Chancellor Puts Off Contracts Proposal

Plans to offer multiyear contracts to dozens of top administrators in the Ventura County Community College District have been put off for the third consecutive month.

Chancellor Thomas G. Lakin, who proposed the extended contracts for high-level managers, would not discuss why he requested the plan be shelved after Tuesday’s meeting of the governing board.

Lakin wants to protect the job security of most administrators, but before Tuesday’s board meeting, trustees sounded skeptical, with at least two governing board members saying they could not in the midst of a budget crisis support multiyear contracts for managers.

The district is facing a $3-million budget shortfall for the coming academic year, which could mean dozens of layoffs and scores of canceled classes.

Trustees on Tuesday also blasted another Lakin proposal to hire at least three more administrators--money that each said would be diverted from other educational programs.

“Why, after imposing a hiring freeze, is the staff recommending that we add these positions?” asked Trustee Gregory P. Cole.

He was told that the positions are needed to streamline student services.

Trustee Timothy Hirschberg was even more critical of the plans to offer the multiyear contracts and to add more administrators.

“We don’t need managers at the (financial aid) office. We need people to process the applications,” he told Lakin. “This (proposal) is really ill-timed.”

Lakin would not say why he pulled the multiyear contract proposal from Tuesday’s agenda. But he did defend his recommendation to add more managers.