Audit of Ely’s College District Expenses Not Yet Completed

Ventura Community College District Chancellor Barbara Derryberry said Tuesday that an investigation of board member Tom Ely’s district expense records has not yet been completed.

The board decided last month to hire an independent auditor after learning of Ely’s alleged gambling activities and after a disclosure that he used his district telephones to call hotels and casinos in Nevada.

Derryberry said Ely received a copy of a draft report Friday of the auditor’s findings. But Derryberry said she didn’t know when a final report would be completed. Ely has said he needs more time to review the report before he can comment on it.

During a board meeting Tuesday, Oxnard College Prof. Patrick Hughes appealed to board members to be fair to Ely.

“I came to speak in favor of a sense of justice on the part of the board,” Hughes said. “Much of the materials which have been published regard Dr. Ely’s own private life. And while it makes a good smear, it has nothing to do with justice.”

Ely has admitted that he made personal telephone calls to Las Vegas on his district phone in the past, but said the nature of the calls were no one’s business but his own. He said he would be happy to reimburse the district for the calls.

Ely, a candidate for county supervisor, has been dogged by controversy since it was revealed last month that he owed $3,000 in gambling debts to the Edgewater Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nev., and that he was sued in February by the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas over $8,000 in alleged debts.

In addition, a law enforcement source told The Times that Ely had amassed $40,000 in gambling debts at a number of Las Vegas casinos and hotels.

Ely, who was scheduled to address the board Tuesday, has admitted some debts but said his losses have been exaggerated.