District trustees criticized for rude behavior at recent meets

Lack of respect alleged

By Rebecca Ray

The governing board of the West Valley-Mission Community College District has come under fire for its conduct at recent meetings and one of the critics is a board member.

Board Member Jeffrey A. Schwartz said in a scolding letter to the Saratoga News that fellow board members at public meetings had "turned to each other and whispered and joked, ignoring a person addressing us from a podium 15 feet away" and asked speakers to hurry.

Schwartz and other critics of the board have also said that board members have been silent after hearing students and other members of the public speak, not indicating if they will address their concerns.

"I think that they are not as responsive or as courteous as they should be," Schwartz said. "There is a really profound lack of respect for members of the public and students."

District Chancellor Linda Graef Salter said that she hadn't seen board members whisper or joke while speakers addressed the board. West Valley College President Marchelle Fox agreed. "I haven't seen anything that would be inappropriate on the part of the board members," Fox said.

Board members asked each speaker to adhere to the three-minute time limit that each had to address the board, in order to keep the meetings orderly, Fox said.

Board members were silent, board President Nancy Rucker said, because they wanted to avoid getting into difficulties or confrontations with speakers. Rucker and Salter said that they perceived at least one speaker as threatening the board and administration.

Also, board members wanted to know the facts about issues and situations before they discussed them, and during the "communications from the public" portions of the meetings--when speakers can bring up items that are not on the agenda--board members aren't always prepared to discuss the nonagendized items, Rucker said.

Rucker explained that board members didn't respond because, when one board member speaks, it looks as if his or her opinion is coming from the whole board, and it isn't, she said.

Section 54954.3(a) of the state Brown Act, which governs open meetings for local government bodies, states that an item may be discussed when a member of the public raises an issue that has not yet come before the legislative body. But the general counsel for the district, Laurie Juengert, advised board members not to discuss nonagendized items during the meetings, Salter said.

Schwartz said that he had tried a number of different things to improve communication with the public, but that he couldn't get support from the rest of the governing board or from the administration.

Rucker disagreed. She said that, in general, the board had a good relationship with the public, but that it would continue to work on improving public relations.

Salter sent a letter and a report prepared by her staff to members of the community who had attended recent board meetings. The letter and report explained how they could get items agendized and how they had been misinformed on certain items.

But Victor Monia, a former Saratoga City Councilman and former West Valley governing board member, said that he still felt that the board and administration were unresponsive, especially regarding the proposed changes to the West Valley College's football field. "Even when they write you a letter, they don't write about anything," he said.

Monia has addressed the board about his opposition to proposed plans to add seats, lighting and a scoreboard to its football field, a volatile issue in the community. Among the concerns regarding the football field, opponents of the project say it will create traffic problems and diminish the quality of life for nearby residents. Schwartz has also publicly stated his opposition to the changes involving the football field.

Salter said that the athletic facility was not mentioned in the letter because the board and administration were only responding to new issues that the board has only recently studied for response.

West Valley Student Senate Secretary and second-year Spanish and education student Megen Bristow had addressed the board at previous meetings about making global education a separate budget item from other educational programs. She said that she was disappointed when the board voted against making global education a separate budget item at the March 1 meeting.

Bristow also said that she wished the board members had given Stephanie Becker, president of the Student Senate, the chance to distribute an outline of what the global education program could look like before they voted. But, Bristow said, she felt that the board members were receptive, because the budget priorities draft specified global education as an example of an educational program that should be funded.

Some of the neighbors may have perceived board members as being less responsive than the way the students perceived them, Becker said, because they were frustrated about not having another channel other than the city council. Unlike students, neighbors can't pursue action through various committees on campus, Becker said.

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