District Trustees Turn Down Travel

Citing a looming budget shortfall of $1.1 million, trustees of the Ventura County Community College District refused to pay for one of their members to attend a Dallas convention.

The board voted 3 to 2 late Tuesday to deny trustee Pete E. Tafoya’s request to approve spending about $1,550 for him to attend a three-day meeting of the National Conference of Latino Community College Trustees later this month.

“It’s an expense we cannot afford at this time,” said Trustee Gregory P. Cole, who joined board colleagues Karen Boone and Timothy D. Hirschberg in denying Tafoya’s request.

The board also ruled out paying for student Trustee Chi Young Choe to attend the Community College Presidential Summit in Sacramento later this month. That two-day trip would have cost the district $196.

“The board should set a tone at this point in terms of this kind of spending,” Hirschberg said.

But the board did approve Choe’s request to travel to San Francisco next month to attend the California 1994 Student Trustee Orientation at a price tag of $350.

Tafoya, who under board policy should have submitted his application for the out-of-state travel expense 30 days prior to the meeting, said the Latino trustee organization was a fledgling coalition that deserved the district’s support.

“How does the Latino trustee reach the constituency . . . in a system that is not accommodating the Latino community?” he asked.

Board members were told prior to Tuesday night’s meeting that the state will no longer reimburse the district for three programs that cost more than $1.1 million.