President Leaves Pierce in ‘Repair,’ but Future of Farmland in Doubt

When David Wolf took over as president of Pierce College three years ago, student enrollment was down, teachers were in an uproar over proposed layoffs, and budget troubles had forced elimination of the school’s football program.

This fall, the football team is back. Enrollment has increased by about 2,000 students since 1985 to about 19,000, and teachers are no longer threatening mutiny.

“I hope that I’m leaving things in repair,” said Wolf, 46, who on Oct. 1 becomes vice president of Santa Rosa Junior College in Sonoma County.

But despite the improvements--triggered largely by additional revenue brought in by rising enrollment and increased state funding--unresolved questions remain about the future of about 200 acres of farmland on the Woodland Hills campus.

A dispute about the open space, now used for crops and the raising of cows and sheep, has brought homeowners, a small number of faculty members and developers into the fray.

Farmland Action Delayed

Wolf said in an interview that the continuing controversy played no part in his decision to leave the Los Angeles Community College District, where he has worked for 12 years. Pierce College Vice President Jean Loucks will take over as acting president while the Community College Board of Trustees conducts a search for a permanent replacement.

Last week, the trustees delayed action on Wolf’s proposal that the Pierce farmland be preserved indefinitely for educational uses. Nearby residents, Wolf and agriculture department faculty members say future budget problems of the nine-campus district could tempt the board to sell some of the land to developers.

Their fear is not unfounded. In 1986, a year after Wolf arrived at the Pierce campus, the board agreed to a 75-year, $3-million lease of 17.6 acres to a Jewish temple. A 3.3-acre parcel was sold for $1.15 million that year.

Since those transactions, however, Wolf has repeatedly said that no Pierce farmland would be sold for commercial development while he is president. The campus was founded in 1947 as an agricultural college, but interest in many agriculture classes has declined dramatically in the past several years.

“If we let that land go for condos, offices or any commercial venture, we’ll lose it forever,” Wolf said.

Those who oppose commercial development of the college farmland generally agree with Wolf’s position. But homeowner groups say they prefer pastures and cornfields to Wolf’s suggestions for use of the land. Wolf has proposed using a portion of it for the annual San Fernando Valley Fair and for an equestrian center. He predicted that eventually--perhaps as long as 20 years--much of the land will be used for educational facilities.

“David Wolf came into the position of presidency at a time when the district was under a lot of pressure for funds and Pierce was seen as a way out of that financial bind,” said Robert Gross, vice president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization.

“I found him intelligent and articulate,” Gross said. “I wish him well, but I also look forward to a new administration and hope that the new president will be more receptive to the concerns of the community.”

Gross last week asked the district board to consider creating a land-use committee of administrators, faculty members, students and community members to evaluate development proposals for the Pierce farmland. He criticized Wolf for not telling nearby homeowners early on about past development proposals.

The board will consider Wolf’s preservation proposal next month, district officials said. Last week, the board unanimously approved his recommendation that the district “encourage the development” of a privately run $10-million Valley Science Pavilion for children on 6 acres of the campus farmland.

Wolf said the college must use some of the land for such projects as the science center and fair to justify keeping intact large tracts of the farmland. “Doing nothing with that land is playing into the hands of developers,” he said.

“The board has given a pretty friendly reception to preserving these lands for the future,” Wolf said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean just for open space; open space is for people in parks and recreation to argue about. The argument we have to make is to use it for our educational program.”

No Open Space Obligation

Mick Sears, chairman of the agriculture department, agreed that the college has no obligation to preserve its open space so that neighbors can continue to enjoy a rural landscape.

“Many of the homeowners’ concept of helping the agriculture department is to keep the farm open space and green pastures with some herds of animals around, to keep everything the way it is,” Sears said. “I haven’t seen anything new or positive from them on how we can meet the challenges of the future.”

Sears credits Wolf with pushing the agriculture department in 1986 to re-examine its program, which in recent years has declined to about 350 to 400 students majoring in the subject. Wolf pumped additional money into the department’s more popular programs--such as horticulture, horse care and veterinary-related classes--Sears said.

“When Wolf came in, he said that the farm was a high priority, and as the department chairman, I’ve seen him put his money where his mouth is,” Sears said. “He’s been more involved with the farm than any administrator before him.”

But those changes have also resulted in criticism of Wolf. Three agriculture instructors have accused him of plotting to eliminate the courses they teach--such as care and breeding of large farm animals. Leland Shapiro, one of those professors, said earlier this year that the department had turned into a “war zone” since Wolf became Pierce president.

Little Turnover

Insisting that the ongoing controversies had nothing to do with his decision to leave Pierce, Wolf said he applied for the Santa Rosa Junior College job in the spring because a friend convinced him that it was a position he should not ignore. Enrollment and budgets at Santa Rosa are bigger, he and his wife enjoy the area and there is little turnover among top administrators, Wolf said.

“They’ve only had three college presidents in the last 70 years,” said Wolf, who will make slightly more than his current $75,000 annual salary. “And senior administrative positions turn over about once every 10 years.”

Wolf, who began work with the district in 1976 at Mission College, has held seven administrative positions, including acting president of West Los Angeles College and vice president of academic affairs at Harbor College in Wilmington. He earned a doctorate in administration and policy analysis from Stanford University in 1984, while he was working as special assistant to former Los Angeles district chancellor Leslie Koltai.

“I had expected to be here a number of years,” Wolf said. “We’ve made some good progress; The real point is that this is the best community college in the Los Angeles district, which makes it one of the best in the state.”