College Board Gives Chancellor 6% Raise

In what one trustee considers to be a waste of taxpayers’ money, Chancellor Philip Westin has been given a raise of more than 6%.

In a 4-1 vote, the Ventura County Community College District board decided on Tuesday night to extend Westin’s contract, which expires Dec. 31, 2001, by another year. He will receive a 2.97% raise, retroactive to Jan. 1, and another 3.15% retroactive to July 1.

Trustee John Tallman, who voted against Westin’s pay hike, said he didn’t believe in multiyear contracts.

“They cost us a fortune and it’s not fair to taxpayers,” Tallman said Wednesday. “A good number of people on multiyear contracts end up leaving and we have to spend money on buyouts.”

He said the raise will boost Westin’s salary from $142,000 to nearly $151,000.

Westin said the pay increase was justified and that the percentage was exactly the same as the faculty and other college employees received.

During a nearly 17-month contract dispute between teachers and district officials that recently ended, salary was a major sticking point. The faculty finally agree to a contract that included a 2.97% raises, retroactive to Jan. 1, and an additional 3.15% beginning July 1.