Trustees Violated Brown Act

Ventura County’s top prosecutor has found that community college trustees unintentionally violated the state’s open-meeting law, and the board will be asked to take a pledge next week never to do so again.

In a recent letter to the Ventura County Community College board, Dist. Atty. Greg Totten said trustees violated the law, known as the Brown Act, in contract negotiations with former Chancellor Philip Westin.

As remediation, Acting Chancellor James Walker agreed the incoming board, including two trustees elected last month, will take a public oath reaffirming its commitment to the Brown Act.

“It was an unintentional violation, but they suggested the trustees do a reaffirmation, which any new board should do anyway,” Walker said Thursday. “It is kind of a tricky law and can be open to interpretation.”

Totten found the board had violated the law several times since last spring, when Westin was awarded a 16% salary increase to $203,000 a year by trustees for doing a good job.

The most recent violation occurred in October, when trustees failed to notify the public in a timely manner that they had bought out Westin’s contract after he came under fire for allegedly abusing his expense account.

The settlement -- which will pay Westin more than $200,000 in salary, lifetime benefits and the title of chancellor emeritus for one year -- became legal Oct. 4, but the public was not told about it until Oct. 22.

“The subsequent failure of the district to reveal upon inquiry after Oct. 4 that a final agreement had been reached did not comply with Brown Act requirements,” Totten wrote in the Nov. 29 letter. He noted that the board went into closed session again on Oct. 22 to discuss Westin.

“The California attorney general’s office has often emphasized that closed-session discussion of matters of public concern are supposed to be the exception rather than the rule.”

The prosecutor also criticized the board for discussing Westin’s salary and those of other top district administrators during a private meeting on May 28, when they initially decided to extend Westin’s contract and give him a raise.

“The salary levels for these employees should not have been discussed in closed session in the first place,” Totten wrote.

Special Assistant Dist. Atty. Tom Harris will attend the board meeting Tuesday to witness the pledge.

“If the newly constituted board elects that evening to make a fresh commitment to observance of the Brown Act, we will accept that affirmation and forgo initiation at this time of any court proceedings,” Totten wrote.

The college board bought out Westin’s contract after allegations surfaced that the chancellor had spent $119,000 over four years on meals, cars and computers.

Westin was placed on administrative leave in July while an internal investigation was conducted. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing.

But trustees said he had to go anyway, because the public’s trust had been violated by his spending practices.

The Brown Act allegations first arose in July, when a lawsuit was filed against the district on behalf of county taxpayers.

The lawsuit alleged Westin’s contract signed May 28 was invalid because it was agreed upon in closed session.