Compton Community College Misspent $500,000, Audit Finds : Education: Employees reportedly were overpaid or paid without working. An official’s relatives got $14,000.

Compton Community College misspent nearly $500,000 in funds earmarked for programs for low-income students, auditors have concluded.

Among other things, auditors said, the college paid tens of thousands of dollars to people who did no work, and the administrator of the programs hired relatives who were not qualified for the jobs they held.

Auditors also said federal money was spent on improper purchases of such items as office furniture, building improvements and clothing.

The audit by Coopers & Lybrand was released to the college’s Board of Trustees over the weekend, and additional copies were sent to the office of the college president Monday. The document covers a three-year period beginning in 1989.

The audit was ordered by the trustees last fall after U.S. Department of Education officials uncovered similar instances of questionable spending. Federal officials said at the time that the college may have to return at least a portion of the misused federal funds.

Since 1989, the federal agency has provided $1.5 million in grants for the programs, which are designed to help low-income, first-generation college students at the 6,000-student campus.

College President Warren A. Washington was attending a conference in Sacramento on Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. Last fall, Washington placed four administrators on paid leave, including Associate Dean Velta Jones, who ran the three programs examined in the audit. He said he would not take disciplinary action until the audit was complete.

At least two members of the Board of Trustees expressed outrage over the audit findings and urged that swift action be taken to save the school’s reputation with state and federal education departments, which provide about $3 million annually to the school’s $12-million budget.

“The board needs to take a real strong stand, and act quickly to resolve these problems, because behind this rotten apple are taxpayers who deserve better,” board member Emily Hart-Holifield said. Her colleague, Ignacio Pena, vowed to “get to the bottom of this mess to see who is responsible.” Other board members did not return phone calls.

The audit cites several instances in which people were either paid without performing any work or were overpaid for their work. Nine employees, including one unidentified full-time professor at Cal State Long Beach, were paid close to $80,000 during a two-year period. None of the employees--who could have been teachers, tutors or support staff--were identified. Auditor Nancy Shelmon said her conclusions were reached after weeks of interviews with people involved with the programs.

More than $14,000 was paid to Jones’ daughter and daughter-in-law, who worked as tutors at the college in 1990. The two were each paid $22 an hour, almost three times the wage posted in the job description, according to federal education officials. Neither had any experience in tutoring or qualifications for the jobs, officials said.

In the audit, Shelmon noted that those payments may violate California conflict-of-interest statutes, which say that a person in the position of making financial or personnel decisions must avoid the appearance of a conflict in hiring. The violation can result in criminal charges, the audit said.

Jones could not be reached for comment, but in an interview with The Times last fall she said the allegations of nepotism were “not entirely accurate.” She also said then that “if anything improper was done, I didn’t know about it.”

The audit also found payments to 22 employees for whom there were no records of employment such as resumes, job applications, employee requisitions or other paperwork usually found in personnel files. The employees apparently were given jobs without the proper hiring process, the audit said.

One of the employees was added to the payroll by Washington, leading Shelmon to conclude that there was evidence of “intentional override of the internal control structure by those in authority.”

Shelmon’s report also said the college spent thousands of dollars on items that were not allowed. Department of Education officials had previously listed T-shirts, copy machines, computers, mini-blinds for offices and carpets among the improperly purchased items.

Many participants in the programs were not eligible, the audit concluded. In one program for graduating seniors from nearby high schools, four of the five students interviewed either did not meet the low-income requirement, or could not document that status, the audit found.

The programs provide tutoring, counseling and career advice for students at the college and at the nearby high schools.

“Every one of these (programs) are so badly needed in our community,” Hart-Holifield said. “Many students will never face success if they cannot participate in programs like these. It would be a shame to think they may be finished.”