Klein, 'attack politics' infect trustees

Auburn Journal
Klein, 'attack politics' infect trustees
Guest columnist: Kent Pollock
Saturday, April 8, 2006 10:45 PM PDT

A recent Placer County grand jury report spawned a community debate over its recommendation that Sierra College trustee Aaron Klein apologize for falsely accusing former college President Kevin Ramirez of illegally laundering school bond campaign funds.

A more appropriate focus would be on the cost of the politics of attack and divisiveness that have infected the college's board of trustees.

Fallout from the totally unnecessary controversy continues to stew on and off campus: Campus roofs leak, wiring fails and the sewage and heating systems built years ago struggle to keep operating until voters approve a school bond, but the Placer County Republican Central Committee couldn't agree recently to support a Sierra College bond after Klein, Sierra Trustee Jerry Simmons and County Supervisor Robert Weygandt reportedly engaged in verbal fisticuffs at the meeting. "It was like watching...teenagers in a food fight," said one observer.

An e-mail circulating on campus urges Klein to eat crow and features a photo of him wearing a shirt emblazoned with the jury's characterization of his allegation: "Totally without merit." Interim President Morgan Lynn responded with an e-mail asking everyone to "take the high road because that is what is best for our students."

A Sierra College administrator bangs a telephone into its cradle. "Now they say I can't even buy toner for the copy machine because of low enrollment and budget cuts," she complains.

School administrators tabulate direct costs of Ramirez's forced resignation at $620,133, according to figures supplied to the grand jury by the college (See accompanying chart).

That amount doesn't begin to capture the true financial toll on the school, which is still recovering from severe enrollment declines following the very public smear campaign that led to Ramirez's demise.

In the aftermath, Sierra College's projected student population has declined dramatically while all other area community colleges enjoyed increases. School administrators say there is currently an actual $2 million enrollment shortfall from anticipated revenues.

Meanwhile, Sierra College Foundation's executive director told the grand jury that donations fell dramatically when the controversy hit the media. One huge donor, Thunder Valley Casino, said it would not contribute more "until the college gets its acts together."

And nearly everyone agrees that there are incalculable costs associated with the college's administrators becoming unionized. "We had to unionize," said Brian Haley, dean of Learning Resources. "If Kevin could be mugged at midnight by a politicized board of trustees, then the same thing could happen to any of us."

"The emotional toll on the college remains significant," the grand jury reported.

Like so many unnecessary tragedies, it all started with a lie.

Ramirez and Simmons tell such different stories about a meeting they had the afternoon of Dec. 14, 2004, that one of them has to be lying. Ramirez said Simmons asked him to resign quietly and accept a generous buyout package. Simmons said it never happened. Whomever you believe, Ramirez views the meeting as the beginning of his downfall.

On that day, he said, he had been looking forward with some anxiety to his first board meeting with three newly elected trustees: Klein, Simmons and Scott Leslie. Ramirez took Simmons' meeting request as a sign that a let's-work-together gesture was in the offing despite some hurtful campaign rhetoric.

But Ramirez said he was totally stunned when Simmons suggested that he resign. Later that afternoon, Ramirez told the board he would not resign, and that he wanted his contract extended as a sign of support.

The board immediately went into closed session and set into motion events that ended 38 days later with Ramirez accepting a golden handshake that included a six-figure annual pension (less than he would have received had he served out his career) and lifelong health benefits.

Klein filed his false allegations shortly after his first meeting as a trustee. The grand jury said it issued its findings to clear the air of "unanswered allegations of wrongdoing that never occurred."

In a nutshell, Klein alleged that Ramirez illegally laundered school bond campaign contributions through the Sierra College Foundation to hide donor identities. The jury interviewed everyone involved and sought direction from the state Fair Political Practices Commission before determining that Klein's allegations against Ramirez were "utterly without merit...the facts of the case speak in total opposition to the complaint."

The grand jury found that the Sierra College Foundation did fail to file donor names with the FPPC in a timely manner, but found no attempt whatsoever to hide donor identities, which were included on donor lists circulated among campaigners and were listed on the foundation's Web site. The filing error was easily correctable because the FPPC allows for late filings of the information, the jury said.

The jury also interviewed the contributors in question, who all said they wanted recognition - not anonymity - for their contributions.

"Most relevant to this report," the grand jury said, "the former president was far removed from any of it."

Ramirez recently said he had long ago forgiven Klein and Simmons for forcing him to resign. The former president, under whose leadership enrollment doubled and three new campuses opened, now plays lots of golf, helps raise his grandson and does consulting for other community college districts that recognize his talent.

Interim President Lynn sent a memo to staff last week regarding reactions to the grand jury's report: "This recent development is testing our abilities to continue to focus on our students, so I would ask that we...remember what is important to students and the educational community."

Enough is enough. It is time to leave this sordid affair behind, but neither Klein nor Simmons appears ready. Klein has vociferously disagreed with the jury's findings and has vowed not to apologize for "doing my civic duty."

And during a recent conference call, Simmons responded to a suggestion by newly appointed Sierra College President Leo Chavez for the board to issue a "vanilla response" to the grand jury to calm the waters. Absolutely not, Simmons reportedly replied.

Unfortunately, the politics of attack and divisiveness continue to prevail at the Sierra College board of trustees.

Kent Pollock is a part-time journalism professor at Sierra College and a media communications consultant.