After consistently backing the controversial actions of Superintendent Dr. Raj K. Chopra, three of Southwestern College's five governing board members may soon have their heads on the chopping block.
Dr. Jean Roesch, Terry Valladolid and Yolanda Salcido may be up for recall if a community group can collect about 20,000 signatures for each in 160 days. The recall notification was publicly posted Nov. 13 and represents the latest chapter in an ongoing battle between SWC employees and administration.
While the college's faculty union has adamantly denied any connection to the recall, former Southwestern College Education Association President Janet Mazzarella collected the 10 signatures on the original notice of intention to circulate a recall petition for each board member. Nine of the 10 signatures were from union employees at Hilltop High School where Mazzarella taught for 13 years. The tenth signature was her mother, Dorothy Tomlinson. Another SWC faculty member, Veronica Burton, filed the petitions with the Registrar, according to Elvira Vargas, who works with campaign services for the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.
Mazzarella approached the union about the recall but said it was not interested. She said she was not a part of a community group spearheading the recall campaign, but that she openly supports it.
"I would love to see that governing board recalled," said Mazzarella. "There's no shock to anyone that I would be supportive of that effort."
The official petition for recall should be approved before Nov. 30, according to Vargas. The group will then have 160 days to collect 10 percent of SWC District's 191,563 voters.
Salcido has been on the SWC Governing Board since 2002. In the recent years she has been a vocal critic against SCEA leadership and has engaged in heated exchanges with Mazzarella at board meetings.
Salcido said the college "was not immune" to state budget cuts. She pointed to the fact that even with state cuts, the college planned to fund 195 more classes than the state would pay for in spring and summer 2010.
Salcido voted to hire Chopra in 2007. She refused to guess if her support for the controversial superintendent was the reason behind the recall.
"I don't speculate," said Salcido. "I could go ahead and speculate until the cows come home. That is not my concern. My concern is to get us through this fiscal crisis. My concern and my focus and my energy…is to get us over this budget crisis, period. That's where my efforts should be. And now even more so because now we have to find the additional (money to pay for the recall special election)."
SWC will have to foot the bill for the special election if the signatures are obtained. Salcido said it could cost the district as much as $300,000.
Valladolid called the bill for the special election a contradiction.
"(People are) complaining about the cuts and the sections and the money," said Valladolid. "And now you've got individuals pushing for a recall, and the money is going to have to come from the district. It's crazy."
Valladolid has been a SWC governing board member since 1998. She said her accomplishments at the college included the three satellite centers and expansion of SWC's nursing and dental hygiene programs. She said she was committed to preparing students for jobs and transfer, and considers herself a product of community college after attending Imperial Valley College.
"So I realize the importance of it," said Valladolid. "So the reason I'm here is I've always believed in education. I believe that community colleges have always been the stepping stone."
Community colleges have become even more important these days, said Valladolid, with four-year colleges and universities closing their doors to students.
"It seems like we are the answer," said Valladolid. "I feel comfortable that the decisions that I'm making are based on what I think is right."
Salcido flipped through about 12 pages of notes on a legal pad after the SWC's November board meeting. During the meeting she had been verbally assailed by a Spanish-speaking SWC student. Others told her they would not vote for her in the next election. Salcido, who could not respond directly to the speakers due to parliamentary procedure, said she wished she could have.
"I serve them," she said. "Not special interests, not individuals with hidden political agendas. I love this community. I love this college. I identify with the students. And I hold the faculty at a very high esteem because a (SWC) faculty member is the one that paved the road for me and you never forget that."
But while she said she served the students of SWC, she also said she had a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers and to the future stability of the college.
"The financial issues that the district is facing are catastrophic," said Salcido. "We have to look at how the entire district is being impacted and we have to go ahead and everyone share in the pain, and that is my job, and I am not going to please everybody."
She said she had listened to the faculty's plan to save classes, which include pulling money from SWC's $6 million contingency reserve and forgoing a payment to the college's non-active pension fund.
"At this point," said Salcido. "I don't believe it is fiscally prudent to raid our reserve nor our monies for GASB 45 (pension fund)."
She said there is a misconception that the college has extra money. She said the situation could not be any more the opposite, stating that next year the college may have to make drastic cuts to student services and possibly eliminate the entire athletics program. SWC was not alone, she said. Colleges across the state were being dealt similar debilitating budget cuts.
"Whether I'm here or not," said Salcido. "Whether the three women board members are here or not, we still have a budget crisis. We still have to go ahead and try to see what we can do for our students with less money."
She called for the campus community to work together to get past this crisis as it did in 2002 when SWC students, faculty and staff marched together on Sacramento to demand equity in funding for SWC.
"We, the board, can't do it alone," said Salcido. "The president, no matter what he does, he can't do it alone. Faculty, they can't do it alone. And the students can't do it alone. So what it is, is that we all need to come together to be able to resolve the issues. And we've got to do it in a positive, constructive manner."
Board president Roesch did not respond to interview requests made by e-mail and a phone call to the SWC Superintendent's Office. In a public statement, Roesch said she empathized with the fears of the public during such financially hard times. She said the college has had to make hard decisions to protect its future.
"To continue meeting students' needs and fiscal challenges ahead," said Roesch, "we cannot continue business as usual. Voter, don't allow SWC's limited financial resources to be drained any further. It will only hurt students."
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