The College of the Canyons Board of Trustees held a special meeting last week after a closed session. The special meeting was called to present the findings of an internal audit that showed evidence of violations, negligence and misappropriation of college funds. The audit, ordered by interim superintendent President David Andrus, was conducted by a specialized legal team.
“45 years of experience exclusively representing just about every, if not every, community college throughout the state, through facilities, contracts, procurement and so forth,” said Dr. David Andrus, COC Interim President.
The legal team’s investigation was to evaluate whether vendor contracts were awarded legally and within a scope appropriate for the district.
“We saw contracts just being given to selected contractors. We saw a lot of contracts that, coincidentally, never reached a threshold above the $25,000 amount, which allowed requirements for bidding and bonding insurance not to be met,” said Jessica Ehrlich, F3 Law.
The council noted that some of the work ordered should have been completed by district maintenance staff, such as removing objects from a sandbox, relocating benches, gum and pine needle removals and painting custodial closets. These projects were paid out to third-party contractors for millions of dollars by bid splitting, with no proof that some of these projects were ever completed.
“We’re talking about in excess of 700 projects, amounting to almost $8 million in the many, many years that we have been representing districts, we have never seen anything like this. The level of conduct here, I think, is nothing short of egregious,” said Ehrlich.
Council discovered that over the course of nearly two decades, contracts were being awarded to the same person but with different business names.
“We found that district funds, through a variety of sources, have been misused, misappropriated and potentially used for personal benefit,” said Ehrlich.
An incoming board member expressed his thoughts.
“I guess when you hear that information, it’s always surprising, but before I jump to a conclusion, let’s see it,” said Fred Arnold, COC incoming Board of Trustees.
As well as the president of the COC teachers’ union.
“Kind of always, I don’t know how to say this, but you always had a suspicion of things happening,” said Jason Burgdorfer, President of COC Faculty Association.
The council has urged the district to engage a forensic accounting firm for further investigation. The vote was unanimous.
The board withheld any formal statement about the investigation.
“I can only comment on things later; when the investigations and final findings come out, I can say that I look forward to what the district will do to take action once findings are fully conclusive,” said Sebastian Casares, COC Board of Trustees.
