Community college board will meet to define its proper role

The board that oversees Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges will try to specify at a special meeting this week what its proper role is — and what it isn't.

"That's where we get into trouble," said Stephen Blum, chairman of the Ventura County Community College District board. "We have different interpretations of what our roles are."

For example, problems can arise when people come to board members individually and ask them to do something — intervene in a dispute about a grade, for example, or arrange for a bigger office. That level of involvement is micromanaging and not the proper role of a board member, Blum said. But it can be difficult to define exactly what constitutes micromanaging, he said.

"Some board members, not just on our board, see their role as more activist," Blum said.

The board will meet Wednesday, two weeks after an accrediting commission put the district and three campuses on probation, citing "a particular board member's disruptive and inappropriate behavior, and the entire board's responsibility to address and curtail it." The letter does not cite the trustee, but board members say he is Art Hernandez, who represents the Oxnard area.

The commission also did not specify what "disruptive" and "inappropriate behavior" means. The commission president did not return phone calls seeking more information about exactly what problems the accrediting team identified.

In its letter, the commission also repeated recommendations it made to both the board and district a year ago. They center on defining who is responsible for what and improving communication.

The board must address the issues by March 15, when the commission is expecting a letter saying how trustees plan to  improve.

"We're going to try to take away the questions and gray areas so the board knows what's OK and what's not," said Trustee Dianne McKay.

For example, the board could expand its policies to make sure trustees follow through on commitments, McKay said. The commission sent its probation letter after Hernandez missed a conference the board said members would attend, because the commission said the board needed more training.

On Wednesday, trustees will review the commission's recommendations and the state's open meetings law, which details what board business must be conducted in public. And they will discuss how to get more training.

"I'm hoping we'll decide ... what we want to do as a group and sign off on it," Blum said. "Then we'll have something that's clear-cut and ironclad that we can hold each other to."

The board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at district headquarters, 255 W. Stanley Ave., Ventura.