Finalists to Lead L.A. Community Colleges Grilled

Faculty and staff of the Los Angeles Community College District had a chance Tuesday to ask three finalists how they would improve the academic and financial health of the nine-campus system if they are chosen to be its next chancellor.

About 50 people, mainly administrators and teachers, attended a finalists’ forum at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College in downtown Los Angeles. A moderator selected written questions from the audience for the three men vying to lead a district that covers about 40 municipalities and enrolls more than 122,000 students.

The district’s Board of Trustees may select a new chancellor as soon as today.

Irving Pressley McPhail, 56, who has served as chancellor of the Community College of Baltimore since 1998, said that he would close the achievement gap for minority students and ensure students are prepared to transfer to four-year colleges.

The large size of the Los Angeles district is an advantage, said McPhail. “Size and complexity do carry some burdens.... But size is an asset because the dream of a community college can impact a lot of people,” he said.

McPhail, former president of St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley in Missouri, was asked how he would ensure enough education funding from Sacramento.

As he explained how he would market the district’s name to make it more attractive to the public, McPhail interrupted himself and said, “If I had an answer to that, you could probably say I’m a clairvoyant.”

The one local candidate is Darroch “Rocky” Young, 57, who has been interim senior vice chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District since 2004. Before that, he was president of Pierce College and vice president of planning and development of Santa Monica Community College.

Young promised to listen to campus concerns and give individual schools some autonomy. “I do believe the bulk of the decisions have to be made at the local level.... But we want to centralize what might improve our cost effectiveness,” he said. District headquarters should serve the campuses and not be a “command-and-control center.”

Asked whether his soft-speaking manner might hinder his leadership, Young replied: “I guess that refers to the fact that I’m a calm person under stress.”

Stan Arterberry, who has been chancellor of the West Valley-Mission Community College District in Santa Clara County since 2002, said he would work with the state Legislature and private sources to boost funding. Voters’ recent approval of bond measures for college construction projects shows that “the public likes us,” he said.

“We need to make sure legislators know us,” said Arterberry, 56, a former sociology professor who also was superintendent-president at Solano Community College in Solano County for eight years.

Arterberry said his short-term goal as chancellor would be learning the district’s culture and his long-term goal would be to help the district become the best “in the world.”

He also said the responsibility to improve cooperation among small and large colleges did not lie solely with the district chancellor.

“The chancellor can’t answer that question,” he said. “It has to be answered by the nine college presidents.”

A committee of faculty, administrators and community members selected the candidates after a nationwide search. Board of Trustees President Kelly Candaele said Tuesday’s forum was intended to see how the finalists “handle themselves on their feet.”

Interim Chancellor Peter Landsberger said a key task for the new chancellor will be overseeing the district’s biggest construction program in 50 years.

The district plans to use $2.2 billion in bond funds to renovate 455 buildings and construct 44 new ones over the next decade, he said.

“Managing the bond money will be a challenge in an environment in which construction costs are going up at an alarming rate,” Landsberger said. “We can’t afford delays that don’t get buildings built.”

Landsberger said he decided not to seek the job so he could spend more time with his family. His annual salary is $220,000.

Mark Drummond, who was district chancellor for five years before becoming statewide community college chancellor in 2003, said a new district executive would need to handle the complexity of the Los Angeles region.

“The challenge is Los Angeles itself.... This is a political town and it’s geographically divided,” he said in an interview. “It does take a huge amount of energy, patience and understanding and a lot of strength, because sometimes you have to say ‘no.’ ”