Board Votes to Demand Ely Return His District Benefits

Despite one trustee’s concern that “it seems we’re singling out a member who is not here,” Ventura County Community College District trustees voted Friday night to demand the return of a district-owned fax machine, credit cards and other benefits from besieged Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely.

With Ely absent, board members voted 4 to 0 to order that he return a fax machine, telephone answering machine, American Express card and telephone credit card. At the same time, they also voted to rescind their own such benefits.

Referring to accusations that Ely has been using the district-owned fax machine to attack prosecutors and district officials, Trustee Timothy Hirschberg said, “There is concern that the target of one of these fax messages may hold the district liable.”

But another trustee, Gregory Cole, who eventually supported the motion, reminded board members several times that Ely was not there to defend himself. “Tom is still a sitting trustee. He has not been convicted of anything.”

Ely and his wife, Ingrid, face trial on charges of conspiring to steal district funds by padding expense reports. On Tuesday, Ely’s four fellow board members called for his resignation and voted to bill him the $16,768.32 that he allegedly overcharged the district.

After the meeting, Ely’s lawyer, James M. Farley, denounced the board’s action, saying it “will appear to the public as if a government body is lending its sanction to the district attorney’s allegations” against Ely.

In a telephone interview before the meeting, Ely said his fellow members “can have those things any time they want them.”