Bruinsma Resigns From Cal State Board : Torrance Trustee Criticized Firing of Long Beach Campus’ President

Theodore A. Bruinsma, a member of the California State University Board of Trustees who criticized the board’s decision to remove Cal State Long Beach President Stephen Horn, has resigned from the board.

“I do not feel that my service . . . is either contributing or productive under present circumstances,” Bruinsma, a Torrance businessman, wrote in a letter to the governor May 10 announcing his resignation, effective immediately. A spokesman for the governor said a search has begun for Bruinsma’s replacement on the 19-member board.

Bruinsma declined to elaborate on his reasons for resigning. He has been on the board since 1986.

Tired of Disagreements

But Dean S. Lesher, another trustee who had sided with Bruinsma on the Horn matter, said the former Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce president had wearied of disagreements with the board majority on Horn and other issues. “He just got tired of the hassle,” said Lesher, who publishes a chain of weekly and daily newspapers in Northern California.

In addition, Lesher said Bruinsma--who heads an investment firm called University Technology Transfer Inc.--was embarrassed by the disclosure in February that he had approached officials at two Cal State campuses last year about investing in potentially profitable faculty research projects. Bruinsma dropped the idea after the chancellor’s office raised questions of possible conflicts of interest.

Bruinsma’s resignation came days after the release of an opinion from the legislative counsel’s office suggesting that the board might have acted illegally in forcing Horn to resign. Horn, who is running for the congressional seat now occupied by Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach), said through a spokesman that he is no longer interested in the circumstances of his ouster.

“It’s history,” said Fred Karger, Horn’s campaign manager. “He’s moving on.”

According to the opinion, made available to The Times, the forced resignation might have violated the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, a state law requiring that public employees be given written notice of their right to public hearings prior to closed meetings to address accusations or complaints against them. “To the extent that formal action was taken,” Deputy Legislative Counsel Debra J. Zidich wrote in the opinion, “that action would be void.”

The opinion elicited an angry letter from Lesher to fellow board members--his second since Horn announced his resignation--branding the board’s handling of the Horn affair an “unholy mess.”

The board has denied any wrongdoing, citing an opinion by the state attorney general’s office that, according to board chairwoman Marianthi Lansdale, supports the trustees’ handling of the Horn matter.

In a meeting last November, the Cal State system board of trustees adopted a resolution giving Horn the choice of either resigning as president of the Long Beach campus or of being fired. An attorney representing Horn at the time said Horn was at the meeting, which was not open to the public. The attorney said Horn had not been notified of his right to a public hearing.

Horn will officially step down July 1 but has been on leave since February. He will be replaced by Curtis L. McCray, president of the University of North Florida.

Horn served as president of Cal State Long Beach for 17 years. The campus experienced financial difficulties in recent years and at one point had a budget deficit of more than $1 million. Horn clashed occasionally with Cal State Chancellor W. Ann Reynolds. And he had stormy relations with his faculty.