Santa Monica College Faculty Association – Business 144

Representative Assembly Meeting 11:15-12:35 pm

September 9, 2004.

Members Present: Maria Alvarado, Vini Angel, Alan Buckley, Sandi Burnett, Fran Chandler, Elizabeth Chavez, Contarsy, Tim Cramer, Gwen Dophna, Gail Edinger, Don Emery, Kathy Flynn, Dennis Frisch, Peter Geltner, Martin Goldstein, Julie Greenfield, Craig Hammond, Carolyn Holmes, Josh Kanin, Lesley Kawaguchi, Emily Lodmer, Ed Markarian, Ben Martin, Ken Mason, Suzanne McDonald, Mitra Moassessi, Brenda Ness, Eric Oifer, Jim Pacchioli, Pauli Peter, Juan Quevedo, Judith Remmes, Brian Rodas, Jacqueline Scott, Lantz Simpson, Eleanor Singleton, Howard Stahl, Michael Strathearn, Kathy Sucher, Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein, Esau Tovar, Joy Tucker, Andrew Walzer, Betty Wong, David Zehr.

Members Absent: Fletcher Beasley, Fariba Bolandhemet, Juanita Burris, Troy Cardenas, Tom Chen, Steve Jim Croxton, Tracey Ellis, Mark Foster, Anneliese Gerl, Pierre Goueth, Patricia Halliday, Cecile Hanrahan, Kym McBride, Melissa Michelson, Krystyna Oakes, David Phillips, Genee Pytlewsky, Toni Randall, Ruth SanPietro, Michael Schwartz, Elisha Shapiro, Peter Sheridan, James Smith, Michael Soldatenko, Rita Soshnik, Steve Soucy, Marci Spiegler, Sumy Takesue, Sal Veas.

Members Excused: Linda Zwang-Weissman

Guests: Ruth Logan, Richard McColl, Rebecca Curtis, Lynne Boylan, Richard LaValle, Colleen McGraw.

I.                   President’s Report

a.       Newly-elected Assembly members introduced themselves.

b.      Minutes from last spring are forthcoming.

c.       Full-time Faculty Obligation – The Chancellor’s Office sponsored a budget workshop. Treasurer Mitra Moassessi reported:

·        Our district was on the Watch List last year because our reserves are down.  As required by the Chancellor’s Office, the District submitted a Recovery Plan to get off the Watch List. FA didn’t receive a copy of it, so we have requested it from the Chancellor’s Office. The Chancellor’s Office wondered why the District hadn’t shared the plan with the FA.

·        California Community College Board of Governors is one of the main organizations that needs to be lobbied in order to effect change in this area. 

·        College Board Elections will be in Nov 2004.  The FA—in coalition with SMMUSD--has endorsed 2 candidates: Susan Aminoff (chair of the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild Joint Labor/Management Benefits Committee) and Doug Willis (active SMRR member and mainstay, and UCLA staff accountant.)   Over the summer, our two candidates were endorsed by SMRR, and rival incumbent Margaret Quinones was not.  FA members who attended the SMRR Convention over the summer were recognized at the meeting.

II.                 Motion from the Executive Committee

“The Executive Committee recommends that the Faculty Association in conjunction with the Santa Monica Education Coalition endorse Rob Rader for Santa Monica College Board of Trustees.”

Discussion:  The FA initially endorsed only 2 candidates.  However, SMRR has endorsed 3 candidates—including Rob Rader. 

PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

III.               Negotiations Update – Mitra Moassessi

Administration Team: Brenda Johnson, Sherri Lee-Lewis, John Gonzales, Tom Donner, Robert Sammis

FA Team – Kym McBride, Mitra Moassessi, and Dennis Frisch.

Dennis outlined the protocol of negotiations and the role of confidentiality.

There was a meeting this week (the first after a long hiatus during the summer) There was a discussion of benefits. The administration had previously proposed a cap on benefits.  Yesterday, they proposed a benefits committee.  (There had been a committee previously, but the administration admitted that that committee had been a failure.)  Load Banking was also discussed.