Southern Section Tightens Its Belt : High school sports: Members of the Executive Committee have more business, less pleasure during getaway.

For many of the top high school athletic administrators in Southern California, the new year has always been something to look forward to. It meant football season was complete, basketball was in full swing and the school year was half over.

And it also meant a weekend getaway with associates, during which business was mixed with pleasure, was around the corner.

Since 1986, the governing body of the California Interscholastic Federation’s Southern Section, which oversees nearly 500 schools, has routinely moved its January meeting from the section’s board room to a resort hotel.

The 18 members of the Executive Committee and their spouses were invited by the section’s commissioner to attend a three-day weekend retreat of meetings, cocktail parties, dinners and golf. The Southern Section, a nonprofit organization that relies in part on school dues, picked up the tab.

For the last two years, the January meeting has been held at the Doubletree Resort in Palm Springs. In 1992, the Executive Committee meeting cost the section $10,392, of which $1,752 was spent on golf and golf equipment. The committee spent $9,155 last year, including $1,611 on golf.

Stan Thomas organized those weekends. He was the section’s commissioner from 1986 until last October, when he resigned after a lengthy audit showed he had abused his expense account by more than $35,000 from 1991-93. He was ordered to pay $5,000 restitution.

With the section facing a $112,000 deficit accumulated over the last two years, many in the organization questioned such lavish spending on meetings that could have been held at the office in Cerritos.

“People who think things have gotten out of hand are exactly right,” said Gary Smidderks, president of the Executive Committee and superintendent of Los Angeles Baptist High in North Hills. “In all fairness, though, I do not think the committee understood the kind of spending that was going on or the deficit that was building. When all of this came to light, we took care of the matter in the best way we knew how.”

This month’s meeting was to be held at the stately Ojai Country Club, but Smidderks said the section could not afford it in light of its budget problems. He moved the meeting to the Holiday Inn in Buellton, near Santa Barbara, and it was two days instead of three, last weekend.

Holding Executive Committee meetings at hotels is nothing new. It’s a tradition started by Kenneth Fagans, commissioner from 1954-75. Of the Executive Committee’s seven regularly scheduled meetings each year, two have usually been held at hotels and another at Anaheim Stadium in conjunction with an Angel game. The other four usually have been at the section’s office.

Ray Plutko, section commissioner from 1980-86, said he held meetings at hotels in June and August of each year. One was to wrap up the school year, and the other to set the agenda for the upcoming one.

“I always thought they were important because Executive Committee members are volunteers and this was a way of saying ‘thank you’ for their services,” said Plutko, now the principal at Temple City High. “But I watched the expenses very closely. I shopped around for the best room deals I could find. We went to Palm Springs in August.”

When Thomas replaced Plutko, he decided to move the June getaway weekend to January. He selected fancier hotels, which were always connected with a golf course. And he started making golf part of the agenda, something Plutko had never done. Thomas and many committee members often played a round on Friday afternoon and another on Sunday morning. They did section business on Saturday.

“Executive Committee members consider these weekends a perk, and that is not unreasonable,” Thomas said. “But when they travel, they like to go first class. They order room service. And they often like to have drinks in the bar.

“They also enjoyed playing golf, and they never questioned when I would pick up the tab. They were not offering any reimbursement out of their pockets, either.”

The Executive Committee sets policy, oversees the budget and listens to appeals of athletes, among other things. Most members are principals or superintendents from school districts throughout the area. Some travel from as far away as Atascadero, Bishop and Rialto.

They are voted in by the section’s council, which is made up of a representative from each league. They have the final say in all section matters.

They are reimbursed for business mileage and an occasional meal, but Executive Committee members get little else for their services.

“If I were to charge the CIF for the time I put in, they couldn’t afford me,” said Robert Packer, a committee member and former president of the State CIF council. “My consultation fee would normally be $500 a day. For want of a dinner, lunch, continental breakfast and perhaps another dinner, you are getting a lot of professional service for the high schools of Southern California. I think the getaways are very important.”

Not everyone agrees. Cynthia Grennan, a former committee member and the superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District for the last 15 years, said she never felt comfortable at such meetings.

“I am a believer in athletics and activities,” Grennan aid. “But I don’t think excessive expenditures can be allowed right now. Over the last few years, I have had to fuss over declining budgets, staff reductions and loss of programs. I can’t spend a lavish weekend away with money that I could be using for my kids.”

School districts throughout the area have reduced their budgets the last few years because of funding cuts on the state level. Athletics have also suffered, with many districts eliminating lower level programs, reducing coaching stipends, and in some cases, charging athletes.

But the Southern Section’s budget has grown from $717,291 in 1983 to $1,310,193 in 1993. It increased every year under Thomas, who was earning $85,800 per year when he resigned.

Aside from school dues, money for the section is raised from gate receipts from football, basketball and volleyball playoffs and corporate sponsorship.

The Executive Committee has not closely monitored the budget because a deficit has been rare. And few questioned Thomas’ spending habits.

The committee held its last two August meetings at the Singing Hills Country Club and Lodge in El Cajon. It spent $7,840 in 1992, including $1,570 on golf; and $6,003 last year, including $1,320 on golf. El Cajon is outside of San Diego and not in the Southern Section.

Thomas said spouses were encouraged to attend, and many members also brought their children. In very few cases, he said, was the section reimbursed for the extra expenses.

“Last year, I suggested to the committee that we only travel once,” Thomas said. “They said ‘no’ to that. These meetings were important to them.”

Things have begun to change since Thomas’ resignation. With much of the section’s spending made public, the Executive Committee formed a finance committee in October. Headed by Tom Triggs, principal at Buena Park High, the finance committee has put the section on a hiring freeze and is auditing all expense reports, among other things.

Dean Crowley, acting commissioner, said his office staff is down 25%, but is doing business as usual.

“We just want to make it through the year and take it from there,” he said.

Smidderks said the spending spree is over.

“If I had my druthers, the Executive Committee would have been more responsible for their expenses,” he said. “Some of this is certainly our fault.”