ÿflMessage File name: RE VDK NE Campus questions (14).msg

From: Sherwood, Kenneth G [Sherwood, Kenneth G]

To: Moore, Jamillah K

CC:

BCC:

Sent: 5/6/2009 6:47:15 PM

Subject: RE: VDK / NE Campus questions

Attachments:

Wow. Why was that so easy? LOL

KEN SHERWOOD  PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC SENATE

RALPH BUNCHE DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION

LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE

AD 223

323-953-4000 xt 2469 (o)  |  323-953-4013 (f)  |  sherwokg@lacitycollege.edu

Educating minds, opening hearts, celebrating community

-----Original Message-----

From: Moore, Jamillah K

Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 6:46 PM

To: Sherwood, Kenneth G

Subject: Re: VDK / NE Campus questions

Sure

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Sent using BlackBerry

----- Original Message -----

From: Sherwood, Kenneth G

To: Moore, Jamillah K

Sent: Wed May 06 17:26:29 2009

Subject: RE: VDK / NE Campus questions

OMG. Tell her to fuck off!

KEN SHERWOOD  PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC SENATE

RALPH BUNCHE DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION

LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE

AD 223

323-953-4000 xt 2469 (o)  |  323-953-4013 (f)  |  sherwokg@lacitycollege.edu

Educating minds, opening hearts, celebrating community

-----Original Message-----

From: Moore, Jamillah K

Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 5:25 PM

To: Sherwood, Kenneth G

Subject: Fw: VDK / NE Campus questions

She is in a different world.

--------------------------

Sent using BlackBerry

----- Original Message -----

From: Netty Carr

To: Moore, Jamillah K

Cc:

Sent: Wed May 06 13:47:10 2009

Subject: VDK / NE Campus questions

> Hello Dr. Moore,

>

> I'm following up on the Atwater Village / Glassell Park Town Hall

> meeting. Is there a date set yet and will you be the one giving the

> presentation to the community? Since there were only 7 community

> members who attended the April 27th meeting, I'd like to request a

> full presentation like you had at the MLK Library District meeting.

> The North East communities have been waiting a long time and

> deserve the full presentation.

>

> Since you have handed off this project to the District and they are

> now in charge the NE Campus who do we direct our questions /

> concerns to? Can you give us contact list of all the decision

> makers for the NE campus. Many people have moved on from the

> project over the 8 year span and we need to have a updated contact list.

>

> I'm hoping you can answer this question if not, please refer me to

> someone who can. Since the Campus was built with bond money funded

> by the taxpayers and now the District will be leasing the buildings

> out and collecting the lease money where will the proceeds from the

> leases go and how will North East Los Angeles stake holders benefit

> from this arrangement

> Thanks........................Ciao, Netty

Below is the email between City College Professor Ken Sherwood and President Jamillah Moore that is referenced in the Collegian article as it was received* from the L.A. Community College District's official files.

*Only two things were changed to publish it here, bolding was added for emphasis and email addresses of private individuals were removed.

11.29.10

THIS JUST IN ...CALIFORNIA STATE CONTROLLER JOHN CHIANG’S OFFICE HAS BEGAN TO LOOK INTO AN AUDIT OF THE LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOND PROGRAM.

“Saint” John Chiang, as he known to many State Employees’ for his refusal to go along with our Governor’s hair-brained schemes to cut pay for state workers to minimum wage, has taken up the task that many other officials have been too intimidated by political pressure to approach.

The Board of Trustees of LACCD had admitted to “ongoing” bond use problems back in March 2010 in an LA Times article. Pretty good hint that there is a problem.

Of course their solution was to hire their own handpicked, closely watched “Inspector General”. They came up with “the Hotness” Christine Marez, fresh from a not so hot scandal over the awarding of contracts at LAUSD. Marez was reputed to be very close to Guy Mahula, former head of Construction for LAUSD who resigned in September of 2009 under a cloud of negative press from LAUSD for his hiring of sky high priced contractors with LAUSD funds.

In a LA Daily News article, Union Spokeswoman Connie Oser said of Mehula:

Oser said the Teamsters are currently in arbitration with the facilities department to address what they believe is an illegal use of consultants for district positions that include architects, project managers and construction inspectors.

"I say good riddance," Oser said. "This was cronyism. Mehula brought in his construction management friends and denied promotions to highly qualified district employees, bypassing the merit system completely."

Marez worked under Mehula at LAUSD in the Office of Construction Management Standards. When Mehula left he wrote a letter referring staff to Marez as she was heading the department’s move.

The new Inspector General has an interview up on the LACCD Builds Green Site - okay not the most neutral folks on this issue - and in it she expresses her positive impressions of the bond program. here is an excerpt:

Q: Did you have any preconceived notions of the LACCD bond program before you were hired?

CM: Yes, my impression was that it was well-run. I thought the staff, contractors, managers and vendors who worked on this program were all of high caliber. Reports were that it was a very dynamic, forward-looking, out-of-the-box program that seemed to be working well and making a difference for the colleges.

Q: Now that you are on the inside, have your impressions been validated?

CM: They have. The intentions of every person working on this program seem to be to move the projects forward, deliver the projects, and benefit the students.

One has to wonder if that “preconceived notion” of a “positive impression that it was run well” was the main qualification for the over $700.000 a year contract she got for this gig? I must be out of touch - I thought a good Inspector would arrive with an open mind... but maybe that just isn’t what the District wanted.