Trustees OK 4-Year Contract for New College Chancellor

The first Latino chancellor to head the Los Angeles Community College District will start work Aug. 19 at a salary about $40,000 a year more than his predecessor’s--even after deleting a $15,000-a-year incentive plan from the deal.

Trustees of the college district voted 7-0 Wednesday to approve a four-year contract with the new chancellor, William E. Segura, providing nearly $192,000 a year in total compensation, including a $140,000 base salary.

“For anyone to accuse us of paying an outrageous salary is way out of line,” said board member David Lopez-Lee, who was board president when Segura was hired. Lopez-Lee said the district had to boost its compensation to attract high-caliber administrators.

Segura, 48, who grew up in East Los Angeles, came to the job from Texas, where he was president of the multi-campus Austin Community College for the past three years.

At the same session, trustees voted behind closed doors to approve a separation agreement for ousted Chancellor Neil Yoneji, who had been earning about $152,000 a year, including a base salary of $125,000. Under the agreement, Yoneji left the district Wednesday about three months early.