Why a Recall?

As you may have heard, we are currently mounting an effort to recall three of the sitting board members. The letter below explains why:

Greetings Friends of Southwestern College,

Some community members may be questioning why there is a recall effort for Jean Roesch, Terri Valladolid, and Yolanda Salcido when an election is coming in Nov. 2010. There would reasonably be talk of cost.

Here are some of the reasons:

1. Work conditions are so bad at SWC and deteriorating so rapidly that this action is our only hope for change by summer 2010. We can’t wait for November.

2. There is too much at risk to wait until a summer/fall election.

3. The cost of the recall on the June ballot is a fraction of what these Governing Board members have cost our college to date in litigation and will cost us in future litigation. We need to stop the fiscal mismanagement ASAP.

4. We have more total administrators per faculty than any other college in our region, and we are hiring more. (*See table below.)

5. It costs less for the June recall than one year of Dr. Chopra’s exorbitant salary with benefits.

6. These board members have shown that they will not help us. Terri Valladolid’s offer of a forum to bring concerns is disingenuous at this very late date. For over a year the board has been hearing all the different and increasing problems at every meeting. (**See explanation below.)

7. Too much damage to our college infrastructure is happening now to wait, i.e. computing systems, budget, reorganizations, and morale.

8. We must get the truth out now to our community so that critical voter awareness is raised.

The community taxpayers deserve to know the truth about Southwestern College’s Governing Board majority. They deserve to hear all sides and voices so they can make an informed decision at the ballot box in June. All we want is a chance for democratic process.

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NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS AT SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE COMPARED TO OTHER

REGION 10 COMMUNITY COLLEGES

BASED ON FALL 2009

Community College	Number Students Enrolled	Number of Vice Presidents	Number of Deans
Palomar	32,200	4	6
Southwestern	22,137	4	13
San Diego Mesa	22,423	3	11
Grossmont	20,371	3	6/1 Senior Dean
San Diego City	17,704	3	8
Mira Costa	13,618	3	8
San Diego Miramar	10,787	3	6
Cuyamaca	9,228	3	5/1 Executive Dean
Imperial Valley	8,984	3	4

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On Thursday, 03 Dec., SWC faculty received the following email:

On Behalf of Terri Valladolid

Governing Board Member

To: Faculty

Southwestern College

Board Member Terri Valladolid will host a forum for faculty and invites you to share your thoughts and concerns.

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Time: 6:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Room: 214

All faculty members are welcome to attend and participate in dialogues on issues important to Southwestern College.

Thank you.

Apparently, another email, announcing a separate forum went to classified staff. Faculty and staff were as puzzled by the separate forums and involvement of a single board member as they were about this very late invitation to "dialogue."

Superintendent/President Raj K. Chopra notified the other board members of the forums, and then board member Nick Aguilar sent the following email in response:

Date: Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:04:15 -0800
To: Raj Chopra <rchopra@swccd.edu>, 'Pick Nick Aguilar' <picknickaguilar@cox.net>, Jorge Dominguez <jd91915@yahoo.com>, Jean Roesch <jeanrsch@aol.com>, Yolanda Salcido <ysalcido2@att.net>, "'Salcido, Yolanda'" <ysalcido@arthritis.org>
From: Pick Nick Aguilar <picknickaguilar@cox.net>
Subject: Re: Terri Valladolid Forums
Cc: Terri Valladolid <tvalladolid@swccd.edu>, "'Valladolid, Teresa'" <tvalladolid@ucsd.edu>, SWC Academic Senate President <vgoodwin@swccd.edu>, howsemewzyk@hotmail.com

Dear SWC Governing Board Colleagues,

While Trustee Valladolid's outreach efforts are commendable, the appropriate forum for discussions of the SWC Governing Board Free Speech Policy is at a regular or special meeting of the Governing Board. With all due respect to Trustee Valladolid, the SWC Free Speech Policy is a matter totally within the purview and responsibility of the entire Governing Board, these forums are not an appropriate or acceptable substitute for the failure or refusal of the SWC Superintendent and SWC Governing Board President Roesch to respond to the request I submitted to both of them several weeks ago to place the SWC Free Speech Policy on the agenda of the November 2009 Governing Board meeting. In fact, this message will serve to notify both Superintendent Chopra and Board President Roesch of my standing request for the inclusion of the an item on the December 9, 2009 Board agenda for the Board to direct the immediate review and update of the SWC Free Speech Policy. Best regards to all. Nick Aguilar

At 02:35 PM 12/2/2009 -0800, Raj Chopra wrote:

For your information, Terri will be holding forums on campus to provide opportunities to hear from constituent groups on their thoughts and concerns regarding issues important to Southwestern College.

Thank you.

Raj K. Chopra, Ph.D.
Superintendent/President
Southwestern College
619.482.6301