Pierce Leader Enlists Staff in Red Ink War

Like a commanding officer rallying his troops, a combative E. Bing Inocencio began two days of emergency brainstorming sessions Wednesday aimed at tackling Pierce College’s worsening financial situation.

The campus president, citing a projected $3-million decrease in funding in the next academic year from the Los Angeles Community College District, told about 100 professors and administrators that it was time to fight back--time to come up with ideas for raising revenues, cutting expenses and, most of all, putting pressure on the district’s trustees for more money.

“I have never felt more in need of us acting together,” Inocencio told the group gathered in the school’s performing arts building. “We have to do this together, regardless of how new, left-field or radical this may seem.”

Another session is planned for 1 p.m. today in the Campus Center.

Pierce’s situation reflects the financial health of the entire, nine-campus community college district, which serves about 100,000 students and is the nation’s largest system of its kind. The San Fernando Valley has three of the nine campuses--Pierce, Valley and Mission colleges.

In downtown Los Angeles Wednesday night, the district’s elected board of trustees were officially apprised of a projected $13.1-million budget deficit in a meeting marked by finger-pointing and scolding.

The district’s chief budget officer, Bonnie James, was grilled about his methods and the college presidents were warned by board President Althea Baker that their job evaluations would suffer if they do not pull their schools out of debt.

But the presidents, including Inocencio, rejected blame for the district’s predicament.

“The basic problem is, our payroll’s too big,” Inocencio said in an interview. “There’s no way around it.”

Valley College President Tyree Wieder said campuses receive less money than required to pay fixed expenses, and are asked to grow larger still and yet absorb salary increases agreed to by the board.

Additionally, Valley and Pierce colleges produce revenue that they are required to turn over to the district, rather than being allowed to apply the income to their expenses.

Inocencio asked the board to look at data on the revenue the campuses produce. “Then you can tell us if we live within our means,” he said.

Interim Chancellor James Heinselman said he would report back to the board in two weeks with proposals to curb the deficit.

Meanwhile, state community college district monitors are expected as early as next week to begin scrutinizing the district’s recent round of raises and other financial policies. The district is already on a list of closely watched community college systems and may become a candidate for a state takeover if it fails to produce an acceptable improvement plan.

At Pierce on Wednesday, Inocencio laid down the ground rules: “We are here to brainstorm ideas without evaluating the legality, durability, feasibility or ethics of those ideas.”

The wide-ranging ideas included dismantling the district office, breaking away from the system and reducing the number of colleges from nine to six with three satellite campuses. All will be presented to the school’s budget committee or appropriate departments, said Inocencio, whose own efforts to lease out a portion of the college for commercial use have been indefinitely stalled by objections from Councilwoman Laura Chick.

Bill Norton, chairman of the men’s physical education department, was one of the first to speak.

“We need to unify the different factions on campus, come up with a set of numbers that present a true picture of what we’re facing and hold an informational picket at the district office downtown and let our plight be known,” he said, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

Music department chairman Carlyle Hume said that because the district’s board of trustees is made up of elected officials, “We need to put political pressure on them. . . . Let’s recall the board!”

Some faculty members called for measures to increase revenue, such as a hike in student fees, a requirement for faculty to take classes thereby increasing enrollment and the school’s share of district funding, lease the school’s farmland or bring back a weekend swap meet.

Others said cutting expenses was the best way to solve the financial crisis. They suggested that the college buy supplies directly from vendors rather than through the district office, require faculty to teach a class without pay, offer early-retirement incentives or freeze pay raises.

Finally, some in the audience called for the elimination of the community college district and its trustee board altogether. They suggested selling the district’s two office buildings and reassigning the workers to administrative duties at the nine colleges.

For his part, Inocencio dutifully recorded the ideas on two chalkboards set up on stage. He fielded some questions, but reserved comment on the suggestions saying, “No one has a monopoly on good ideas.”

Inocencio ended the session with words of encouragement to the faculty and staff, while at the same time giving them a realistic picture of the mission ahead.

“Ironically, this is our golden anniversary and we don’t have any gold,” Inocencio lamented. “Not because we haven’t made it, but because someone took it.”

Inocencio blamed the district for siphoning off an unfair portion of revenues from Pierce to fund other colleges in its system, leaving Pierce with a projected budget allocation for next year that is not enough to cover the school’s payroll.

Those attending the meeting said later they couldn’t ever remember a campus president flatly asking faculty and staff for help.

“This is the first time I can recall where the president has said, ‘I need your help,’ in a direct and sincere way,” said Barry Haskell, chairman of the science and physics department. “We have had presidents in the past blow smoke at us. This is the first time we have put all ideas on the table.”

Geography professor Gail Hobbs said she is particularly irked that a college that prides itself on high academic standards could be undermined by financial woes that threaten the core of its identity.

“The problems that we are facing here are not academic, they are financial, because of mismanagement by the district,” Hobbs asserted. “Money is being taken away from Pierce to support other colleges. Even if we found a way to generate more revenue, it would go to the district and only a portion would come back to us.”

Pierce College, with 9,300 students, raised $34 million in tuition-generated revenue this academic year, yet received $25 million back from the district, said Carmelita Thomas, vice president of academic affairs, citing school budget figures.

The current district allocation of $25 million will be reduced to $22.1 million during academic year 1998-99, Thomas said. Meanwhile, she continued, the college expects to spend more than $23 million on payroll alone.

Pierce was among eight of the nine district campuses that were forced to make deep cuts in classes last year to help make up for the district’s shortfall.

The San Fernando Valley’s two other community colleges--Mission College in Sylmar and Valley College in Van Nuys--also stand to lose millions of dollars in district funding next year.

Mission anticipates its current annual allocation of $11.1 million to drop $1 million to about $10.2 million.

“It hasn’t been pretty,” said Shari Borchetta, vice president of administration at Mission. “And it doesn’t look like it’s getting much better.”

At first glance the balance sheet at Valley College appeared to be in the black.

While next year’s budget is estimated at $23.4 million, up approximately $200,000 from this year, officials say they expect to fall behind because the allocation does not keep up with salary increases and other benefits, said Mary Ann Breckell, vice president of administration at Valley.

“Right now we know the budget will not be enough to cover the programs we have now,” Breckell said. “Changes have to be made.”

Valley and Mission colleges have instituted numerous belt-tightening measures, including the loss of hundreds of classes.

“Cutbacks and more cutbacks,” said Breckell. “We’re in a downward spiral right now and it’s hard to get out.”

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Times correspondent Tom Becker contributed to this story