Chancellor of Coast Community College District to Retire Jan. 1

Citing a desire to spend more time with his family, David A. Brownell, chancellor of Coast Community College District since July 1, 1984, has announced he plans to retire Jan. 1.

Brownell’s unexpected announcement was made Wednesday night to the district Board of Trustees.

“I was surprised, but when I heard Dave’s personal reasons, then I wasn’t surprised,” said Walter G. Howald, president of the district trustees, in an interview Thursday.

Howald said the trustees will now search for an educator-administrator to succeed Brownell, 53, as the chief administrator of the district that governs Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa; Golden West College and educational station KOCE-TV, both in Huntington Beach, and Coastline Community College in Fountain Valley.

State’s Third Largest

With about 53,000 students, Coast Community College District is the third largest in the state, behind Los Angeles and San Diego.

Like virtually all community college districts, Coast has had serious financial problems in the 1980s--problems that basically stemmed from state budget cuts.

But Howald said Thursday that Coast, under Brownell’s leadership, is financially healthy and will end the current academic year with unspent “emergency” reserves of $4 million.

When Brownell became acting chancellor in the summer of 1984, the district was reeling from state budget cuts from the previous year. In 1983, district trustees had laid off about 100 teachers, outraging the teachers’ union. Subsequent political action led to the election in November, 1983, of a new board majority and the resignation, within a week of the election, of then-Chancellor Norman Watson, who had been attacked during the campaign.

The new trustees rehired the laid-off teachers, meaning that when Brownell came to the district he had to balance the budget while keeping all the faculty on the payroll. His success at this task earned him praise from the board.

Lives in Newport Beach

Brownell, who lives in Newport Beach, has had a varied career that includes 34 years in education and three terms as mayor of the high-desert community of Victorville. He became permanent chancellor of Coast Community College District on Jan. 3, 1985, after serving for six months as acting chancellor.

In a letter to his co-workers on Thursday, Brownell said the decision to retire is something he had “contemplated for some time. . . . There are so many things I want to do, and I’ve never been able to find the time. I want to spend more uncharted time with persons dear to me. I have creative yearnings. I anticipate family business involvements. I want to travel, on my own terms.”

Brownell said his years as chancellor have been “stimulating, challenging and rewarding.” He said that when a new chancellor is named, “I will remain for a time as a consultant to assist that person in effecting an orderly transition.”

He said he also plans to serve as a part-time consultant to the district on other administrative matters.