Pierce College President

Re “Bureaucracy at Its Worst,” Nov. 29.

I wish to speak out in defense of E. Bing Inocencio, president of Pierce College. I have known all of the presidents of Pierce College except for the first one. John Shepard, the second president of this college, hired me in 1964. Of all of them, Inocencio is by far the most pro-student. He is a fine human being who has been treated unfairly by the Board of Trustees. It is the Board of Trustees that acted reckless in its handling of money. A very expensive building was purchased for a new district headquarters. The building, which cost many millions of dollars, was never used because it contained asbestos. The costs overall will run into many millions of dollars.

When Inocencio first came to Pierce in 1996, the college was in danger of losing its accreditation. He reversed that danger. When he came to the college, there was a deficit of $186,000 that he has never been allowed to decrease or remove. Campus police have the freedom to assign themselves as much overtime as they wish without any approval of the president.

Inocencio’s contract has not been renewed as of May 1999. The college will suffer an enormous loss if his ouster is not altered.

ROWAN TAYLOR, Professor of Music, Pierce College