College Board Ballot

San Diego Community College District incumbent Trustees Dan Grady and Louise Dyer are seeking reelection to fifth and second terms, respectively. Instead of reorganizing to improve faculty and staff morale and student educational service, the district’s administrative management, which implements board policies, continues to do the opposite.

The district’s administration intentionally prevents vast financial resources from going where they are intended to go--to students in classrooms. District bureaucrats who claim to practice “sound fiscal management” often stand in the way of and frustrate responsible campus administrators and instructors who recognize the need to timely invest greater resources in campus vocational and academic programs and deteriorating facilities and equipment.

Competent financial management requires reductions in fixed administrative costs (certificated administrative salaries, excluding liberal fringe benefits, average over $50,000 annually) as district revenues decline with enrollments. Instead, district bureaucrats cut classes and part-time instructors to economize while sparing administrative fat.

District bureaucrats are not held accountable for their management failures or incompetence. While bankrolling sizable payroll costs for its large administrative management team, the board saw enrollment at City College fall apart. Rather than rely on its own management, the board hired an expensive consulting firm to figure out what was causing the problem. The same consulting firm has recommended that the district shell out an additional $200,000 to market City College to its community.

Independent auditing firms had given timely warnings to the board and management about the need to correct poor internal controls over attendance accounting. Administrators never acted, and the district had to pay seven-figure sums to the State of California and the Veterans Administration. One top administrator blamed the faculty for the losses until a faculty member presented the independent auditing firms’ information to the board.

From as far back as 1976 through the June 30, 1985, District Financial Report, independent auditors have consistently pointed out management’s need to establish effective internal controls over the millions of dollars of capital assets and materials owned by the district in order to protect against material losses.

An effort to get better performance for your tax dollars and real excellence for students in our community colleges is now under way by Dr. Joe Abrahams and Mary Ann Zounes, who both seek to unseat board incumbents.

WALT SEYMOUR

San Diego