It’s a bad time for big raises

The uproar surrounding the recent decision by Coast Community College

District trustees to increase the salaries of top-level employees is

not surprising. It also is right on the money. Now simply is not the

time to be handing out what are, for most of the positions,

eye-catching bumps in pay.

Last week, the trustees hired a new chancellor, Golden West

College’s Ken Yglesias, and raised the position’s salary from 186,608

to $190,000, plus $10,000 for travel and mileage expenses. That is a

relatively mild 1.8% increase.

Other top officials are faring much better, however. College

presidents and vice chancellors earned pay increases from the present

range of $129,631 to $131,805 up to $145,000 to $160,000. That is between an 11.5% and 22% jump, startling numbers even in the most

healthy economic times.

But these are not healthy economic times. Even as trustees are

handing out nearly $100,000 in raises, they have also cut 1,000

classes, are selling the KOCE television station for extra money and

shut down offices and campuses on Fridays this summer. Most other

district employees are unlikely to see raises because of the state’s

economic troubles.

Is it any wonder that people, including one of the five trustees,

are aghast at the extra spending? The timing and appearance of these

increases could hardly be worse.

The main argument of proponents of this extra spending say the

salary increases are needed to attract the best possible candidates.

They cite a salary survey of similar districts taken before the vote

that showed the district eighth of 11 for chancellor salaries and

second to last for presidents and vice chancellors.

It is a fine bolster for their position, but one we simply can’t

agree with, and not only because of the flaw in handing out big

raises when so much cutting is required.

We also fail to see how the draw of living and working along the

Orange County coast can’t balance out a position elsewhere that may

make $5,000 or $10,000 more.

At this point, it seems unlikely that the trustees will back away

from these decisions. Lacking that, they need to present far more

compelling reasons for the raises or in some way demonstrate that

they honestly understand why there is such opposition.

It is a lesson they desperately need to learn.