President of the Coast District Board of Trustees, Jim Moreno (left), stands with LULAC Orange County representative Dr. Richard Baiz (center) and event keynote speaker, former boxing champion, Carlos Palomino (right).
We received a well-written post about Coast Community College District Trustee Jim Moreno, who is up for reelection this November. The author asked to remain anonymous. Here is his post:
A Public Servant’s Endorsement of Trustee Jim Moreno for Re-Election to the Coast Community College District Board of Trustees.
Trustee Jim Moreno exemplifies the highest standards for elected officials and public service, bringing over thirty-five years of experience to serve students, the community and taxpayers.
He has fought to bring transparency to the Coast Community College District Board of Trustees, voting to eliminate pension double dipping, making all Board Committee meetings and discussions open and public, and working with the community to stop the development of a Costco at Golden West College, a plan that was developed in secret by other Trustees without the Board’s full knowledge.
Mr. Moreno spearheaded the creation of a District Budget Advisory Committee to improve shared governance and transparency in the management of the District’s budget reductions, and received national recognition for his work in that area as President of the Board of Trustees in 2009. Further, Trustee Moreno has worked hard to reduce executive salaries at the District: Right before Trustee Moreno was elected to the Board in 2006, former Trustee Armando Ruiz and then Board President Walter Howald spearheaded huge raises for District executives, raising salaries for all to over $200,000 per year. Mr. Moreno has worked with his fellow Trustees to recruit a new management team of highly competent professionals and offering salaries that acknowledge the education and qualifications of each person, but also which keep in mind the concerns of taxpayers about excessive compensation for public servants.
Trustee Moreno has also authored Board motions in the last two years ensuring that indivdiual Trustees at Coast received no increase in annual compensation. And, as President of the Board in 2009, Trustee Moreno spearheaded the implementation of a new policy that reduced Board travel costs and prohibited Trustee use of District Foundation funds for travel reimbursement.
Mr. Moreno’s opponent, Shana Jenkins, talks about fewer opportunities and refers to a more favorable past at the Coast District. She’s wrong. The Coast Community College District now enrolls more students than it did when Ms. Jenkins graduated from Orange Coast College in 2005, during flush budget times, in spite of the fact that the state has cut the District’s budget by millions of dollars since then. Because Trustee Moreno and his Board care about providing the maximum level of opportunities for students, thousands of students have matriculated at the Coast Colleges, without any reimbursement being received from the State for those individuals, a phenomenon known as “Unfunded Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES).”
In addition, what does going back to the “past” really mean? It means corrupt, back room deals on the Board, it means a lack of transparency, it means bloated executive salaries, it means incompetent enrollment management (the District was put in enrollment stabilization by the State the year after Ms. Jenkins graduated), it means more pension double dipping, it means more nepotism and favoritism for Trustees and District staff, it means the promotion of more unqualified people to six figure jobs without professional recruitments, it means more Board “junkets” that waste taxpayer dollars on useless travel, and it means the Board and executive staff hiring former friends who are convicted felons to huge “professional” consulting assignments for the Board. This is what a return to the past means at Coast Community College District.
Ms. Jenkins’ own actions are a cause for concern, having already changed her ballot designation several times: is she a “public affairs consultant,”? a “public affairs instructor”? or a “community volunteer.”? Thanks should go to the Registrar of Voters Office for making Ms. Jenkins list an accurate ballot designation. This issue in itself demonstrates a lack of leadership and brings about a number of ethical concerns. Inaccurately listing her position as “instructor” on the ballot whilst trying to obtain an office for an educational institution alone represents an ethical dilemma for voters to ponder.
How can we go back to this kind of management and governance of the Coast Community College District?
Please consider Trustee Jim Moreno as your candidate for Coast Community College District Area 1. He will work hard to continue the public’s work, serving with the highest level of professionalism and integrity, and continuing to work for students to provide the most and best opportunities. Trustee Moreno believes that an education is something that is earned and which can never be taken from anyone – please continue to work with him to assist students in realizing their dreams and goals.
Jim has done an outstanding job, he has brought people together to save money in creative ways that has resulted in teachers being able to keep jobs and classrooms being open.
The system is a mess and we need new blood. This “anonymous” endorsement raises an eyebrow – or two – and this type of attack campaigning is illustrative of how out-of-touch Mr. Moreno and his “anonymous” endorser are.
Speak with the students and instructors – things are not better. Matriculation is higher because of higher unemployment rates, increased levels of job dissatisfaction, underemployment, and a general rise in individuals who desire to take classes for professional or personal enrichment. Rather than having their educational expectations met, these individuals are met with a slashed curriculum and scarce course offerings.
Mr. Moreno has reversed himself on his campaign promises of 2006. Then Mr. Moreno stated that he would “maximize funding directly to the classroom” and stated that the growth of our middle-class depended on youth learning skills to compete in a world market.” Mr. Moreno has failed to deliver on his promises as throngs of hopeful students (of all backgrounds) are turned away from courses this Fall and will not learn the skills to compete in our “world market.” Indeed, administrators and educators at IVC have confirmed that they have expressed a tremendous increase in enrollment at Irvine Valley because would-be OCC students were essentially turned away.
Mr. Moreno’s own four daughters benefited from their experiences at Goldenwest and OCC. It is ironic and a travesty that our youth today will not enjoy the same experiences as Mr. Moreno’s children and will have to turn elsewhere to “learn the skills to compete in our world market” on Mr. Moreno’s watch. The “past” was Mr. Moreno’s children and Ms. Jenkins learning these skills at Goldenwest and OCC and becoming productive members of our society. The “present” under Mr. Moreno is students without classes, and dreams deferred.
We have an opportunity to rewind and reposition ourselves on the right track. Mr. Moreno had his time in the driver’s seat, and its now time for a new driver.
Walter, you’ve got it all wrong. Trustee Moreno has increased opportunities for students – he almost single handedly brought in $500,000 to start a new career training program for students in Solar Energy through the State Chancellor’s Office, and he did it with hardly any help from his administration or the former Chancellor. He, through the Board’s Career Technical Education Committee, has restructured the District’s approach to fund raising, working with administrators to actively seek new funds…Because of Trustee Moreno’s activism and leadreship in this area, Coast was the only community college District in Orange County to receive Federal Funds from President Obama’s stimulus program in 2009 …. This, all in the name of increasing student opportunities at Coast!
Mr. Moreno has had no choice, and his fellow Trustees have not had a choice, to reduce the District’s budget. This is because Sacramento, not the Board of Trustees, reduced apportionment dollars for all community colleges. The District under Trustee Moreno has spent millions, as the poster noted, in supporting students without receiving any funding for them. And because of Mr. Moreno’s strong skills in public finance, he has helped the Board avoid layoffs of staff, furloughs, and other measures that do even more damage to the needs to students. And, comparing Coast to the South Orange County Community College District is no comparison, given South County’s budget reserves amounting to several hundred million dollars.
As Board President, Trustee Moreno rejected management’s recommendation to eliminate the District’s summer programs, and he received national attention for creating a District-wide budget advisory committee to ensure that key budget decisions were made in public, in a transparent, open way. The previous poster was critical of Ms. Jenkins, Trustee Moreno’s opponent, because she was not forthcoming, nor has she been forthcoming about her real occupation, and she did not demonstrate honesty when originally listing her ballot designation as “public affairs instructor.”. What is worse, it has been proven on this very blog that Ms. Jenkins maintains ties to the Orange Coast College Foundation, and that one of its members has provided her with legal representation, in spite of the fact that her lawyer’s firm currently represents the Coast Board of Trustees in litigation matters.
Mr. Moreno is indeed in touch with the realities ofthe District, and works hard to understand the needs of students and the community…he has a strong pulse on the issues facing the District, and with over 35 years as a public servant, the community and students will continue to benefit from Mr Moreno’s experience, wisdom, and commitment to openness and transparency. Taxpayers can rest assured that Trustee Moreno will fight to protect their needs, as well as the needs of students, as he continues to faithfully carry out his duties as Trustee.
Plus Jim has good fundraisers with good music! 🙂
The gravamen is student programs and course offerings have been significantly slashed underneath Mr. Moreno’s watch. The OCC experience has deteriorated with Mr. Moreno at the reins. Mr. Moreno and his supporters will blame the economy. Perhaps, Mr. Moreno should have been a true leader and made other cuts besides supporting or allowing cuts on students. Cut the fat. It is a lesson that the federal government needs to learn as well. While he inundates his followers under the opium of “good fundraisers with good music”, the rest of us need to wake up and support someone who will be creative and fight for students. Mr. Moreno was a change for the worse. District Area 1 needs a change for the better.