*Earlier this year, Compton Community College finally regained the accreditation it lost in June, 2005, following an investigative article by the Los Angeles Times.
The article highlighted financial abuses by unethical college officials, including probation officer Kent Swift, which was indeed disappointing to the many notable individuals who attended this college.
Some attendees were Actor James Coburn, film director Jamaa Fanaka, record producer Coolio and many others. The accreditation, along with local control of the college, was taken away by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges after a management scandal and resulting corruption probe of the Compton Community College District Board of Trustees.
In this era of questionable politics in Washington, DC, all elections are under scrutiny. An example is an upcoming local election where Deputy Probation Officer Kent Swift recently declared himself a candidate for President of the Los Angeles County Probation Officers Union. From 1991 through 2007, Swift was an elected member of the Compton Community College Board of Trustees. His troubled tenure there raises important questions of Swift’s competency and integrity as members cast their votes for Union president.
According to the Times, Compton was the first community college in the state of California history to lose its accreditation. The reason, as stated by The Western Association of Colleges and Schools, was “financial and management irregularities.”
As the Times recounted, an Extraordinary Audit, found numerous instances of possible financial fraud, phony student enrollments, missing computer equipment, and even the campus auto shop being used for private gain…more than $571,000 worth of computers, iPods, televisions, cameras, and video games were purchased, but never showed up in inventories later.”
Kent Swift and others on the Board of Trustees initially were asked if they would step down. When they refused, Swift and another trustee became targets of a recall election. One trustee, Ignacio Pena, served four years in prison after pleading guilty to “siphoning more than $1 million in public funds.” Auditors said up to $5 million was potentially missing. California Community Colleges’ Chancellor Marshall Drummond called for more indictments, and the report was brought to the attention of the FBI and the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. Others on the Board of Trustees may have been indicted too, but many college records were destroyed before the investigations began.
The scandal caused a resulting decline in public trust, student enrollment, and ultimately district-wide job loss. Kent Swift was one of two Trustees singled out for the particular scrutiny
by Rodney Murray, a business professor and union representative from the Compton Community College Federation of Employees. Murray, who spearheaded the trustee recall movement, accused Swift and his fellow Trustees of “poor management, poor leadership, and cronyism.”
Swift admitted to one questionable occurrence regarding use of official vehicles when he told the Times “I had taken a college car home only briefly, but I often drive the college car.” He said his own car, a 1989 BMW, was beaten up and could be an embarrassment at official functions, he said: “when you’re representing the college, you want to make a good impression.”
When the State of California took control of Compton College in June 2004, the Community College Chancellor’s office had been investigating the school for poor accounting and failing to provide a satisfactory audit. Although it did not list names, the State audit found potentially illegal practices by college officials steering contracts and jobs to relatives.
Additionally, Swift rarely attends union meetings. We should be asking ourselves hard questions about his candidacy, including who is backing him, and why? Would he have any idea what to do to protect member’s rights? Further, can we afford to lose the public trust by electing someone with such a troubled history in elected office?
Can we really afford to elect Kent Swift? His election would bring a great deal of baggage to the doorstep of LA County Deputy Probation Officers Union, AFSCME Local 685.
Leslie Bernacchi is a probation officer, retired from The Los Angeles County Probation Department after 20 years of service. Contact her via: [email protected]
Article sources:
College Boards Action Prompts Recall Threat—LA Times Metro Digest
https://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/16/local/me-compton16
https://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/13/local/me-compton1
Compton Trustees Get Cold Shoulder—LA Times Andrew Wang
https://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/26/local/me-compton26
Ex-trustee accused of stealing $1 million from Compton College—LA Times/Associated Press
https://articles.latimes.com/2003/aug/31/local/me-comcol31
State Audit Details Mismanagement at Compton Community College—LA Times Larry Gordon
https://beta.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-compton-college-20140622-story.html
https://articles.latimes.com/2003/aug/31/local/me-comcol31
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