something that seemed evident to many scientists long before the publication of Origin of Species in 1859.

All of this is plain to anyone who has any understanding of the natural sciences.

Many people do not share that understanding, evidently.

Curious suspensions

Creative writing instructor Andrew Rempt (Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune)

Some of you have asked... Nope, I was not aware of the disturbing recent events at Southwestern College, about 100 miles to our south. So it's time to get up to speed.

At the administrative (and trustee?) level, Southwestern (SC) has been a troubled college for some time. You can read about some of that below. (Yes, felonies, accred troubles, former SOCCCD employees, and administrative rat bastardry are all part of the saga.)

SC faculty and classified have long expressed dissatisfaction with the Superintendent/President, Raj Chopra, who has been accused of familiar heavy-handedness and worse. (He's been described as a "dictator.")

A few years ago, the Southwestern Community College District board was spanked (by the Accreds) for micromanagement.

At one point (not so long ago), all of SC's VPs were gone for one reason or another (fired, etc.).

Naturally, these days, like many other community college districts, the SCCD is confronting severe budget cuts. Many in the district, including students, are very unhappy with how the situation is being handled by Chopra, et al.

Less than a year ago, Chopra received an 8% raise, and this outraged many.

Last Thursday, there was a protest involving mostly students on campus. Not long after the protest, four (or more) faculty--they seem to have participated in the protest--were informed that they were suspended.

At least some of these faculty are, or have been, in leadership positions. Our own "100 Miles Down the Road," formerly the president of the Southwestern College faculty union, was among them.

Based on reporting since last Friday, it is not entirely clear whether the suspensions are related to the protests. But the timing certainly is odd.

Here’s the San Diego Union-Tribune article from Friday:

Southwestern College instructors suspended following rally

CHULA VISTA — At least four Southwestern College instructors have been suspended following a recent campus rally to protest plans to eliminate more than 400 course offerings and to demonstrate growing dissatisfaction with the administration.

A crowd of about 300 assembled on the Chula Vista campus Thursday to demonstrate against the cuts. The group of mostly students walked across campus and circled the president's office before breaking up.

It wasn't until 25 students showed up for their 9 a.m. creative writing class Friday that they realized instructors – including their own – had been suspended. When the students walked toward the president's office, they said campus police intervened and accused them of participating in an unlawful assembly.

College president Raj Chopra is on vacation. His executive assistant, Mary Ganio, released a statement saying Southwestern is investigating a personnel matter that is unrelated to Thursday's protest.

The College “will not comment at this time about the substance of the investigation or any particular employee,” Ganio stated.

The memo went on to say: “I can share that the investigation is unrelated to the student rally. The College shares our students' concerns about reductions in State funding for the College. The College respects, values and is committed to freedom of expression.”

Creative writing instructor Andrew Rempt is among the faculty members who have been suspended with pay following the incident. He said the campus human relations chief and a police officer showed up at his home Thursday night to give him notice of a paid suspension.

The popular instructor declined to discuss details of the suspension letter, but said he didn't see how it couldn't be related to the rally.

Naturally, people often fall prey to post hoc ergo propter hoc thinking--i.e., erroneously reasoning that since A happened prior to B, A must have caused B. On the other hand, the best explanation for these events might be that, among other things, administration seeks to send a message to faculty: dissent at your own peril. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Reporter Maureen Magee provided a somewhat updated version of the story yesterday:

4 faculty at college suspended after rally

...The latest in a string of controversies is Southwestern governing board's recent decision to cut 429 course selections for the spring semester. The cuts represent an estimated 25 percent of all offerings.
...
But tensions have been brewing at Southwestern long before the course eliminations were proposed. Faculty and students have criticized Chopra for having a heavy-handed management style and for excluding instructors and department chairs from important decisions.

“There has been a climate of fear here for some time,” said Andrew MacNeill, acting president of the faculty union. “I think this is about intimidation.”

Resolutions of no confidence have been passed by several groups, including the faculty senate and the union representing non-teaching employees.

Many are still angry over a 7.9 percent pay raise the governing board gave Chopra in November, MacNeill said.….

THE SOUTHWESTERN SAGA:

That's Supe Chopra at right

AUGUST 2008:

We’ve reported events at Southwestern before, e.g., a year or so ago (The seriously wacky world of California community colleges, August 18, 2008):

…On Friday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported (3 college trustees boycott over Sandoval agenda item) that three trustees of the Southwestern cc district “boycotted” a board meeting last Wednesday to prevent its being held—in order to prevent discussion of an item to extend a Southwestern College vice president’s job for a month or two.

It’s a tangled tale. Greg Sandoval, the VP, resigned not long ago after someone claimed he’d sexually harassed them. Then he tried to unresign, but the district’s Supe, Raj Chopra, wouldn’t have it. Then, when Chopra left town, Southwestern board president Dave Agosto hastily snuck a new item onto the board’s agenda for August’s meeting. The item was for an action that would have extended Sandoval’s administrative employment to January. Why? ‘Cause, that way, Sandoval would be old enough, while still employed, to receive lifetime medical benefits!

So three of the trustees put the kibosh on the meeting, thus deep-sixing Agosto’s agenda gambit. Maybe that was the right thing to do. Dunno.

The Trib quotes Chopra as saying, “In my 35 years as an administrator, I have not seen ... an agenda item changed the way (this) did.”
...
This Southwestern story doesn’t end here. In fact, it starts to get seriously convoluted at this point, ‘cause Sandoval is on the board of another district that does business with Southwestern, and it turns out that it was somebody on that other board, who benefited from the relationship, who urged Agosto to….

Well, you know....

From the Southwestern student newspaper (the Sun)

JUNE 2008:
Two months earlier: “Vice” Presidents (June 9, 2008):

In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:

Two administrators at Southwestern College [Greg Sandoval, vice president for student affairs, and Arthur Lopez, director of financial aid] ... have quit their jobs after being accused of sexual harassment, while denying wrongdoing, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. With one of the resignations, all of the college’s vice presidents have quit or been fired in the last year.

MAY 2008:
And a month before that: “The governing board tended to interfere too much”

From yesterday’s San Diego Union-Tribune: Grand jury expected to urge community college ethics panel:

The [San Diego] county grand jury is expected to release a report tomorrow that will recommend an ethics committee establish and enforce an ethics code for local community colleges.
...
The 17-page report is largely anecdotal and rarely mentions a specific person or even a specific college, except in three instances:

• MiraCosta College accepted the resignation of its president last year in exchange for a severance package of nearly $1.6 million, exceeding the 18 months' salary permitted by state law.
• The employment contract of the chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District was changed without board approval in 2006. The chancellor deleted a clause that limited his severance pay to 12 months in the event of his dismissal. The clause was later re-inserted. [See Serafin Zasueta.]
• The organization that accredited Southwestern College four years ago noted that the governing board tended to interfere too much in day-to-day operations. Since then, the college has had two interim and two permanent presidents and three of its four vice president positions need to be filled.....

MAY 2006:
And two years before that: Serafin Zasueta (May 3, 2006):

Some at IVC will remember Serafin Zasueta, a Vice President of Instruction at IVC ten or fifteen years ago. I barely remember the guy, but I asked around, and I could find few who had anything good to say about the fellow. ... Most seemed to think that he was a rat bastard.

Said one colleague: "He's as rotten as Mathur, only a little smarter."

Well, smart or no, the fellow has gotten himself into serious trouble.

Back in the early years of the new millennium, Zasueta was the President of Southwestern College, in Chula Vista. But, soon enough, faculty complained that he left them out of decision-making.

Imagine that!

They took a dim view, too, of Zasueta’s use of district vehicles and his purchase of $1 million in life insurance with district money.

With the help of the CTA, faculty backed and secured the election of a trustee candidate who, upon joining the board, tipped the balance against Zasueta. After a board "no confidence" vote, Zasueta was placed on “administrative leave pending investigation of a personnel matter” (CCA Advocate, March/April, 2003).
...
Well, not long after, Zasueta was indicted together with a political consultant named Larry Remer:

A high-profile political consultant illegally conspired to spend public funds on a commercial promoting a community college bond campaign five years ago and then tried to cover it up, a prosecutor told jurors yesterday.

“This is a case about abusing power and violating public trust,” prosecutor John Rice said….

Defense lawyer Michael Pancer [said] that there was nothing illegal about the way consultant Larry Remer went about getting a bill for $5,890.47 paid following the successful campaign for an $89 million bond…Pancer didn't dispute that college funds were used to pay the bill, but he said it was legal because the school wasn't paying for the production of the commercial, but rather to purchase outtakes for education and marketing.

It is illegal to use taxpayer money to advocate positions in political campaigns.

Remer and former Southwestern College President Serafin Zasueta were indicted on conspiracy, theft, and wire and mail fraud charges in 2004.

Both have pleaded not guilty. The trial of Zasueta, who was fired in 2003, is scheduled to begin April 24…Zasueta claims he didn't know anything about how the bill was paid and that Remer defrauded him and the college, according to court documents.

The case centers around a bill for a television commercial for Proposition AA, which passed with 69 percent support in November 2000.

The commercial was produced by an Alexandria, Va., firm and shot on Southwestern's campus. It shows several students talking about how the money from the bond would be used.

A month after the election, the Virginia company, Murphy Putnam Media Inc., sent a bill for editing and production of the ad to Friends of Southwest College, a campaign committee set up by Remer.

However, the committee had spent all its money.

At that point, the prosecutor said, Remer and Zasueta had a choice to make. They could have raised more money. They could have told the company the bill was late and couldn't be paid. Or Remer could have paid the company out of his own pocket.

“But there was a fourth option,” Rice told jurors. “An illegal option.” And that was to use school funds, the prosecutor said.

“They couldn't use public funds, but they did,” he said.

Rice said that after Zasueta decided to disguise the payment as the purchase of outtakes, Remer asked the company to send the college a bill for “dubs and commercial footage.”

The bill was paid out of the school's theater budget.

In the fall of 2002, Carla Kirkwood, a theater professor, reviewed her department's budget, found the payment to the Virginia company and alerted a trustee.

That prompted an inquiry, during which Remer sent Zasueta a memorandum stating different uses the college would have for the video outtakes.

That, Rice said, was part of a cover-up…. (“Legality of funds’ use contested,” San Diego Union Tribune, 3/29)

Here, then, is the last chapter of this story. Yesterday’s LA Times (“Consultant Admits to Misuse of Funds”) reported as follows:

In a plea bargain, a political consultant Monday pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor criminal count stemming from alleged misuse of public money in exchange for six felony counts being dropped.

Larry Remer, 55, agreed to pay restitution to Southwestern Community College in Chula Vista and a fine of $5,000, and to perform 100 hours of community service.

Serafin Zasueta, 63, the former college president, pleaded guilty to the same count and accepted the same conditions.

…On April 7, a jury deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of convicting Remer of six counts stemming from $5,890.47 spent by the college for outtakes from a TV commercial favoring an $89-million bond issue for improvements at the college on the 2000 ballot.

Zasueta was awaiting trial.....

• OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA:

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY - May 1, 2006

United States Attorney Carol C. Lam announced today the guilty pleas of Lawrence “Larry” D. Remer, a San Diego political consultant, and Serafin A. Zasueta, former President and Superintendent of Southwestern College. Both defendants pled guilty before United States District Judge John A. Houston to an Information charging them with illegally using public funds from the Southwestern Community College District to pay for political activity in relation to the Proposition AA Bond measure which was on the November 2000 ballot. Proposition AA was a bond measure seeking $89 million in bonds for Southwestern College

• OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA: NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY - July 21, 2006:

United States Attorney Carol C. Lam today announced that Lawrence “Larry” D. Remer, a San Diego political consultant, and Serafin A. Zasueta, former President and Superintendent of Southwestern College were sentenced today in federal court in San Diego by United States District Court Judge John A. Houston to serve three years probation for violating18, United States Code, Section 600, Promise of Benefit for Political Activity, a misdemeanor. As part of his guilty plea, each defendant agreed to pay full restitution to Southwestern Community College in the amount of $2,945.24, pay a fine of $5,000, and perform 100 hours of community service.


. . . . .


● You might be interested in visiting the website of the SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION.

According to the website, the union's leadership appears to be (or was):

Phil Lopez, President [?] (a Dissent the Blog reader)
Jordan Mills, Vice President
Shannon Gracey, Secretary
David Brown, Treasurer
Carol Stuardo, Part-time Representative
Rob Unger, Grievance Chair

● A blog covering Southwestern College issues:

Save Our Southwestern College: A collective effort by concerned faculty, staff, students, and members of the Southwestern College community.

● Evidently, about two years ago, a group of faculty sought to challenge the SCEA (Southwestern College's faculty union): Challenge. Don't know what that's about.

● Naturally, one wonders what the Southwestern Community College District (SCCD) board of trustees is like. Go to SCCD board.

President, Jean Roesch, Ed.D. - Seat 1 (since 2000)
Yolanda Salcido - Seat 4 (since 2002)
Nick Aguilar - Seat 3 (since 2008)
Jorge Dominguez, Ph.D. - Seat 5 (since 2006)
Terri Valladolid - Seat 2 (since 1998)