You've hopefully already seen the recent San Diego Union-Tribune article, "College VP Raised Money from Contractors He Oversees." In the article, Tanya Sierra reports that Southwestern College's Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs, Nicholas Alioto, hosted a May 20th fundraiser for incumbent Governing Board candidates Yolanda Salcido and Terri Valladolid. Donors at the event included Seville Construction Services and Echo Pacific Construction, both of which subsequently received generous contracts from Prop R funds ($2.7 million and $4 million, respectively).
According to Sierra, "The officials said there is no link between the contracts and the contributions, but critics are skeptical."
That's putting it mildly. If the 104 comments (including some excuse-making by Alioto himself) so far are any indication, the community is outraged.
One commenter summarized the situation thusly: "You have a board that is ignoring the accreditation issues that the college faces for the first time in 50 years in the college's history in favor of kingdom building and collecting favors from contractors. Hundreds of teachers and staff have been let go with the cut of 40% of classes in the past 2 years and the budget reserves continue to swell. Teachers and staff are trying to save the school for the folks they are there for - STUDENTS."
If you haven't yet had an opportunity to read the article, please use the link above to find it on SignOn San Diego. If you saw it before, please go back and catch up on the comments that have been posted in the meantime. And either way, please add your voice to the discussion.
"Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away." --Elvis Presley
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The startling like of ethical behavior and the blatant nature of their disregard for the college and their constituency tells you all you need to know. Salcedo and Valladolid have lost their way, if they ever had it, and they need to go!
ReplyDelete“If they take over the board, they will fire Chopra and me,” Alioto said. “I did something on my time on my dime to support candidates that I feel are good for the college.
ReplyDeleteThat pretty much sums it up.
Hmm, the board members that approved the contracts just happened to get campaign contributions, huh? Sounds pretty fishy to me.
ReplyDelete< insert groan of disgust here>