Ely Urged to Resign or Face Recall Campaign : Finances: The college trustee says he will not step down despite the calls by a citizens group and the faculty senates at the district’s three schools.

A citizens group and organizations representing faculty members at Ventura County’s three colleges on Thursday called for Community College District Trustee Tom Ely to resign immediately or risk being recalled.

The academic senates at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges said their demands for Ely’s resignation stem from the controversy surrounding his financial troubles.

“It’s just endless the amount of controversy surrounding Mr. Ely,” said Larry Miller, president of the Moorpark College Academic Senate. “It’s just intolerable.”

College Trustee Greg Cole said he supports the calls for Ely’s resignation.

“In evaluating all aspects of the controversy and seeing Tom Ely in action, I’ve come to the conclusion that he is no longer an effective trustee or an effective representative for the Moorpark-Simi Valley area,” Cole said.

“He won’t accept accountability for his own actions,” the trustee said. “Even President Nixon knew when it was time to step down.”

A 12-person citizens group from Simi Valley and Moorpark on Thursday served Ely at his Simi Valley home with a notice of its intention to recall him if he does not resign by Monday.

Ely, who has been a trustee since 1979 and has 1 1/2 years left on his current term, said Thursday that he has no intention of stepping down.

A district audit of Ely’s financial records found that he charged more than $8,400 in questionable expenses for business trips he took during the past three years. The audit also listed an additional $6,978 in claims submitted without documentation.

Ely, a candidate for county supervisor, has repeatedly said he did nothing to violate district travel policy. The audit has led to a criminal investigation of Ely by the Ventura County district attorney’s office involving possible misuse of district funds.

Although academic senates represent the college faculty members, Ely said he is not convinced that faculty members at the three institutions support the call for his resignation.

However, Miller said he is confident that faculty members do favor Ely’s resignation and would support a recall effort.

Caroline Paras, a member of the citizens group threatening to launch the recall effort, said the demand for Ely’s resignation was prompted by his “fiscal irresponsibility and unprofessional conduct.”

Although Paras said the group planned to file the notice of intent with the elections division of the county clerk’s office on Thursday, an official said late in the day that the office had not received the notice.

Jenny Harrison of the elections division said the citizens group would have to gather 9,901 signatures of registered voters within 160 days of the notice’s filing before a special recall election would be scheduled.

Ely said the groups calling for his resignation have been misinformed by newspaper articles that were “slanted and not consistent with the facts” surrounding his financial troubles.

“The facts will come out and the air will be totally cleared,” Ely said. “That’s all anyone can ask for.”

Miller said Ely should put the district’s interests ahead of his own. He said Ely’s financial troubles have been distracting to the board, which should be concentrating on more important issues.

“It would be nice if he could see the benefit to getting out of the public eye and getting his personal life together,” Miller said.

Ely’s troubles began in March when it was revealed that he owed one Nevada casino $3,000 and that he had been sued by another for $8,000 in gambling debts.

The board of trustees commissioned an audit of Ely’s financial records after learning of his gambling activities and that he used his district telephone to call casinos in Nevada.

Soon after receiving a copy of the audit, the district attorney’s office launched its criminal investigation.

This week, the college district began its own investigation of Ely to determine if he has violated district travel policies.