Trustee for Area Colleges Lashes Back at Union

College district trustee Norman Nagel criticized the teachers’ union during a candidates’ forum Wednesday, blaming it for dragging out contract talks and costing the district more than $1 million in attorneys’ fees.

Nagel, seeking to remain on the Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees, denounced the union for targeting him and trustee Pete Tafoya in an anti-incumbent campaign.

“Do I support the union?” Nagel asked, repeating a question from the audience of about 100 teachers and students at Oxnard College. “No, I don’t. Not when they don’t support me.”

Further, Nagel said the Ventura County chapter of the Federation of College Teachers was responsible for most of the $1.4 million in attorneys’ fees the district spent during the 17-month battle to hammer out a three-year labor contract with teachers.

“More than 70% of all the money spent was directly related to lawsuits filed by the union,” said Nagel, currently the board president. “I do support teachers. But I do not support the union.”

Although Tafoya said the union has “gone to war with us,” he stopped short of speaking against the Federation of College Teachers. Union representatives had vowed to unseat the two trustees, saying they believed Nagel and Tafoya had shunned them during the labor dispute that was settled in July, with teachers accepting a 6.12% raise this year.

“I’m in a number of unions myself,” Tafoya said, adding later, “My professionalism requires that I work with these individuals.”

All seven candidates vying for three trustee positions attended the forum. Nagel, 56, a dentist who lives in Westlake Village, represents Area 2, which covers Newbury Park, Westlake Village, Oak Park, Point Mugu and parts of Oxnard and the Santa Rosa Valley. His challenger is Tom Parker, 54, also of Westlake Village, who owns a corporate security company.

Tafoya, 49, a Navy engineer from Point Hueneme, represents Area 5, which covers the rest of Oxnard, Port Hueneme and El Rio. His challengers are Ben Guerrero, 59, a retired Teamsters employee who lives in Oxnard, and Deshay David Ford, 50, a social worker, also of Oxnard.

Incumbent John Tallman, 68, of Ventura, a former Ventura College aquatics coach and administrator, represents Area 1, which covers Ventura, Saticoy and parts of Oxnard. His challenger is Jane Advani, 52, a community volunteer and homemaker in Ventura.

During the hourlong session, Parker took repeated shots at Nagel, beginning with his opening statement.

“The board has forgotten the purpose of a community college district,” Parker said. “It’s for the students. It’s not to be run as a business as Dr. Nagel has described. We need to put students first.”

Parker, who was endorsed by the Associated Student Body at Moorpark College, chided Nagel for not participating in a recent student-organized candidates’ forum.

Nagel had played up his record during his four years on the board.

“We now have a healthy budget and a record enrollment of over 30,000 students. I was able to play a large role in that,” he said.

Advani suggested Tallman also was not as accessible as he could be to students at Ventura College.

“The first thing I did when I took out papers was to meet with the A.S.B.,” Advani said, referring to Associated Student Body representatives. “During our meeting, Mr. Tallman came by to introduce himself. I thought it was kind of sad, since he had been on the board for four years.”

Ford said he decided to run after he learned Chancellor Philip Westin had received a raise this past summer, upping his salary to about $151,000 a year.

“He just got a $10,000 raise,” Ford said. “So when they say they have no money. It’s not true. There is money.”

For his part, Tallman was critical of district administrators, saying officials needed to include faculty in making decisions and commit to hiring more full-time teachers.

“District [officials] need to treat all people fairly and with respect,” said Tallman, the only trustee to vote against Westin’s raise.

Guerrero said he would focus on reducing the number of managers in the district, while adding full-time instructors and making sure they had proper equipment to teach their classes.

But the emphasis again shifted to union matters when Nagel held up an enlarged newspaper article that described the dismal financial state of the Los Angeles Unified School District. He said the financial crisis was caused by union-backed trustees who later voted to give large raises to teachers that he said the district could not afford.

“They felt beholden to the union instead of to the taxpayers,” Nagel said. “Do we really want to go the way of Los Angeles?”

According to campaign finance statements, the local college union has contributed $10,100 toward Parker’s campaign, $11,351 to Guerrero’s campaign and $2,381 to Tallman’s campaign. None of the donations were in cash, but were for items such as postage, labels, envelopes and printing costs.