Trustees of Colleges Drop Plan to Hike Pay

A proposal made by a trustee to double the salaries of Los Angeles community college trustees to $2,000 a month was withdrawn Wednesday after two other members of the board objected to its timing.

The motion to increase the pay of the seven-member board had outraged many district employees, who have had to weather severe budget cuts, layoffs and threats of furloughs in recent months to alleviate the nine-campus college system’s serious financial difficulties.

“Now is certainly not the time to entertain such a motion,” said board member Wallace Albertson. Although she said she believes that the trustees deserve a raise, she said she could not support the proposal, citing recent program cuts and layoffs of 50 non-teaching employees and 48 tenured instructors.

‘Scrambling for Money’

“I do not see how a district that has laid off 100 employees and is scrambling for money to keep libraries open . . . and fix leaky roofs can afford to double the salaries of its trustees,” said board member Lindsay Conner, who also opposed the raise. “I think it’s a bad idea, and I think the board ought to defeat it, and defeat it tonight.”

Trustee Harold Garvin, one of the main proponents of the salary increase, attempted to postpone the vote until July 23 when another trustee would be present. He said he wanted to give board member Arthur Bronson, absent Wednesday, an opportunity to vote on the controversial proposal. But he withdrew his motion when it became apparent that to pursue the raise was a losing cause with other members.

In an interview, Garvin said he favors doubling the trustees’ pay because the board’s workload has doubled. Under the district’s rules, a trustee receives full pay of $1,000 a month if he or she attends the two monthly board meetings. Although the number of meetings has not increased, Garvin said the time spent in meetings has.

“Most people say we get a thousand dollars a month for two meetings. Some trustees don’t do anything more than that. But most of the trustees do do more than that,” he said.

He estimated that he devotes about 30 hours a week to board affairs.

May Try Again

Garvin indicated that he may reintroduce the motion, but only at a time when all seven trustees are present.

The board also approved a tentative budget for the 1986-87 school year. According to Chancellor Leslie Koltai, the $194-million budget is balanced with money in a reserve fund. However, noting that the budget includes $11 million in special one-time state funds given to districts with declining enrollments, he warned that the district will have to continue to “downsize” its operations.

In other actions, board President Monroe Richman announced several high-level staff changes.

Vice chancellor Kenneth Washington will retire on June 30 and will be replaced by Cedric Sampson, currently assistant to the chancellor.

Los Angeles City College President Stelle Feuers will be placed on a special one-year assignment to restructure the district’s community service programs. Louis Hilleary, who currently is serving as vice president of academic affairs at City College, will become acting president. In addition, Frank Alderete, currently acting vice president of East Los Angeles College, was named to that post permanently, Richman said. The changes are effective July 1.