COUNTYWIDE : District Union Backs Effort to Recall Ely

A union at the Ventura County Community College District representing librarians, secretaries, maintenance workers and other non-teaching employees has endorsed the movement to recall Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely.

In a mail-in ballot, three-fourths of the members of the Service Employees International Union Local 535, which represents more than 400 employees at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges, voted to join the effort, union representative Gregory Cross said.

Union members will help gather signatures for petitions needed to qualify for a special recall election, Cross said.

A district audit earlier this year concluded that Ely, a member of the college district board, had improperly billed the district for expenses amounting to more than $15,000. This week, a Municipal Court judge ordered Ely and his wife, Ingrid, to stand trial on charges of conspiring to steal district funds.

Earlier this year, the Ventura County Federation of American College Teachers endorsed the recall drive and donated more than $1,000 to the effort. Caroline Paras, a member of the citizens recall group, said the group has collected 5,436 signatures. The group must gather 9,901 signatures before Oct. 25 to bring about a special recall election, according to elections officials.