Special Edition
EDITORIAL
A dark chapter
dawns for PCC
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Pasadena City College
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Volume 105, Issue 14
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
June 13, 2012
Moving forward
Two senior school officials currently 'on leave' will soon be replaced
Neil protacio and
Nicholas Saul
Staff Writers
PCC President Mark Rocha
asserted on Tuesday that he will
be moving forward in finding
replacements for two high-rank¬
ing school officials.
According to Rocha, there are
already efforts in finding people
qualified for the positions.
Richard van Pelt, vice president
of administrative services, and
Alfred Hutchings, facilities servic¬
es supervisor, were put on admin¬
istrative leave on June 7 due to a
criminal bribery investigation that
led to District Attorney's agents
serving search warrants on the
homes and offices of the two men.
In an on-camera interview in
his office, Rocha made it clear that
the district will be moving for¬
ward in filling the vacant posi¬
tions and carrying on with school
duties.
"We can't make decisions based
on whether [van Pelt and
Hutchings] are or are not guilty,"
he said. "The investigation is a
whole separate matter; our main
focus is moving forward."
Rocha emphasized that
accountability is paramount. He
has not spoken to either van Pelt
or Hutchings since they were
placed on leave.
"There are a lot of things I'm
feeling," he said. "The first thing
I'm feeling is responsible and
accountable. I'm trying to work
hard with our faculty, staff and
students to deal with this situa¬
tion openly and try to move the
Facilitated
Steven Fuel
/
Courier
Facilities workers are seen working outdoors on Tuesday amid the ongoing scandal surrounding their
director, Alfred Hutchings. More pictures Pages 4 and 5.
Campus shocked by criminal probe
The Courier Staff
Members of the campus com¬
munity are shocked and sad¬
dened by revelations of a crimi¬
nal investigation into allegations
of bribery on campus. As the
news spread through the com¬
munity, comments covered a
wide spectrum.
Students, faculty and staff
were stunned by Thursday's
announcement that search war¬
rants issued by the Los Angeles
County District Attorney's office
targeting Vice President of
Administrative Services Richard
van Pelt and Facilities
Supervisor A1 Hutchings had
been served at both men's homes
and offices.
According to Dave Demerjian
of the Public Integrity Division
of the District Attorney's Office,
both officials are under investi¬
gation regarding conflicts of
interest and suspicion of bribery.
"This is a very dark day for
our campus," said Interim Dean
Joe Futtner of the Visual Arts and
Media Studies division. "When
all of this is resolved we all have
Continued on page 7
college forward."
According to Rocha, he is most
concerned with how his col¬
leagues feel about the situation.
"I've been dealing with the situ¬
ation on a day-to-day basis, but
this situation has affected every¬
one," he said. "So I've been
spending a lot of time trying to
get to staff and ask [them how
they felt]."
The current crisis was a touchy
subject for Rocha who gave stem
answers regarding the adminis¬
tration's current and past involve-
: Speak out! \
: How do you think Board and •
: administration officials are •
: handling the bribery crisis? |
; vote at
pccCourier.com
.
ment with the investigation. "I
have shown everything that I'm
able to show," he said.
In another admission, Rocha
Continued on page 7
Five trustees
'unavailable'
for comment
Christine Michaels
Staff Writer
Only two of seven elected
Board of Trustees members
agreed to make a public com¬
ment about the bribery scandal
involving two campus officials
despite repeated attempts by the
Courier to contact them.
Trustee Linda Wah of Area 5
and Trustee Bill Thomson of
Area 4 responded after two
phone calls and three emails ask¬
ing for their reactions to the Los
Angeles County District
Attorney's criminal investiga¬
tion of Vice President of
Administrative Services Richard
Van Pelt and Facilities
Supervisor Alfred Hutchings.
In the last two days, a Courier
reporter sent 17 e-mail requests
for comments and made 11
phone calls attempting to get
Board members to talk about the
campus scandal. Four board
members ignored all of the
requests for comment.
At deadline Tuesday, a final
urgent email was sent to board
members urging them again to
make a public statement about
the crisis.
Board President Geoffrey
Trustee Bill Trustee Linda
Thompson Wah
Baum of Area 1 and Board Vice
President John Martin of Area 6
along with Trustees Jeanette
Mann of Area 2, Berlinda Brown
of Area 3, and Anthony Fellow of
Area 7 chose to stay silent.
Late Tuesday afternoon, a
Courier reporter spotted Mann
in the staff parking lot minutes
before deadline and rushed out
to get a quote on the crisis. Mann
would make no comment on the
bribery charges.
"The press release clearly stat¬
ed that all questions on this mat¬
ter were to be directed to
Director of Public Relations Juan
Gutierrez," she said.
When the reporter asked if she
had gotten any of the reporter's
phone messages or emails
requesting a statement, Mann
Continued on page 7
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