Fresh start for Peralta Chancellor search

After eight months of searching, the Peralta Board of Trustees unanimously rejected all three candidates—Ed Gould, Lawrence Cox and Edna Chun—for the position of Peralta Community College District Chancellor at their meeting on Dec. 7.

Their decision means that a permanent replacement for interim chancellor Wise Allen, who took over for embattled Chancellor Elihu Harris, may not be in place until the 2011-2012 academic year. The board had hoped to find a replacement by the end of the spring semester.

Those in attendance lauded the board’s decision, as faculty has complained about a lack of inclusion on the Chancellor Hiring Committee.
Members of the committee were nominated at a meeting during finals week of the spring 2010 semester, a busy week for faculty, and approved at a meeting two weeks after the end of the semester, when most teachers were unavailable for input.

Due to the timing of these meetings, faculty representatives felt as if they had little say in how the committee was formed and who was represented, according to Peralta Federation of Teachers President Debra Weintraub.

“I am concerned that some of the colleges are not represented on the committee, that student services doesn’t have a seat at the table and that some of the unions may be underrepresented,” Weintraub said at a Sep. 16 board meeting.

The 11-member committee originally included faculty, students, administrators and members of the community, but was expanded to 13 members after complaints from the PFT.
Despite the political wrangling, none of the three finalists—chosen from a pool of 10 applicants by the expanded committee—were seen as fit to lead the district, which is facing numerous problems including budget deficits and a probationary accreditation status.

In other business, trustees William Riley, Abel Guillen and Linda Handy were sworn in following their successful re-election bids. In its annual organizational meeting, the board appointed Dr. Riley as the new board president, replacing Guillen whose one-year term ended on Dec. 6.

Complete Peralta Colleges Trustee Election Coverage

In an effort to give voters an in-depth look at the candidates and issues in the 2010 Peralta Colleges Trustees election, The Peralta Report has created a Special Website.

The Peralta Colleges Trustee Elections 2010 website has stories you will find no where else. What are the candidates’ platforms? Who is funding the candidates? Who are endorsing them?

Learn more about Area 3 candidates Linda Handy and Monica Tell, as well as Dr. Bill Riley and William J. Mattox.

Visit http://peraltaelections.blogspot.com for more information.

Voters still concerned about residence of Peralta challenger

Within days of the November 2 election, many closely watching the election of the Peralta Colleges Board of Trustees still wonder if Area 3 challenger Monica Tell is eligible for office.

Earlier this month, a story published by The Peralta Report noted that public records suggested that Tell lived outside the Oakland Area she was campaigning to represent, a fact that would make her ineligible for office.

Tell declared her candidacy in August using an Oakland address, according to reports filed with the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office. Her parents have owned the Fruitvale home since she was a child, according to the County Auditor-Recorder records. Tell has voted there regularly since 1999, records show.

In 2007, Tell purchased a Castro Valley condominium in 2007, according to Alameda County Assessor records. Tell began receiving a homeowner’s exemption in 2008 that reduces the amount her condo is assessed for property taxes.

Homeowners are only eligible for the exemption at their principal place of residence, according to Russ Hall, the county’s deputy assessor.

At the same time that Tell claimed the homeowner’s exemption in Castro Valley, voting records indicate that Tell voted in all three 2008 elections using the Fruitvale address. If a person has multiple residencies and claims a homeowner’s exemption, it is presumed that the residence is the person’s domicile, according to election law.

Tell initially said that she owned the Castro Valley property but lived in Oakland. When asked about the homeowner’s exemption, Tell said she did not recall claiming it. “I’m not aware of that exemption,” Tell said. She has received the exemption annually since she first became eligible in 2008, according to the Assessor’s Office.

However, Tell later posted a message on her Facebook page, stating that she had claimed the exemption when she lived in the condo, but rents out the property now.

“I previously claimed the homeowner property tax exemption on that property, but not for this year, as I no longer live in it.” Tell wrote, “The condo is rented and occupied by a tenant.”

Homeowners receiving the exemption are not allowed to rent out their homes to others, according to Hall, and are required to cancel their exemption if they do not own and occupy their home as their principal place of residency. Tell has not canceled the exemption, which is automatically renewed annually, according to the Assessor’s Office.

‘Residence’ for voting purposes means a person’s domicile,” according to election law. “The domicile of a person is that place in which his or her habitation is fixed,” and whenever gone, “the person has the intention of returning.” A person can only have one domicile at any given time.

Candidates are not required to prove their residence when filing, according to Alameda County Registrar Dave MacDonald. He added that candidates must sign under penalty of perjury, however.

For nearly a month, members of the union representing Peralta’s classified staff have been fighting over whether or not to rescind their endorsement of Tell, and how to do so legally.

“Based on The Peralta Report article, we have to evaluate and reconfirm our endorsement,” Mike Donaldson, interim political coordinator of the Peralta Chapter of SEIU Local 1021 said in an interview. “We have to see what our legal obligation is, but we tentatively have a dual endorsement.”

To be eligible for office, Peralta board candidates must reside and be registered to vote in a specific trustee area, according to the district’s Board Policy. Linda Handy, the two-term incumbent Tell is facing on November 2, said that living in the area is “very relevant to the job she’s running for.”

“If you think its okay to use an address in one area when you live in another says a lot about honesty and your integrity,” Handy said.

A Castro Valley neighbor, who spoke highly of Tell, said his children used to play with Tell’s younger relatives when they visited her.

“It hasn’t been that long since she moved,” said Kevin Prettyman, a neighbor who has lived in the property next door to Tell’s Castro Valley condo since 1984. It is unclear when Tell actually moved back into her parent’s home from her Castro Valley condo. Prettyman estimates Tell moved out sometime in August or September.

One person banking on Tell’s campaign is her Castro Valley tenant, Claudia Quezada, a board member of the Contra Costa Hispanic Chamber of Commernce. Quezada contributed $100 to Tell’s election campaign, according to an October campaign finance report. Although Tell suggested that her tenant had moved in recently, voting records indicate that Quezada has lived in the condo since at least June 2008.

To date, SEIU has not rescinded it’s endorsement of Tell, who has since been endorsed by the Bay Area News Group.

Where are Peralta trustee candidate Monica Tell’s supporters from?

Peralta trustee candidate Monica Tell has numerous campaign contributors. With her residence having been in question, one may wonder where her supports reside.

http://www.batchgeo.com/map/a27f47afb6dca7e3409ec0ec78f0878c

Where does Peralta trustee candidate Bill Riley get financial support?

Last week, The Peralta Report scratched the surface of the November 2 Peralta trustees election with an article about the candidate’s campaign finance reports. The report highlighted a few contributions and expenditures made by the candidates (those who reported).

This week, we’re talking a different approach. Where are the candidates getting financial support from?

Starting with the longest-serving Peralta trustee candidate, Dr. William “Bill” Riley, running for reelection in Trustee Area 5.

Map of Dr. Bill Riley\'s campaign donors

http://www.batchgeo.com/map/4bb0f6c66fe13251e364fc787be8c577

Oakland Tribune: Oust Peralta Trustee Incumbents

Note: The following editorial appeared in the Oakland Tribune on October 15.

WE CONTINUE to watch with amazement the abuses and ineptitude of the Peralta Community College District board, which has drawn much-deserved scoldings for the system’s deplorable finances from the Alameda County Grand Jury and the accrediting commission that oversees community colleges.

Fortunately, voters have an opportunity to replace two of the worst board members when they stand for re-election on Nov. 2 — and there are two good candidates anxious to fill the seats.

We urge voters to support William Mattox, a human resources consultant who is seeking to unseat 12-year trustee William Riley as the representative of Area 5, which includes Piedmont and parts of Oakland’s Rockridge and Montclair districts.

We also endorse Monica Tell, a public relations specialist running against eight-year trustee Linda Handy in Area 3, which includes part of Oakland’s Laurel District as well as the San Antonio, Fruitvale, Brookdale, Fairfax and Maxwell Park districts.

Handy and Riley served throughout the seven-year tenure of Chancellor Elihu Harris, who was finally let go when his contract expired in June. They voted to hire Harris, the former Oakland mayor and state assemblyman who was never qualified to lead a community college district. Then they allowed him to run the four-campus, 30,000-student district as his fiefdom, awarding contracts to his business partner, handing out salary raises to his friends and running up extravagant charges on his credit card — all while the district’s financial system crashed and burned.

Meanwhile, trustees have sucked up perks at district expense, including $5,000 travel budgets, $100,000 life insurance policies, laptop computers and printers, phone lines in their homes, cell phones, medical and dental benefits, and, until last year, a credit card with a $2,000 monthly limit.

Little wonder the grand jury chastised the district and the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges demanded the district clean up its finances to maintain its accreditation. The commission also insisted trustees stop meddling in district hiring decisions.

Meanwhile, Handy and Riley have voted to shut off public comment from critics at board meetings and have ditched calls from the media seeking explanations for their actions. They are among six trustees who continue to spend district money fighting in court to block release of their own inspector general’s report.

Handy and Riley also were members of a narrow board majority that insisted on pushing ahead with the awarding of a $8.1 million solar energy contract to Chevron without competitive bidding, and over the objections of a consultant who warned that the oil giant was relying on “unsupported, questionable and apparently conflicting assumptions” in its proposal.

While Handy now maintains that she had opposed keeping Harris on the job, her record suggests otherwise, as does her refusal to speak out for his removal and her continuing support of district secrecy. We view her comments now as a hypocritical election-season ploy to maintain her seat. For his part, Riley, amazingly, continues to maintain that Harris was a good chancellor.

The most important job of a community college trustee is the hiring –and, if necessary, firing — of the chancellor. Harris should have been canned as soon as the abuses were revealed. Instead, Handy, Riley and the rest of the board allowed Harris to remain chancellor for another year until the public pressure became too great.

The good news is that Mattox and Tell understand the seriousness of the situation. They both call for transparency, public access to documents (including the inspector general’s report) and competitive bidding.

They both say that Harris should have been fired a long time ago. And they say that the next chancellor must be someone with a proven track record running an college system rather than another political hack.

Mattox has worked in employee and labor relations for more than 25 years, employed by Pacific Gas and Electric and two East Bay hospitals before becoming a consultant. Tell, a former Laney College student and UC Berkeley graduate with a degree in psychology and Spanish literature, has worked in community and public relations for the state Legislature, Port of Oakland and private sector.

They are both smart and thoughtful. And, most importantly, they understand the difference between right and wrong.

Peralta Faculty Upset With Proposed Contract

By Kale Williams
LaneyTower.com

Faculty tempers flared as the Peralta Board of Trustees presented its proposal for a new contract with the teachers union at the Oct. 12 board meeting.

One after another, faculty members took the podium during the public comment section of the meeting to vent their anger and disappointment at the contract put forth by the district.

“This proposal comes to us as a series of harsh takeaways, particularly in light of the fact you have nothing to offer us back given the budget crisis,” Peralta Federation of Teachers President Debra Weintraub said. “There is the suggestion that faculty is not contributing enough.”

Among their many complaints, faculty members noted that the proposed contract represents severely reduced department chair release time, an increase in mandatory furlough days, no cost-of-living-adjustment, increased layoffs of part-time instructors and no new full-time hires.

Additionally, the teachers complained that with all these reductions to their contract, they are being asked to work more.

Co-chair of the Laney College English Department Meryl Siegal said, “In addition to our workload, which is 15 hours of class time, most of us spend five and six hours each night grading papers.”

Another main point of contention in the new contract is the lack of paid office hours for part-time instructors.

“The students have already lost access to classes, they’ve lost library hours, they’ve lost access to counselors, they’ve lost support through EOPS and DSPS,” part-time Laney instructor Susan Schacher said.

She went on to note that the loss of office hours for instructors would be another blow to student accessibility and success, the district’s number one strategic goal according to the final 2010-11 budget passed last month.

Bob Grill, a computer information systems instructor at the College of Alameda, made clear his dedication to students. “I love my job and I love this place, but I feel like you don’t appreciate us.”

College of Alameda Political Science instructor Robert Brem said, to the applause of his colleagues, “The students are why we’re here. We need you to have our back so I can go back to thinking about political theory and changing the world, and not being worried about my contract.”

In response, Trustee Cy Gallassa explained that the proposal was meant to be a jumping-off point for contract negotiations between the district and the PFT.

“I realize the proposals, as presented, are really very tough-minded, they’re very aggressive, they’re comprehensive,” he said.

“It was my understanding that we were in a partnership process. That we were going to try to work and keep tempers down, that we’d actually look at the abyss, whatever its dimensions are, and then make appropriate steps through a mutual process of examination of the issues.”

Gullassa added, “As a board member, I deplore the fact that we’re going to have divisions right from the very beginning, but if that must be the case, then that must be the case.”

In an effort to assure the faculty that this was only the first step in a long process, Peralta District Chancellor Wise Allen said, “We need to look at our mutual interests and come up with a solution. That’s the whole idea.”

Board of Trustees President Abel Guillen added, “We’re not demanding anything at this point. It’s just the opening of the process.”

The next step in that process is for the PFT to present a counter-proposal to the board, according to Interim Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Trudy Largent.

“It is up to the PFT to act in kind and present their proposal so we can start in engaging in a discussion,” Largent said.

While the motion to adopt the proposed new contract passed the board unanimously, a new contract will not be ratified until formal negotiations have taken place between the PFT and the district.

The current contract expires June 30, 2011.

In other matters, the board heard follow-up reports from the presidents of Merritt College and the College of Alameda on the recommendations from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The reports are due to the ACCJC on Oct. 15.

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This article originally appeared in the Laney Tower newspaper.

Peralta trustee candidates file campaign finance reports

Candidates for the Peralta Board of Trustees filed campaign finance reports with the Alameda County Voter’s Registrars office on October 5.

At least, they were supposed to.

As October 5, only challenger Mónica Tell (Area 3) had filed. Three-term incumbent Dr. William “Bill” Riley (Area 3) filed on October 7 and two-term incumbent Area 3 Linda Handy filed October 8, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office. And challenger William J. Mattox didn’t bother to file at all.

Peralta’s longest serving trustee, Dr. Riley, leads the pack in fundraising. Riley reported raising $23,724 in 2010, including $16,999 from July through September.

Riley’s contributors include OUSD administrators, former Peralta employees and faculty (including a former assistant to former Peralta Chancellor Elihu Harris), consulting firms, and the district’s current board President.

His reelection committee, “Friends of Bill Riley,” reported $5,675 in expenditures. Nearly three-fourths ($4,100) of his expenditures were for his own “candidate travel, lodging, and meals,” according to the report. The item included no description.

The rest appears to be for a campaign mailer and lawn signs, as Riley reported spending for a photographer, postal service and $1,000 with GreenDog Campaigns.

Interestingly, his campaign committee lists its address at the Peralta district headquarters.

Mónica Tell reported raising $11,028 through September 30 for her trustee bid. She reported $7,586 in expenditures, most of which are bills she’s yet to have paid back.

Tell reported the most individual contributions, with a few contributing more than once. Contributors include past and present colleagues at the Port of Oakland and PG&E, family and friends, as well as a tenant in her Castro Valley home. A few contributors are also long-time supporters of mayoral candidate Don Perata. Tell was an aide for Perata when he was in the state assembly.

Tell’s expenses included $2,639.43 to Autumn Press for campaign materials, $400 for a website and $169 to Political Data, Inc., “California’s largest provider of voter information.”

Tell also changed her committee’s address from her parent’s Fruitvale home to a suite behind Oakland’s Otaez restaurant. She also replaced her treasurer, Stacy Owens of Henry C. Levy CPA’s and Consultants, with her assistant treasurer, Alicia Vasquez.

Linda Handy reported $6,372 in contributions this year — a little more than half her opponents –including $3,382 in since July. Handy also lists $1749 in non-monetary contributions also.

Her contributors include Peralta faculty members, elected officials, and many Black political figures – especially those considered close to current Oakland mayor Ron Dellums. She also received a contribution from a developer that was a part of a controversial land-deal at Laney College in 2005.

Handy reported spending $1,000 with Green Dog Campaigns for “web” services and $285 with GoDaddy. Ironically, Handy’s website has been “down for maintenance” for over a week.

Handy also spent $505 with Autumn Press for a mailer, and $233 on catering services with former Peralta Student Trustee Yvonne Thompson, who is also quoted in Handy’s mailer.

William J. Mattox has not reported his campaign finance reports, according to the registrars office.

The next deadline for candidates to report campaign expenditures is October 21. The last day to register to vote in the November 2 elections is Monday, October 18.

Peralta Trustee Candidate Responds to Questions About Residency

Last week, The Peralta Report broke the news that Peralta Colleges trustee candidate Monica Tell might not be eligible for office.

On Saturday, Tell posted a press statement titled, “Monica Tell Blasts Peralta Smear Campaign” on her Facebook page. The entire statement is below:

View this document on Scribd

OakPAC endorses challengers in Peralta trustees races

Challengers for two seats on the Peralta Colleges Board of Trustees Monica Tell, left, and William Mattox. Tell is running in Area 3 in East Oakland while Mattox is running in Area 5 in Piedmont and Oakland's Rockridge District.

Oakland’s largest Political Action Committee (PAC) has announced its endorsement of two challengers for the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees elections on November 2.

OakPAC, an influential PAC affiliated with the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, represents the business community and has been a factor in Oakland elections since its founding in 1997.

“OakPAC supports candidates for local elected offices that are business friendly and that understand the business agenda,” said Scott Peterson, executive director of OakPAC.

On September 24, OakPAC announced its endorsement of challenger Monica Tell against two-term incumbent Linda Handy in Area 3 and of challenger William J. Mattox against three-term incumbent in Area 5.

Handy and Riley are the board’s most senior members. Mattox is a human resources consultant. Tell, a graduate of the chamber’s Leadership Oakland program, is a public relations specialist at PG&E.

“Peralta Community Colleges are desperate for accountability and deserve new representation. The business community depends on Peralta Community Colleges to prepare students for higher education and the workplace,” OakPAC Vice-Chair Mike Jacob said in a September press release.

The statement references the recent Alameda County Grand Jury report that was highly critical of the district and recent issues with the accreditation.

“There has been some real publicly known problems at Peralta, that ultimately rests with the Board of Trustees,” Peterson said. “OakPAC’s endorsement indicates a concern that there is a need for new leadership. “

Although stated OakPAC’s interest in the Peralta Colleges relates to ensuring Oakland has a highly skilled and educated workforce, others have suggested the endorsement relates to contracts, particular as Peralta still has money from Measure A, the $390 million bond passed by voters in 2006.

“Tens of millions in construction and other contracts are ultimately approved each year by the Peralta Trustees,” wrote journalist Sanjiv Handa in an August post on OaklandSeen.com about November 2 elections. “Changes on the board of trustees likely would shift awarding of those contracts.”

Peterson said that OakPAC endorsed Abel Guillen, Peralta’s current board president, in 2006 when he successfully unseated two-term incumbent Alona Clifton. “OakPAC’s endorsement was pivotal to his election,” Peterson said. OakPAC did not endorse Guillen this year because he ran unopposed.

OakPAC also announced its endorsement of mayoral candidate Don Perata, and Oakland City Council candidate Libby Schaaf in District 4.

OakPAC has not yet decided how it will support the endorsed candidates. In 2006, OakPAC played a key role in incumbent Oakland City Councilwoman Pat Kernighan’s race against Aimee Allison in the city’s district 2.

For more information about OakPAC, visit www.oakpac.com.