State Probing Way Selection Was Made for Coast Chancellor

The selection of David A. Brownell as chancellor of Orange County’s Coast Community College District is being investigated for possible violation of state affirmative action guidelines, according to Gerald Hayward, chancellor of the state community college system.

Hayward said Monday he is “very concerned” that trustees of the 55,000-student district may have violated guidelines because no other candidates were considered for the $77,000-per-year job. The investigation should take a month, Hayward said.

If the district is found to have violated affirmative action procedures, Hayward said, it is possible that state funds to Coast’s three colleges could be withheld. The state provides about 57% of the district’s budget.

Second Biggest District

Coast, the second biggest community college district in the state, governs Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa; Golden West College in Huntington Beach, and Coastline Community College, based in Fountain Valley.

The goal of affirmative action laws and regulations is to make sure that women and people from minority groups are properly considered in filling jobs.

Brownell had been serving as acting chancellor at Coast Community College District for the past six months. In an unexpected move Thursday, the Coast trustees voted 4 to 1 to elevate Brownell to chancellor. The chancellor is the chief executive of the district and the architect of its $80-million budget.

In typical affirmative action procedures, an agency solicits a wide array of candidates for a position through advertising, letters or other means. The candidates are then treated uniformly, such as being asked identical questions in interviews. The affirmative action procedure, under state law, doesn’t require that women or a minority candidate emerge as the choice; the procedure only seeks to make sure such candidates are afforded a fair chance. Armando Ruiz, president of the trustees, said Thursday that he had checked with the state community college chancellor’s office in Sacramento “and (was told) there’s no problem: The board has the sole authority to do it (promote Brownell).”

Candidates Not Sought

But state Chancellor Hayward, in an interview Monday, said, “He (Ruiz) never talked to me.” Hayward added that he had talked to Brownell and Coast trustee George Rodda Jr. before the action last Thursday. Hayward said he told Brownell and Rodda that he had doubts about the legality of the trustees’ filling the chancellor’s post without seeking candidates and going through the affirmative action procedure.

Rodda cast the sole dissenting vote against Brownell, later explaining he was concerned “not about the person but about the process.”

Brownell was picked as acting chancellor last April, and he took over that post in June when Norman E. Watson retired after serving as chancellor for 20 years. Watson had been under fire from the three new trustees, including Ruiz, who were elected with teachers’ union support in November, 1983. Last March, the board of trustees stated that whoever was appointed acting chancellor would not be eligible to succeed to the full-time job. The trustees also said they planned a national search to find a permanent chancellor.

The surprise appointment of Brownell to the full-time post last Thursday came after a 45-minute closed meeting of the trustees. Ruiz explained that the board “had changed its mind” about national competition and had decided that Brownell was immediately needed as full-time chancellor because he “has been beyond our expectations in keeping the district together.”

But Hayward, in Sacramento, said he had warned both Brownell and Rodda that the quick, non-competitive filling of the permanent post might not be legal. “I understand their (Coast District’s) own lawyer also expressed his concern,” Hayward said.

Ruiz, in an interview Monday, said that he had not talked to Hayward about the Brownell matter but on Thursday had talked to Juana Barbarita, the affirmative action specialist in Hayward’s Sacramento office. Ruiz said Barbarita had told him over the telephone that selecting Brownell, without competition from other candidates, would be permissible.

Barbarita could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Asked about Hayward’s expression of concern, Ruiz said: “I disagree with the (state) chancellor. If he’s been so concerned, where was he when other interim positions were filled?” Ruiz said that Coast, under previous trustees, had elevated acting presidents of Coastline and Orange Coast colleges to permanent positions, without a competitive process.

Law Demands Adherence

Ruiz said that “district policy” allows trustees to “make appointments” such as the elevation of Brownell. “Where was the chancellor when these other (earlier) appointments were OKd?” asked Ruiz.

Hayward, in a separate interview, said that both state law and community college regulations demand strict adherence to affirmative action. “When the position to be filled is at a higher level, as this one (for chancellor) was, the need for affirmative action is especially strict,” Hayward said.

Hayward said that in enforcing affirmative action procedures, his office seldom has to resort to cutting off state funds to college districts. “Usually, we point out what has to be done, and the process is carried out,” he said.

But Hayward said that his office can and will cut off state money if a college district refuses to comply with the law. A Coast official on Monday said that about 57% of its annual budget comes from the state; 40% comes from local taxes and other sources, including the new tuition; 2% comes from the federal government, and 1% comes from various other sources.