Illegalities Irrelevant, College Says

The Compton Community College District this summer approved a $5,000-per-month consultant’s contract for former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre as part of a campaign for new facilities and better public relations.

The board of the small district, which has just Compton College, awarded the contract July 24. Board members said they were aware of Alatorre’s legal troubles at the time, but decided they were irrelevant to the former councilman’s contractual duties: lobbying the Legislature.

Alatorre was sentenced Monday to three years probation--including eight months of home detention with electronic monitoring--for tax evasion.

“I can still work. I’m not confined for work,” Alatorre said in a phone interview Monday, adding that he plans to travel to Sacramento on behalf of the college. “I’m going to do some lobbying. . . . I have good relationships in Sacramento.” Work-related travel is permitted if he receives court approval.

The Compton Community College District is an independent entity, separate from the governments of Compton, Lynwood and Carson, whose citizens it serves. Los Angeles-area officials also have no formal role.

Deal Proposed to Hire Former Compton Mayor

Alatorre’s contract--coupled with those granted to or proposed for other longtime politicians--have renewed concerns about patronage at one of Southern California’s smallest community colleges.

Alatorre said Monday that the opportunity to work with former Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally, a longtime friend, had drawn him to Compton College. The college district recently renewed consultants’ contracts with Dymally and Paul Richards, the mayor of Lynwood.

And in recent weeks, the board has drafted--but has not approved--a proposed deal to employ former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley, who lost his bid for a third term in June. His proposed pay has not been disclosed.

Compton College’s faculty union, in the midst of contract talks, has sharply criticized recent board dealings in letters to community leaders, the board and the state community college chancellor’s office. A group of Compton ministers urging political reform in the city has taken issue with the hirings as well.

Adding to the controversy, three former employees of the college’s personnel department recently filed a lawsuit alleging that they were punished for objecting to the hiring of politically connected people at the college.

The complaint by former personnel director Margie Miles Jr. and others alleges, without mentioning names, that Miles’ staff disapproved more than 250 illegal personnel transactions, including “paying people for working on political campaigns.” A lawyer for the college declined to comment.

“I do not see the merits of these contracts,” said James Johnson, co-president of the Compton Community College Federation of Employees. “There’s a tremendous amount of cronyism and political favors going on. It’s really kind of disheartening to see this stuff happening.”

College officials--including President Ulis Williams--declined to discuss the lawsuit or the hiring of Alatorre and other officials.

Williams, in a brief written statement, noted only that the college “has not taken action to hire/retain Mr. Omar Bradley.”

The hirings are closely related to an aggressive growth campaign. Compton Community College recently opened vocational technology, science and math buildings as the first of $55 million in building projects. Enrollment has soared, from 4,559 in 1993 to more than 8,000 this fall.

College board members say such growth would be impossible to accommodate without political connections. Richards, the Lynwood mayor and a longtime friend of Bradley, has provided legal advice. Former Lt. Gov. Dymally has proved helpful in seeking funding for college projects in the Legislature.

Dymally is close to Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, who pays the former lieutenant governor $5,000 per month to serve as his community college liaison. In turn, both Compton College and the Los Angeles Community College District pay Dymally $5,000 per month for his work as a consultant.

The arrangement with Alatorre, who gave up his Los Angeles City Council seat in 1999, is similar. Under his contract, Alatorre will receive $5,000 per month to lobby state legislators and Gov. Gray Davis for $3 million to cover cost overruns on the new vocational technology center.

Last year, Davis refused to sign legislation providing the $3 million, noting that the “costs were unsupportable for a state-funded project.”

The $19-million project was completed more than a year late by a joint venture of Pasadena-based Pacifica Services and Bakewell Construction Co. Pacifica is owned by a former Alatorre campaign official. Bakewell Construction is the building arm of community activist Danny Bakewell, who did not return phone calls for this story.

Bakewell’s son, Danny Jr., who oversaw the construction, said in an interview earlier this year that the delays and extra costs resulted from heavy rains and unexpectedly sandy soil.

“There’s no question that some mistakes were made in this project, but we think Mr. Alatorre can help us resolve this,” college board member Kent L. Swift said. “I know he has had some problems in his past, but that’s not relevant to this. He’s going to be judged by God and the IRS as it relates to that other stuff.”

‘College Has Become a Political Appendage’

For his part, Alatorre, who served in the Legislature or on the City Council for three decades, says he sees no reason why his probation should prevent him from working.

Alatorre earlier this year received $15,000 through a contract with the Department of Water and Power. The contract was canceled in June.

While Alatorre lobbies the Legislature, Bradley’s focus would the community, according to a draft set of duties obtained by The Times.

The draft calls for the former Compton mayor to launch a language academy, plan a major concert on campus and bring a “major international track and field competition” to the college’s new stadium. He also would help with fund-raising for a foundation affiliated with the college.

Asked about the prospective work, Bradley said, “I’m a private citizen now. I don’t think I’m that important as it relates to finding a job and feeding my children.”

Bradley’s case demonstrates the role of political connections in recent hirings. During Bradley’s tenure as mayor, for example, college board President Carl E. Robinson Sr. received $4,000 per month to counsel truants, according to Robinson and city records.

Two other college board members, the Rev. Steve Randle and Melanie Andrews, ran unsuccessfully for city treasurer and council, respectively, as members of a Bradley-backed slate of candidates.

“It feels more and more like this college has become a political appendage,” said Janice Blume, who teaches English as a second language. “There’s lots of money coming into and out of the college right now, and when you ask questions about it, you don’t get many answers.”