College Board’s New Leader Wants to Improve Morale After Rocky Year : Education: Timothy Hirschberg’s priorities include taking clear stands on issues, getting a better handle on finances and establishing a code of ethics for trustees.

Timothy Hirschberg--new president of the Ventura County Community College District board of trustees--says one of his top concerns in the coming year will be improving district morale after one of the most turbulent years in the board’s history.

“I feel that the morale of the board is high. My concern is for the morale of the district,” Hirschberg said. “I think my task as head of the board now is to marshal the board into taking clear stands on a lot of issues having to do with the direction of the district from the top down.

“I think the board needs to be a little quicker on its feet in tackling issues,” he added. “What happens in the boardroom is heard all the way across the campuses. Every instructor, every janitor, every student needs to know that we will be fair and that we can be tough in making the hard decisions.”

The 32,000-student district has been faced with some difficult circumstances in recent months:

* In August, the Ventura County district attorney’s office filed a 31-count criminal complaint against Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely and his wife, Ingrid, alleging that they conspired to embezzle more than $15,000 in district funds by padding their expense accounts with improper claims. A trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 14.

* In December, trustees officially reprimanded Moorpark College President Stanley L. Bowers after concluding that he illegally transferred $51,000 to a private foundation that may have used part of the money for Bowers’ country club membership and new office furniture. The district attorney’s office has begun an inquiry into the matter.

* The board ran into financial trouble with the IRS during 1990 because its federal income tax returns were mailed to the wrong address. The IRS has assessed the district $65,000 in fines and penalties. The district has paid $25,000 and is negotiating to erase the remaining amount.

Hirschberg, 32, a trustee since 1987, was elevated to the position of board president by three of his fellow board members. Ely was absent.

In interviews, Hirschberg said the district’s recent problems--all connected to finances--speak volumes. “I’ve been frustrated for a good year now that the district has not had a handle on its own finances.”

The IRS problem, for example, which caught district officials by surprise, is “just a symptom,” said Hirschberg, an attorney.

“It’s just one instance of lack of standards in how our finances are handled. Another example would be the handling of Ely’s expenses. . . . The board needs to bring order to the disarray of the budget offices at the district office and at the campuses.”

The district incurred the IRS fine after mistakenly mailing its federal income tax return to the address for California income tax returns. It was months before the error was discovered, and in the meantime the penalty for the late federal filing mounted to $65,000.

Hirschberg’s ascension to the board presidency follows nearly a year in which he was Ely’s most outspoken critic on the board.

“There’s no question it’s cast a long shadow, but I think it’s been positive, frankly,” Hirschberg said.

Hirschberg, who has proposed a code of ethics for the board, said concerns arising from Ely’s problems have engendered “a new spirit of ethical responsibility, of frugality with taxpayers’ funds that just wasn’t there before.” Trustees, who are paid $400 a month, also have tightened policies on travel and perks, including use of district-issued fax machines and credit cards.

As the allegations against Ely emerged, the board was criticized by some district employees for its slowness to respond. Hirschberg said that “board members may have been somewhat shellshocked from the onrush of allegations and press reports and daily disclosures.”

Another reason for the delay was that board members could not “point to a code or a policy specifically that he violated,” Hirschberg said. “My purpose for proposing an ethics code was so that the board would have something to turn to in another onrushing crisis.”

Hirschberg said the district’s administrative problems have taken the focus away from academic issues on the campuses of Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges.

“The colleges are flourishing right now, and unfortunately that’s been pushed off the front pages,” Hirschberg said. “Enrollment is expanding. . . . You just have to walk on any one of the campuses and see a whirlwind of activity.”

To accommodate growing numbers of students interested in taking community college courses, the district, the seventh largest community college district in California, offers classes on many high school campuses countywide.

A $1.6-million graphic arts building at Moorpark College is being completed, and the college is on a state priority list to receive funding for a proposed $7-million performing arts building.

The district has received recognition for academic programs and other achievements, Hirschberg said, including a commendation from the state for its role in a pilot program that encourages welfare recipients to enroll in job-training programs.

But the district is also facing problems, he said, including a projected $600,000 shortfall in the coming school year because of decreased revenue to schools from lottery sales and possible state funding cuts.

“That especially hits us hard because with the recession, we’ve had expanding enrollment,” Hirschberg said. “I’m just worried we’ll have to be turning students away if the budget cuts hit too much harder.”

Hirschberg, who grew up in Ojai and graduated from Nordhoff High School, has longstanding family ties to the district.

He is a second-generation Ventura College graduate whose entire family has studied at the two-year college, starting with his father in the 1940s.

“My dad is a retired teacher and he couldn’t afford to put us all through college,” Hirschberg said. “When we graduated from high school, we were all very grateful to have Ventura College there.” His mother and a younger brother now attend the school.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in business economics from UC Santa Barbara, Hirschberg worked for the district attorney’s child support division for 3 1/2 years while attending night school at Ventura College of Law.

Octavio Sifuentes, president of the Ventura County Federation of College Teachers, said Hirschberg is easy to talk with. “He communicates with us a lot. He doesn’t always agree with us, but he’s always willing to listen to our side on issues.”

Trustee Greg Kampf, the board’s outgoing president, said Hirschberg “tends to approach issues from a philosophical base much more than other trustees.”

Despite the crises during his tenure as president, the district is poised for a period of growth, Kampf said.

“We have established stronger policies and higher standards,” Kampf said. “Tim’s going to have a tough time jumping into some of the issues coming along, but I think he’s prepared for it. It should be a good transition.”