L.A. College Board Seeks Ways to Do Without State Loan

Faced with the possibility that Sacramento most likely will not come to its financial rescue, the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees on Wednesday discussed the elimination of intercollegiate sports, reduction of faculty and maintenance staffs and the possibility of closing the West Los Angeles College Airport Center on Sepulveda Boulevard as ways to balance its 1985-86 budget.

Meeting in the board’s first emergency session in more than a decade, the district’s trustees were told it is unlikely that the state Legislature will override Gov. George Deukmejian’s veto Tuesday of a $5-million loan to the district.

Deukmejian deleted the loan, which the district had sought in order to repay an emergency loan from Los Angeles County, because of what he called the district’s “failure to exercise prudent fiscal management.”

Deukmejian added that he would support a loan for the district if the district would support the “free-flow” concept of allowing community college students to attend any school they like, not just those in their district. The trustees, however, said Wednesday that they will “not knuckle under” to the governor’s demand, contending that a free-flow policy would cost the district more than $20 million this coming school year.

Last year, 25,000 students crossed district lines to attend community colleges in outlying areas while only 6,000 students from suburban communities enrolled in the district.

Board member Monroe Richman said that Deukmejian’s linking the $5-million loan to support of the free-flow system was an attempt to “hold the district hostage.” Other board members accused the governor of “blackmail” and called him “an extortionist.”

“The governor accused this district of not having prudent fiscal management, but he never gave any examples,” board member Harold Gravin said. “There were three other districts (in San Bernardino County, Oakland and Susanville) that needed loans, and the governor signed legislation granting them needed funds. I think the governor is just trying to get even because this district led the fight against the imposition of tuition fees.”

Community college students began paying a fee of $50 a semester for the first time last fall to help replace funds cut from state allocations.

After each of the six board members took their turn lashing out against Deukmejian and the veto, they began the grim task of finding ways to reduce the upcoming year’s budget. The board was told that it will have to slash $6.8 million from the proposed $180-million budget in order to be in balance and repay the emergency $5-million loan by the county’s Oct. 1 deadline.

Already penciled into the budget is an estimated $1.8 million that the district believes it will receive once the state lottery gets under way. Because of the delays in the start-up of the lottery and the severity of the district’s financial crisis, board member Marguerite Archie-Hudson questioned the wisdom of including speculative funds in the budget. She said she would like to see an additional $1.8 million added to the proposed $6.8 million in cuts.

The district’s financial staff recommended about $4.5 million in budget reductions that included increasing class size, reducing the number of paid leaves and sabbaticals, leaving support staff vacancies open for an additional year and reducing the administrative staff.

The staff also said the district may have to lay off or furlough maintenance staff, sell district-owned land or buildings, cut program offerings and close other facilities such as storefront classrooms.

But the board members wanted to explore more cuts.

Richman asked the staff to investigate how much the district would save if it eliminated all intercollegiate sports.

Archie-Hudson said that if the budget demands reductions in the maintenance and support staffs, the administrative and faculty staff should also be reduced as well.

That would present a problem, however, because under a negotiated agreement between the district and the faculty union, instructors must be notified by March 15 of possible layoffs or staff reductions. The district did not make any such notification this past spring.

Probably the most drastic cut was brought up by Arthur Bronson, who said he would like to close the Airport Center on Sepulveda Boulevard and, along with a private developer, build an office complex that could house businesses along with the district headquarters, an auditorium and some classroom space.

Bronson estimated the value of the property near Los Angeles International Airport at between $10 million and $15 million. He called the small campus “under-utilized” and said classes now held there--mostly travel service and aviation courses--could easily be held on the nearby campus of the West Los Angeles Community College.