Kellerman Attorney Fires Back at Trustees

In suspending North Orange County Community College District Chancellor James S. Kellerman last month, district trustees held him up to an ethical “double standard” not applied to board members themselves, Kellerman’s attorney alleged in a recent letter to trustees.

The letter from attorney Ronald G. Parker also said Kellerman had followed the same standards of conduct as the seven-member board, which placed him on paid administrative leave April 12.

The May 1 correspondence does not specify any wrongdoing by board members or name individual trustees.

Kellerman, 54, was removed from his $97,000-a-year position after an internal investigation substantiated allegations of financial misconduct, district trustees have said.

He could not be reached for comment Monday.

The letter was provided Monday by district trustee Chris Loumakis after a press conference during which he accused fellow trustees of attempting a “cover-up of information involving possibly illegal conduct by the chancellor.”

Loumakis also expanded his previous call for an investigation by the county district attorney to include “possible unethical or official misconduct by any members of the board of trustees.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade, who has stated that a preliminary investigation has been opened into the allegations against Kellerman, said Monday that he has not seen Parker’s letter to the board.

Loumakis’ press conference came on the eve of a scheduled board vote on whether to censure the outspoken trustee for his published statements on allegations against Kellerman. Board members have also sought unsuccessfully to exclude Loumakis from closed sessions in which the allegations against Kellerman have been discussed.

Loumakis has said an internal investigation substantiated allegations that Kellerman “borrowed” money from a district account without authorization; that he pressured district employees for personal loans, and that the district was billed for a $2,000 computer installed in Kellerman’s home.

“My responsibility and oath as a public official require that I act to prevent the continuance of this public deceit and misconduct on the part of the governing majority of the board,” Loumakis said Monday. “Their failure to be truthful and forthcoming in this matter amounts to a breach of public trust and a dereliction of their responsibilities as elected officials.”

He said he has acted in the public interest and denied any other motive, adding: “I’m a member of the board of trustees, and I am not an announced candidate for any other elected office.”

Board President Otto Lacayo reacted angrily to Loumakis’ latest actions and accused him of “throwing rocks. . . . He’s talking to reporters when he should mind the business of board members and maintain confidentiality.”

Lacayo added: “That was a confidential letter. You have attorney-client privilege. It’s a sensitive area. The board has to be cautious not to injure the board’s case or Dr. Kellerman’s.”

Parker acknowledged Monday that he sent the letter to board members, but he said the correspondence had been intended to remain private.

He declined to elaborate, saying only, “I would rather not comment on it at all.”

The letter requested a meeting between Kellerman and the board to discuss 13 allegations that board members enumerated when Kellerman was removed as the head of the $90-million-a-year community college district.

“Dr. Kellerman has no political ax to grind,” Parker said in his letter, “but if he is to be held accountable under exacting and uncompromising standards, then the issue is not so much the minor technical violations of the board policy which have been alleged, but rather whether there exists a double standard of conduct which applies to Dr. Kellerman but not to all members of the board.

“Accordingly, his answers may necessarily reflect and include the ethical standards which have been followed by certain members of the board during the past 3 years,” Parker stated in the letter.

During the press conference, Loumakis demanded that Lacayo and board member Nilene A. Lee turn over to the district attorney’s office all documents collected in an informal investigation that they conducted into allegations against Kellerman, as well as all correspondence from Parker.

A district source, however, said such documentation has already been provided to the district attorney’s office.

Loumakis said Monday that Parker’s letter “impugns the integrity of all members of the board” and raises “extremely serious doubts as to the board’s ability to conduct a fair, complete and open inquiry into the chancellor’s conduct.

“Moreover, the board of trustees cannot objectively investigate itself,” Loumakis said.

Kellerman, whose contract with the district runs through June, 1992, was appointed chancellor in February, 1986. Berdette (Bert) Cofer was named interim chancellor after Kellerman’s suspension.

The community college district includes Cypress College and Fullerton College and serves more than 31,000 students in credit courses.