Motion to Double College Trustees’ Salaries Quashed

A move to double the salaries of Los Angeles Community College District trustees has been quashed, board President Wallace Albertson said Tuesday.

The proposal, introduced by Trustee Arthur Bronson last week, called for raising the pay of the seven trustees from $1,000 to $2,000 a month. Bronson, a retired executive, said trustees deserved the increase because they are spending more time on district matters than in the past.

Bronson could not be reached for comment. Albertson, however, said he withdrew the motion, which would have come up for a vote on July 1, because it lacked sufficient support.

Only one other trustee, Harold Garvin, was “strongly supportive” of the raise, she said. Garvin had attempted to win support of a similar proposal last year but withdrew it at the last minute when it became apparent it would not pass.

“(Bronson) didn’t do any vote-counting ahead of time,” said Albertson. “I for one have never supported an increase in trustee salaries. . . . Frankly, I don’t know why he put this in.”

Albertson said the proposed raise was particularly ill-timed because of the district’s recent financial difficulties. Sharp enrollment declines between 1981 and 1985 and the subsequent loss of considerable state funding forced the district to order furloughs and cutbacks in programs and staffing last year. Faculty and other district employees have not received a pay raise for three years.