Board Abuses Expense Account, Trustee Says

Accusing her colleagues of wasting thousands in taxpayer dollars, an Oxnard high school district trustee has demanded that board members reduce travel expenses by eliminating business trips that aren’t pre-approved and turning in their district credit cards.

In a rare move for an elected public official, Oxnard Union High School District trustee Nancy Koch accused the board in a public session this week of ignoring its written policy on attending meetings and conferences and abusing spending limits for business-related meals and expenses.

The statements prompted a heated clash between Koch and trustee Robert Valles, who was running the Tuesday night meeting in Chairman Steve Stocks’ absence. Valles, who was not named by Koch, abruptly adjourned the meeting and retreated to a back hallway.

Accounts of what happened next are varied, but at one point, board members and Supt. William Studt discussed the matter out of the public’s view. Afterward, Valles agreed to not adjourn the meeting, but instead called a five-minute recess.

One expert on the state’s Ralph M. Brown Act, which governs citizen access to public meetings, said trustees may have violated the open-meeting law.

“You can’t just take a recess in order to go work out your problems,” said Kent Pollock, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, a Sacramento-based watchdog group. “It’s all part of the political process and should be done in the open.”

Both Valles and Studt dispute that any Brown Act violation took place. Studt said he only went to talk to Valles to urge him to continue the public meeting rather than quit so abruptly.

However, Pollock said such an issue is clearly one for public debate. Closed sessions can only deal with pending litigation, property negotiations or personnel matters, he said.

Meanwhile, Koch said she has no intention of backing away from her push to curb travel spending by board members. Although each trustee is allotted about $4,200 to spend annually on “board development” and teacher recruiting, the board’s existing policy requires that all such trips be approved by the board.

“For whatever reason, the board policies are not being followed, and there’s no accountability,” Koch said Wednesday, citing one March trip to a conference in Boston that cost the district more than $5,000. “The money belongs to the kids and the teachers, and we have a lot of needs in this district.”

Koch wants to see that rule enforced, as well as one limiting business-related meals for employees to $8 for breakfast, $11 for lunch and $20 for dinner.

Valles, a board member for seven years, said Koch’s concerns are unfounded.

“It’s nothing but a personal attack on fellow board members,” he said.