Chancellor’s Tough Medicine of Change : Education: Thomas Lakin, a year into his job as leader of the county’s community colleges, has done what he was hired to do. But some say he has gone too far too fast.

A year after his arrival as the chancellor of the Ventura County Community College District, Thomas Lakin has established himself as a change agent who is not afraid to anger Old Guard college officials to do what he thinks is right.

He has shifted the district away from what he calls small-town politics and back-room bargaining to an educational system that he hopes could someday rival the best big-city districts.

In the most controversial move of his first year in office, Lakin has made good on his promise to allocate more money to Oxnard College, considered the “stepchild” of the three-college district.

In the process, the new chancellor alienated the acting president of Moorpark College and the president of Ventura College--who are retiring next month.

Lakin, 48, wears the enmity of Ventura College President Robert Long and Moorpark College President Roger Boedecker like a badge. He is a man who judges himself not only by the company he keeps but by the enemies he makes.

“I don’t place too much value in the wisdom of lame-duck presidents,” Lakin said.

“I didn’t come here to be loved. I came here to do a professional job for a board of trustees that has shown confidence in my abilities.”

As Lakin starts his second year in office, he has more changes planned for the Ventura County Community College District--much to the dismay of some employees who say he has already done too much too quickly.

“He came in with very little understanding of how we have done business in the past and why,” said one teacher, who asked not to be identified. “Yet he told us we were doing it all wrong. His way was the only way. All of a sudden, he was off and running.”

Despite the criticism and controversy surrounding Lakin’s administration, trustees say they are pleased with the chancellor’s performance.

Lakin, the county’s highest-ranking black official, has accomplished exactly what they wanted.

“We wanted an intelligent educational leader who would give the board strong advice on the future of the district,” said Trustee Timothy Hirschberg. “We were not asking him to bring us easy answers, lullabies and platitudes. We wanted him to bring us tough medicine if that’s what it took to put the district back on the right track financially and educationally.”

Trustee Gregory Cole added: “He’s a definite change agent. He has brought to the district some new perspectives and professionalism at its highest. It may not please some of the good old boys, but it should make the public happy.”

When Lakin took over as the chancellor of Ventura County’s three community colleges last July 1, the district was racked with scandal and money problems.

Former Community College District Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely and his wife, Ingrid, had just been convicted of bilking the district of $15,000 by padding expense accounts. Their trial showed a system ripe for abuse.

For much of the 1980s, community college trustees--although expected to attend just one or two meetings a month--traveled widely, voted themselves extended health insurance and treated themselves to perks at taxpayer expense.

District administrators turned their heads, careful not to anger their bosses on the board. Financial policies were set, then ignored.

And there were other problems.

Tom Kimberling resigned amid charges of faulty supervision of district funds that led the Internal Revenue Service to charge the district $65,000 in penalties and interest. 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.

Known as a tough-minded visionary from his days at Los Angeles’ Southwest Community College, Lakin was seen by the board as the man who could get the district through its bleakest period.

Under his direction, Southwest’s enrollment climbed by 60% and the college secured $20 million in state funds for new buildings--fueling a stunning revival that caught the eye of top state community college officials.

Ventura County trustees wanted Lakin to work his magic here. They jumped at the chance to hire the Los Angeles man for the $112,000-a-year position, which was vacated by retiring Barbara Derryberry.

Lakin’s first step was to recommend the hiring of several new administrators. Unlike at Southwest College, where Lakin fired almost all the top officials, he did not consider it necessary to take such drastic action in Ventura County.

With Lakin’s recommendation, the board of trustees hired Jeff Marsee, a college administrator from Texas who was experienced at weathering steep budget cuts, to replace Kimberling. In April, the board again opted to go outside the district to hire the new presidents of Moorpark and Oxnard colleges, also with the backing of Lakin.

Next month, James Walker, an administrator at College of the Canyons in Valencia, will take over the reins of Moorpark College, and Jesus (Jess) Carreon, an administrator at El Camino College in Torrance, will become head of Ventura College.

The outside hires angered some longtime district employees, who believed someone in the system should have been given a chance. But the trustees and Lakin defended the decision to bring in new blood.

“The board felt it wanted to get some new ideas and new leadership,” Hirschberg said.

With Marsee’s arrival in January came some of the most profound changes--and controversies--under Lakin’s administration.

Lakin said he wanted to make expansion of Oxnard College, which for years had been underfunded, one of his top priorities. With the blessing of the board, Lakin and Marsee changed the district’s allocation method to give Oxnard College--the smallest of the three two-year colleges--a larger slice of the pie.

Since the college, in the fastest-growing area of the county with the highest minority population, was opened in the wake of Proposition 13 in 1978, it never received its fair share of money.

“It struggled because of the circumstances,” Lakin said. “Unlike Moorpark, Oxnard was never built out.”

According to a tentative $62.5-million budget for 1992-93, Oxnard College will receive $11.6 million, about $355,300 more than last year. Moorpark will receive about $20.3 million, about $1.1 million less than last year. And Ventura will get $22.8 million, a $90,000 cut.

“With this job comes a certain ability to alienate,” Lakin said. “I accept that. This may sound harsh, but it’s true.

“I’ve maintained my integrity and I have not given any favors and I have not asked for any favors. I’ve been open, fair and honest. I have not backed down from any controversy.”

Retiring college presidents Boedecker and Long said they felt left out of key decisions.

“We’re considered the evil Old Guard,” said Long, who has worked for the district for 29 years. “We were about as popular as an alligator in a bathtub. I think Thomas Lakin is very glad we’re leaving.”

One top teacher at Ventura College said he hopes the rift that has left employees frustrated and dismayed can be healed.

“We need to bring people back together,” said Steve Tobias, president of the Faculty Senate at Ventura College. “I think those wounds will heal. But most of the staff and faculty are cautiously optimistic.

“(Lakin) is a credible and honest man. Given time and a little smoother sailing, I think people probably will be pleased with him.”

There are many challenges ahead.

As the district continues to reel from money problems, Lakin and Marsee are continuing to restructure its finances.

The district has about 32,500 students. It is one of five placed on the state chancellor’s “watch list” for dangerously low reserves, a position it has held since before Lakin arrived.

“If we didn’t have financial concerns, I’d be a big hero,” he said. “But because we have financial concerns, I’m going to have to make some hard decisions over time. I hope the decisions are wise ones.”

Over the next year, Lakin is determined to find a way to get the system back in good standing.

He hopes to start by making it easier to move personnel and funding from college to college--an idea once considered taboo. The approach would allow top officials to take action based on what is best for the county’s entire community college system, rather than an individual college, Lakin said.

For example, Lakin said, he hopes to pool the operations of the three libraries at the colleges.

“The libraries at the colleges are underfunded and are not functioning at the level I would want them to be,” he said. “If we coordinate efforts, we can give students a broader base to work with.”

But Lakin’s idea of better coordination is getting a cool response from some employees who relish their autonomy from the rest of the district.

“Because the vastness and complexities of Moorpark are much different than the rest of the district, there has always been a question of whether Moorpark should form its own district,” said Al Miller, president of the Faculty Senate at the college.

Tobias added: “I think it is healthy to have a centralized process, but it has to be balanced with autonomy. We are not three campuses. We are three drastically different colleges.”

The issue comes down to a matter of money, Lakin said. The district must make the most of its dwindling resources.

“Our responsibility is to an entire county’s population,” he said. “We have to make sure the money we receive is being utilized appropriately and effectively. I’m not looking at centralization, but I do want better coordination of the use of resources.”

Lakin said he hopes the district can be one of the best in the state. It already has secured state funding for construction of two new buildings at Oxnard College and is expected to receive money to improve deteriorating buildings at Ventura College.

Over the next year, he said, he also plans to spend more time evaluating the district’s educational programs, an area he could not address much in his first year because of the financial problems.

He said he would especially like to see the colleges offer more occupational medicine classes for students who want to be doctors’ assistants, dental hygienists or nurses.

“I see the district going to the top,” Lakin said. “There is more restructuring to do. I’m pleased, proud and energized about the changes we’ve made.

“Everything is in place, except for our financial situation. But even during tough times, there are ways to stabilize and build.”

Lakin’s actions are being watched carefully by State Chancellor David Mertes, who oversees California’s 71 community college districts.

“I have great admiration for him,” Mertes said. “He did what I considered to be just an excellent job when he was at L.A. Southwest.

“I think that when Ventura gets stabilized and is operating smoothly, Tom will be playing more and more of a significant role in statewide issues. He has great potential.”

But for now, Trustee Cole said, Lakin “knows his career is on the line.”

“He was given the charge to improve the district, and he’s doing it,” Cole said. “It all takes time.”

Thomas Lakin’s Biography

Age: 48

Annual Salary: $112,000.

Education: He graduated in 1972 with a doctorate degree in education from UCLA. He also has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in economics from UCLA.

Previous experience: Lakin was president of Los Angeles Southwest College from 1986 to 1991. Before that he was vice president of academic affairs at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, a position he held from 1980 to 1986. Between 1967 and 1985, he held various teaching and administrative jobs at colleges throughout the Los Angeles area.

Family: He is married to Karen Lakin and has four daughters, ages 3, 6, 23 and 25.

Hobbies: He’s an avid runner and has been participating in marathons since 1980. Lakin is also a longtime connoisseur of roses. At Southwest College, he cleared a large area in front of the campus and planted 200 carefully selected rose bushes. At the district office in Ventura County, he planted about 40 rosebushes. Before he starts work, he clips the flowers and gives them to staff secretaries.

Motto: Lakin uses a quote by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as his maxim. King said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands during challenge and controversy.”