Cerritos College
Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

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Letter to the Editor: Lawsuit is necessary in every way

Dear Editor,

Cerritos College has issued several press releases regarding the lawsuit filed in Superior Court on Sept. 28. The lawsuit was filed to force the district to follow the law regarding the California Voting Rights Act. This law requires a district to change from an “at-large” election system to a “by-trustee-area” election when it can be shown that the “at-large” system discriminates against certain groups.

The district maintains that the lawsuit was filed prematurely and was “totally unnecessary” due to the fact that it was already moving in that direction. The facts, however, simply do not support their assertions. In fact, they completely contradict it.

In a press release issued on September 29, 2011, the district stated, “This legal action is premature and does not recognize the board’s work on the election issue, and defending the district in this lawsuit will be very costly to taxpayers while the Board of Trustees is already taking a course of action. The lawsuit is totally unnecessary especially at a time when we need every dollar we have to support the educational program at the college.”

By the districts own admission in a press release issued on Oct. 4, the Cerritos College District received an advisory from the Community College League of California (CCLC) on Feb. 1, to consider moving to “by-trustee-area” elections.

In the same press release, it touted a study session it held on April 6, in which their attorney, Michael Toy, outlined procedures and timelines, “To change the election system.”

What it failed to mention in this release was that at that end of that study session, it stated that, “The Board agrees that there is currently no interest in moving toward conducting trustee area elections.”

This statement is reflected in the official board minutes from that meeting. It also failed to mention that as a result of that meeting, it voted to extend the board members’ terms by one year.

On June 8, community activist Charlie Ara requested that the district change to by-trustee-area elections. On June 22, the Board of Trustees received a demand letter from the law firm of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, et al, informing the district that its current election system was in violation of the law, and were given until August 1 to respond.

At a subsequent study session held on Sept. 21 to look into the issue, members of the Board asked questions of the consultant (Attorney Chris Skinnell).

Their questions showed a complete lack of understanding about the process and proved that there had been little or no prior discussion of this topic.

The fact is that at no time prior to the filing of the lawsuit on Sept. 28, did the Board give any indication that they had any intention of moving to “by-trustee-area” elections.

The filing of this lawsuit should have been “totally unnecessary”, but the Board’s reticence and/or arrogance in their refusal to address the problem forced the hand of the plaintiffs.

So, it is the Board that is responsible for the unnecessary spending of taxpayer money. It played “Chicken” using taxpayer money as their vehicle, and it lost.

It is certainly encouraging that the district is finally moving in the right direction and hopefully the district will act in good faith throughout the rest of this process. This will be the only sure way to avoid the unnecessary spending of taxpayer money in the future.

Tom Chavez

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Letter to the Editor: Lawsuit is necessary in every way