Ely Claims District Owes <i> Him</i> $600

Ventura County Community College District Trustee Tom Ely denied Thursday that he charged $8,400 worth of questionable expenses to the district and claimed the district owes him more than $600 for business-related calls.

The Board of Trustees commissioned an audit three weeks ago after learning of Ely’s alleged gambling activities and after a disclosure that he used district telephones to call hotels and casinos in Nevada. At a press conference Thursday at his Simi Valley home, Ely called for the district to correct the audit, which he said was erroneous.

“Either the auditors were too stupid to understand the district policy that they were given,” Ely said, “or the district could not properly review the original submissions that they received.”

District Chancellor Barbara Derryberry, who is on vacation this week, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Derryberry received a copy of the report about two weeks ago, but refused to comment until Ely had a chance to respond to the findings.

Ely, a candidate for the 4th District county supervisor seat, last week became the target of a criminal investigation by the Ventura County district attorney’s office after investigators received a copy of the audit.

Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury has said it could be months before his office completes its investigation into possible misappropriation of district funds.

The audit and subsequent criminal investigation followed allegations by law enforcement sources that Ely owes about $40,000 to some of the best-known casinos and hotels in Las Vegas. In February, the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas sued Ely over alleged gambling debts of $8,000.

The 54-year-old Simi Valley Republican has admitted some debts but said his losses have been greatly exaggerated in the media.

Ely has also admitted making personal calls on his district telephone, but has said the nature of the calls were nobody’s business but his own. The audit lists $228 in calls that “appear to be personal.” Ely said Thursday he would be happy to reimburse the district for some of the calls, but disputed the amount.

He said the district owes him more than $600 for business-related calls he made from his home and his car phone during the past three years. Ely said that before the audit, he did not ask the district to reimburse him for the phone calls.

Accompanied by his wife, Ingrid, who sat silently by his side for most of the two-hour conference, Ely distributed copies of the seven-page audit Thursday to reporters.

Prepared by the Oxnard accounting firm of Soares, Sandall, Bernacchi & Petrovich, the audit covers expenses from trips Ely made during the past three years to community college conventions in Sacramento, Nevada, Kentucky, Florida and Washington.

Although the auditors listed certain meals, airport parking and lodging as questionable expenses, Ely said that in nearly every case he had used his district credit card to pay the bills.

“Never once had the district told me that they did not receive those bills,” Ely said. “It is the district’s actions that are called into question by these items in the audit. Have records not been checked through all of these years?

“We have the right to expect that if an error exists within a travel expense report, someone in the district office will have the brains, duty and responsibility to review the error and advise us of the fact so that we can take appropriate action.”

Other questionable expenses listed in the report, such as long-term airport parking, do not require receipts, Ely said. More than $600 was listed for this expense in the three-year period covered in the audit.

Three of the four other trustees who received copies of the auditor’s report Thursday could not be reached for comment. Trustee Pete Tafoya said he had not had a chance to review it.

Ely said he was being unfairly singled out by the audit and that other board members should be subjected to the same scrutiny.

“I have no intention of being independently culpable in this investigation for practices that all board members followed,” Ely said. “Why should my reliance on the policy be singled out?”

Nearly half of the $8,400 in expenses listed in the audit were for a car the district rented for Ely after his own vehicle was damaged in a collision in January, 1989. Ely said the accident occurred while he was conducting district business and that the district offered to supply him with a car during the six months while his car was being repaired.

Ely said the district attorney’s office has not contacted him about the criminal investigation. He said he refused a request by district officials Thursday to have a county attorney present at the press conference.

Tafoya said the trustees have called a special meeting April 24 to discuss the audit.