College District Cracks Down on Board Perks : Policy: The overhaul is expected to help fix the problem-riddled system revealed during the trial of Trustee Tom Ely and his wife.

Personal fax machines, cellular phones, credit cards and extensive travel. These were the luxuries of the Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees.

But no more.

College officials say an overhaul of the college district is making it far different from the problem-riddled system revealed during the fraud and embezzlement trial that ended this week with the conviction of Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely and his wife, Ingrid.

The Elys had defended themselves, in part, by arguing that their actions were the norm among college district officials. None of those officials, Tom Ely testified, had ever told him or his wife that they were doing anything wrong.

Although the jury didn’t buy the Elys’ argument that they were blameless, the trial did reveal a system ripe for abuse.

During the 1980s, community college trustees--though required to attend just one or two meetings a month--traveled widely, voted themselves extended health insurance and treated themselves to other perks paid for by the taxpayers.

Trustees were often allowed to charge far more for meals than permitted under district policy, and they were not required to produce receipts to show actual expenditures.

Chancellor Barbara Derryberry testified that she didn’t monitor how trustees billed for trips because policy-makers and administrators such as her “weren’t there to police them.”

Vice Chancellor Tom Kimberling testified that he allowed Ely to offset charges and expenses with mileage that the trustee claimed he had driven on district business--a practice Kimberling acknowledged was unsound and highly unusual.

District Clerk Brenda Griego told how she didn’t double-check Ely’s expense accounts. There simply was not enough time, she testified.

Heads were turned. Rules were set, then broken.

But now, the officials are looking at spending more closely. The luxuries have been nearly eliminated, they said. Expense accounts are checked line by line.

Trustees have also revised policies and procedures and adopted a new code of ethics.

Jim Niles, the director of Moorpark College’s nonprofit foundation, refers to the changes as “B.T. and A.T.--Before Tom and After Tom.”

“Everything that happens in the college district from now on is being seen in a different, more-questioning light,” Niles said.

Not only is Ely on his way out, but so are some of the district’s top administrators who have come under closer scrutiny.

Kimberling has resigned amid charges of faulty supervision of district funds that led the Internal Revenue Service to levy $65,000 in penalties and interest against the district. He also was sentenced to 60 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to beating his wife.

Moorpark College President Stanley L. Bowers was demoted for approving questionable financial transactions, including $3,100 in travel expenses for Ingrid Ely. And college Vice President Lawrence Lloyd was reprimanded for allegedly sidestepping pension and union regulations by paying two employees with money funneled through the Moorpark College Foundation.

Meanwhile, Derryberry is retiring this week. Thomas Lakin, the president of Los Angeles Southwest Community College, will take over as chancellor on Monday. Lakin, described as a tough-minded visionary, is credited with reviving the dying Los Angeles community college.

In addition to the administrative changes, the trustees have:

* Restricted travel by requiring that all trustees’ trips appear on the meeting agenda for approval, rather than being submitted to the chancellor.

* Taken away such perks as fax machines, private phone lines, phone-answering machines and reimbursement for new computer equipment.

* Eliminated a benefit that gave veteran trustees district-paid health benefits long after they left the board.

* Voided all trustee credit cards, which trial testimony showed had been used by Ely to buy personal items.

The district reported last week that trustees’ travel expenses were down 92% for the fiscal year ending this week, from $23,855 to $1,909. Ely spent nearly $11,000 last year and none this year.

Officials say the district’s woes started in the mid-1980s, when Tom Ely became the dominating member of the board.

Timothy Hirschberg, a 32-year-old lawyer, said that when he was first elected in late 1987 he found a system that took care of itself.

“It was a wonderful good-old-boy setup,” Hirschberg said. “The good old boys were at the public trough, and they thumbed their noses at the taxpayers.”

In 1989, for example, the board authorized more than $100,000 for travel, nearly twice the amount that officials spent two years earlier.

Hirschberg took issue with the district’s travel budget, which he characterized as “ballooning” and “runaway.”

But Ely, who had served on the board since 1979, insisted that the trips were beneficial. He accused Hirschberg of making it sound like “everyone’s going out and partying and attending conferences with funny hats and noisemakers and drinks. It’s not that kind of thing in any regard.”

It was just one of many conflicts, and Ely got his way, Hirschberg said.

“Ely had a solid three-vote majority,” Hirschberg said. “He just felt more emboldened, and the administration felt more intimidated because he was in a strong position.”

And it was under his regime that the personal phone lines, the fax machines, the long-term health policies and the other perks were made available to the trustees.

“All the niceties were made available,” Hirschberg said. “If you asked for them you could get them.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol J. Nelson, the prosecutor of the case, told the jury that Ely was a greedy and arrogant man who bullied district officials into meeting his demands.

“They were not prepared for someone who wanted to get dirty,” Nelson said. “They’re school people, they’re not tough people.”

Voters didn’t hold Ely accountable. When he ran for reelection in 1987, he was unopposed.

But everything came crashing down for the Elys--and for the district’s way of doing business--in March, 1990, when law enforcement sources revealed that Tom Ely was in debt to more than a half-dozen Nevada casinos.

A month later, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury announced that his office was investigating Ely for possible misappropriation of district funds.

In August, Ely and his wife were arrested for double and triple billing the district for meals, overestimating mileage and parking fees and taking private journeys at public expense.

The district responded by auditing Ely’s expenses. In some cases, they found a “flagrant” misuse of funds. The Elys were charged with bilking $15,000 in public funds.

For example, the couple used the district credit card to purchase $290 in sweaters in Victoria, B.C., and charged the district for nine meals in one day in Washington. At one point, Tom Ely charged the district for mileage to Moorpark College for three days, even though he was in Las Vegas at the time.

Tuesday, a Ventura County Superior Court jury found Tom Ely guilty on 29 counts of fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy. Ingrid Ely was found guilty on one count each of conspiracy, grand theft and embezzlement.

Tom Ely could face up to six years in prison, and Ingrid Ely could face a three-year term. They are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 9.

Hirschberg said he has tried to look at the positive side of the Ely controversy.

“In the end it was Tom Ely’s excesses that guaranteed these changes,” he said.

And, Hirschberg added, he expects the district to continue undergoing changes as it fine-tunes the new policy and procedures.

“I don’t think you’re going to see the same frivolous use of taxpayers’ dollars that you saw at the Ely trial,” Hirschberg said. “We’re on our way to restoring the district’s sense of priority and moral grounding.”