Mystery shrouds chancellor’s exit

The controversial resignation of Coast Community College District Chancellor Ken Yglesias remains a mystery to the public, as members of the board of trustees and Yglesias have been forbidden from talking about the circumstances surrounding his leave of absence, investigation and decision to retire before the expiration of his contract.

Yglesias agreed to resign at a special closed-door meeting Wednesday afternoon as part of a settlement with the district’s board of trustees.

For months the district has been investigating unspecified allegations against Yglesias after putting him on paid leave and voting 3-2 to hire two companies for investigative services.

Investigations found no “evidence of fraud or criminal conduct,” according to the settlement agreement, and no further investigations or claims of misconduct will be made by the district.

“I think that Ken had been talking about retiring at some point for a while, and I think this just fit his wishes,” Trustee Walt Howald said

As chancellor, Yglesias managed the district’s three community colleges — Coastline and OCC in Costa Mesa and Golden West in Huntington Beach.

Yglesias’ departure comes shortly after November’s election replaced board member Armando Ruiz with Lorraine Prinsky — a move widely considered to be a shift in power on the board.

“I think it’s clear that the majority of the board changed with the last election and there was an interest in pursuing Dr. Yglesias’ retirement,” Trustee Mary Hornbuckle said.

Hornbuckle and Howald voted against hiring an investigative firm, Barboza & Associates, and a firm specializing in uncovering information from computers, Data Triage Technologies, but were outnumbered by Prinsky, Jim Moreno and Jerry Patterson at a public meeting Jan. 7. Howald said he didn’t think the investigation was warranted or worth the money, but Moreno disagreed.

“We wanted to investigate certain college matters. It was my judgment that the matters that needed to be investigated were worth the money,” Moreno said.

Since January, Coastline’s President Ding-Jo Currie has been acting as chancellor while maintaining her present duties. Before taking on the second full-time position, Currie said she “did not know what busy meant.” Asked what she would do differently as chancellor, Currie said, “I would rather not compare with the past and what happened and focus on my current role.”

Up until Yglesias’ formal retirement, which is planned for June 30, he will receive his normal salary of $20,250 a month but will not act as chancellor.

He will also receive lifetime health benefits for him and his wife and an extra year of credit toward his retirement under the settlement.

In addition, the district will pay $1,000 for Yglesias’ legal fees, which will be offset by a mistaken overpayment from the district on his salary.

Moreno, Howald and Hornbuckle all said they were relieved to have the matter behind them so they could get onto other pressing issues like the district’s budgetary concerns.

District officials have not yet announced when they will find an interim chancellor or a new permanent chancellor.

Reporter ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.