Extended College Contracts Studied : Education: After discussing pacts for presidents of Ventura and Oxnard campuses, trustees will allow public comment on proposal.

Trustees of Ventura County’s community colleges Tuesday will consider extending the contracts of two college presidents, a proposal that at least one board member says is a bad idea.

Members of the Ventura County Community College District board will first discuss the job performances of Oxnard College President Elise D. Schneider and Ventura College President Jesus Carreon in a closed session.

During an open session Tuesday, however, members of the public will be allowed for the first time to comment on the advisability of extending the presidents’ three-year contracts by one more year.

In the past, the contracts have been approved in closed session under personnel exceptions of the state’s open-meetings law. But newly elected Trustee John D. Tallman last month convinced the board that the issue of multiyear contracts could legally be discussed in public.

Both Schneider and Carreon make about $100,000 annually plus benefits under three-year agreements that were extended for another year last spring. Their contracts now expire in June, 1997.

James W. Walker, the former Moorpark College president serving as interim chancellor, last month was given a new contract that runs until a permanent chief is hired, which will probably be later this year.

Tallman said that continuing to offer long-term contracts to top managers needlessly jeopardizes the cash-strapped district, which last year faced potential layoffs and class closures to balance its budget.

“It’s harmful to the credibility of the board,” he said. “The taxpayers are tired of public-sector perks.”

Late Chancellor Thomas G. Lakin persuaded the board to approve multiyear contracts for the college presidents when he arrived in 1991, saying he needed the security of long-term pacts to attract the best people.

Since then, the presidents’ three-year contracts typically have been extended another year each spring. A Lakin plan to offer other top managers long-term deals was killed last year amid complaints from some union leaders and members of the public.

Tallman said that extending the presidents’ agreements now is imprudent because the district is actively seeking a new leader who may want to hire fresh administrators.

“They’re eventually going to cost money,” said Tallman, a former district administrator. “It’s simply a matter of time. If you give a lot of multiyear contracts, sooner or later, you have to pay one off.”

But some other board members do not agree. Trustee Allan W. Jacobs said college presidents often “have to make unpopular decisions and they need to have some security.”

“This way, they know that just because they make a decision that’s unpopular with the board, staff or whoever, they wouldn’t lose their positions,” Jacobs said.

Trustee Pete E. Tafoya said the multiyear deals allow the district to recruit better-qualified administrators. Most community college districts in California offer similar contracts to their top managers, he said.

“If we were very disgruntled with any of the presidents, it would be very easy for us to terminate their contract,” Tafoya said.

One person who plans to argue against the long-term contracts is Barbara Hoffman, president of the union that represents the district’s professors.

“They won’t hire classified or teaching faculty because they don’t want to commit (money) for ensuing years,” Hoffman said. “But they want to commit to college presidents. I don’t see any justification for it, other than a perk.”