CARDENAS BACKS GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICTS FOR COLLEGE TRUSTEES.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

The current system for electing Los Angeles Community College District trustees leaves the San Fernando Valley without direct local representation, a Valley lawmaker said Thursday.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, wants to scrap the ``at-large'' election of trustees in favor of geographic districts to make the board governing the nine-campus system more accountable to local communities.

Not one of the seven current district trustees lives in the Valley, Cardenas noted.

``We have Pierce, Mission and Valley colleges, a population of well over a million and none of the current board members can say, `I shop here, I work here, I send my children to these schools,' '' Cardenas said.

He said that as a result, Mission College in his northeast Valley district has gotten short shrift from the board - particularly in recent budget deliberations.

``The bottom line is, it's very frustrating to see the local community college not getting the kind of attention it deserves,'' Cardenas said.

Controversial bill

Cardenas introduced a bill in February to create geographic districts and limit members to two, four-year terms. The controversial measure was held in committee without a vote, but will be discussed Wednesday at a special hearing at Mission College. Lawmakers are set to meet at 1 p.m. at the campus auditorium.

The district's board - as well as employee unions - have lined up against the measure, AB 1328.

Opponents contend the at-large system encourages members to consider the interests of the entire district, which serves 103,000 students and has an annual budget of more than $400 million.

``I don't want to be just a board member for the Valley or the Westside,'' said trustee Kelly Candaele. ``I think it's the wrong way of looking at politics. Just because I don't happen to live in the Valley doesn't mean I don't have a concern about Mission, Valley and Pierce.''

Having one or two trustees representing Valley communities might actually diminish the region's clout on the board, since they could be outvoted by members representing other areas, said Elizabeth Garfield, another trustee.

``You can hold all the trustees accountable,'' Garfield said.

Opponents of the Cardenas plan also said there's no grounds for creating geographic districts to promote ethnic diversity on the board, which currently includes two African-Americans, two Latinos and an Asian - as well as two white members.

Turf battles

Representatives of employee unions also worry about the turf battles that geographic districts would bring.

``We believe it would lead to the Balkanization of the board,'' said Carl Friedlander, president of the American Federation of Teachers' College Guild.

``We would end up in a situation where each trustee would be fighting for the interests of one particular college rather than the district as a whole,'' he said. ``It would create a sort of cannibalizing attitude among board members.''

Similar proposals have been made over the years, but none has won approval in Sacramento. But at least one former trustee - now a member of the Legislature - believes geographic districts would be helpful rather than divisive.

``I think there would be a greater chance to have individual board members paying very deep attention to one institution - learning it backwards and forwards,'' said Assemblyman Wally Knox, D-Los Angeles. Knox served as a trustee from 1987 until his election to the Legislature in 1994.

Knox said one proposal to consider would be a hybrid board of both at-large and geographic districts. He's less enthusiastic about the idea of term limits for board members.

``The only way that you learn about that kind of institution is by investing years in the effort,'' he said. ``I simply don't see the point in term limits.''

Some say it's impossible to know whether geographic districts might have made a difference in the debate over the budget for the college system.

Painful decisions

Friedlander said that while Mission College was forced to make deep spending cuts this year, other campuses have had to make painful reductions as well.

``Every year, usually, each college in the district feels it's sort of the neglected child in the system,'' he said.

Trustees said they applied the same funding formula to each campus in allocating the district's budget. Each campus, including Mission, received a budget increase.

Cuts were required because most campuses spent more than was budgeted last year. But some contended that the funding formula had a greater impact on smaller colleges, including Mission.

``Whenever you have a formula, usually someone does really well, and someone else does poorly. Mission did poorly,'' said William Norlund, college president.

Norlund said the college was forced to suspend athletics, drop about 100 course offerings, lay off 20 employees and reduce library hours to meet budget demands.

But district officials noted that even with the cuts, the college has seen enrollment jump this year.

``It didn't seem to hurt a whole lot,'' said Blair Sillers, assistant to the district's chancellor. ``It looks like we maybe became a little more effective and efficient. It certainly didn't seem to become the disaster that was predicted.''