CHRISTINE MICHAELSStaff Writer

Only two of seven electedBoard of Trustees membersagreed to make a public com-ment about the bribery scandalinvolving two campus officialsdespite repeated attempts by theCourier to contact them.

Trustee Linda Wah of Area 5and Trustee Bill Thomson ofArea 4 responded after twophone calls and three emails ask-ing for their reactions to the LosAngeles County DistrictAttorney’s criminal investiga-tion of Vice President ofAdministrative Services RichardVan Pelt and FacilitiesSupervisor Alfred Hutchings.

In the last two days, a Courierreporter sent 17 e-mail requestsfor comments and made 11phone calls attempting to getBoard members to talk about thecampus scandal. Four boardmembers ignored all of therequests for comment.

At deadline Tuesday, a finalurgent email was sent to boardmembers urging them again tomake a public statement aboutthe crisis.

Board President Geoffrey

Baum of Area 1 and Board VicePresident John Martin of Area 6along with Trustees JeanetteMann of Area 2, Berlinda Brownof Area 3, and Anthony Fellow ofArea 7 chose to stay silent.

Late Tuesday afternoon, aCourier reporter spotted Mannin the staff parking lot minutesbefore deadline and rushed outto get a quote on the crisis. Mannwould make no comment on thebribery charges.

“The press release clearly stat-ed that all questions on this mat-ter were to be directed toDirector of Public Relations JuanGutierrez,” she said.

When the reporter asked if shehad gotten any of the reporter’sphone messages or emailsrequesting a statement, Mann

THE COURIER STAFF

Members of the campus com-munity are shocked and sad-dened by revelations of a crimi-nal investigation into allegationsof bribery on campus. As thenews spread through the com-munity, comments covered awide spectrum.

Students, faculty and staff

were stunned by Thursday’sannouncement that search war-rants issued by the Los AngelesCounty District Attorney’s officetargeting Vice President ofAdministrative Services Richardvan Pelt and FacilitiesSupervisor Al Hutchings hadbeen served at both men’s homesand offices.

According to Dave Demerjian

of the Public Integrity Divisionof the District Attorney's Office,both officials are under investi-gation regarding conflicts ofinterest and suspicion of bribery.

“This is a very dark day forour campus,” said Interim DeanJoe Futtner of the Visual Arts andMedia Studies division. “Whenall of this is resolved we all have

NEIL PROTACIO ANDNICHOLAS SAULStaff Writers

PCC President Mark Rochaasserted on Tuesday that he willbe moving forward in findingreplacements for two high-rank-ing school officials.

According to Rocha, there arealready efforts in finding peoplequalified for the positions.

Richard van Pelt, vice presidentof administrative services, andAlfred Hutchings, facilities servic-

es supervisor, were put on admin-istrative leave on June 7 due to acriminal bribery investigation thatled to District Attorney’s agentsserving search warrants on thehomes and offices of the two men.

In an on-camera interview inhis office, Rocha made it clear thatthe district will be moving for-ward in filling the vacant posi-tions and carrying on with schoolduties.

“We can’t make decisions basedon whether [van Pelt andHutchings] are or are not guilty,”

he said. “The investigation is awhole separate matter; our mainfocus is moving forward.”

Rocha emphasized thataccountability is paramount. Hehas not spoken to either van Peltor Hutchings since they wereplaced on leave.

“There are a lot of things I’mfeeling,” he said. “The first thingI’m feeling is responsible andaccountable. I’m trying to workhard with our faculty, staff andstudents to deal with this situa-tion openly and try to move the

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, butthis situation has affected every-one,” he said. “So I’ve beenspending a lot of time trying toget to staff and ask [them howthey felt].”

The current crisis was a touchysubject for Rocha who gave sternanswers regarding the adminis-tration’s current and past involve-

ment with the investigation. “Ihave shown everything that I’mable to show,” he said.

In another admission, Rocha

Pasadena City College

Continued on page 7 Continued on page 7

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June 13, 2012Volume 105, Issue 14

EDITORIAL

A dark chapterdawns for PCCPage 3»

The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.

Special Edition

For breaking news, video and pictures, visit Courier online atpccCourier.com

Continued on page 7

Moving forwardTwo senior school officials currently ‘on leave’ will soon be replaced

Facilitated

Steven Fuel / CourierFacilities workers are seen working outdoors on Tuesday amid the ongoing scandal surrounding theirdirector, Alfred Hutchings. More pictures Pages 4 and 5.

Five trustees‘unavailable’for comment

Campus shocked by criminal probe

Trustee BillThompson

Trustee LindaWah

CICELY CHISHOLMStaff Writer

For 15 years Richard (“Rick”)van Pelt has had an enormousimpact on the college, holdingpositions of increasing responsi-bility and overseeing the annualexpenditure of millions of dol-lars.

Van Pelt was officiallyappointed to the permanent vicepresident of administrative serv-ices position after having servedfor two years as the interimoccupant of the position. He hasworked at PCC since 1997.

Van Pelt previously served asthe director of facilities and engi-neering services.

His positions have had himoversee the business and finan-cial aspects of the college. Healso oversees all minor construc-tion, repairs and maintenance.

His most recent project wasthe proposed demolition andreplacement of the U Building,

which allegedly has beendeemed seismically unstable.The U Building’s fate has beendiscussed since 2010, and manyof its occupants were moved outin 2011, but all plans to vacateand demolish it seem to havestopped this year due to uncer-tainties in the budget.

In a Feb. 29 Courier article, vanPelt said: “I do need to stress thatthe current plans only call for the[vacating] of the U Building, andnot its replacement. Then we willput a fence around the building[while] wait for funding.”

The estimated cost to replacethe U Building has been peggedat about $70 million, and there isno money set aside for itsreplacement, van Pelt said. Partof this amount – $15 million –would be required to accommo-date faculty and classrooms intemporary quarters.

“Buildings that are functional-ly obsolete need to be replacedwith modern ones in order to

continually provide studentswith the first-class educationthat they require,” van Pelt saidin a Dec. 9, 2009 Courier article.

Many articles in past Courierissues about van Pelt have fre-quently led to questions from thePCC community.

In a Sept. 5, 2002 article, facul-ty and students questioned theremoval of an oak tree from in

front of the Shatford Library.This was said to have occurredlate in the night, and thereallegedly was no permit forremoval from the city ofPasadena, as required by law.

Van Pelt said he removed thetree because it was dead. Whenasked if the city inspected thetree to see if it was dead, and ifhe obtained a permit, he replied:

“The city has no jurisdiction onthis issue.”

A Sept. 30, 2009 article report-ed that the Faculty Associationquestioned the Board ofTrustees’ rushed approval of abudget, which was prepared byvan Pelt.

Some believed the processshowed a lack of respect for thefaculty, staff, and students.

LUIS RODRIGUEZStaff Writer

The college president onMonday announced the appoint-ment of a replacement for VicePresident of AdministrativeServices Rick van Pelt who wasplaced on leave Thursday afterLos Angeles County DistrictAttorney’s agents served asearch warrant on his office andhome.

Vice President of EducationalServices Robert B. Miller hasbeen appointed as acting vice

president of administrative serv-ices, Rocha announced in a cam-pus-wide email received at 10a.m.

Van Pelt and FacilitiesSupervisor Alfred Hutchings areunder investigation by the DA’soffice in a probe of allegations ofbribery.

“I've asked Vice President BobMiller to assist me as acting VPof Administrative Services untilwe can bring in additional sup-port very soon,” Rocha said.

Another appointment inFacilities Services was also

announced.“Similarly, I've asked Vice

President [of InformationTechnology] Dwayne Cable toassist me as acting director offacilities until we can bring in anew director very soon,” Rochasaid.

Interviewed in his office a fewhours after his appointment,Cable had nothing to say aboutthe bribery crisis enveloping thecampus community.

“No comment,” he said.But he did comment about the

current atmosphere inside the

administration.“All that we’re doing is like

having a team,” Cable said. “I’mjust a member of the team tryingto help the college heal throughthis turmoil … [including] theturmoil from the Board ofTrustees meeting [on June 6].”

Commenting on his newresponsibilities as acting directorof the Facilities ServicesDepartment, Cable said he wasasked by the president on June 7to assist with running the facili-ties operation.

“I’m just helping out the team.

I know nothing [about theresponsibilities],” he said.

“I learned about this just whenthe president made theannouncement [Monday morn-ing] – well, actually shortlybefore that. We’ve all got plentygoing on.”

“I’m happy to do what I can tosupport the college during thesedifficult times,” said Miller.

“I’m also very proud to beworking with the hardworkingmen and women within theadministrative services divi-sion.”

2 Courier June 13, 2012Special Edition

For breaking news, video and pictures, visit Courier online atpccCourier.com

Interim replacements are appointed

Van Pelt’s fiscalimpact on campus

Blair Wells/CourierDue to a wide-spread blackout in Pasadena, which affected the U Building, Debra Folsom (kneeling), assis-tant professor of biology, gives a final exam on Tuesday.

The two Journalism classes(writers and photographers)that make up the staff of theCourier had just wrapped theirlast meeting of the semesterJune 7 when news began break-ing of a criminal investigation oftwo senior college officials.

As staffers were preparing forfinals and summer vacation,their journalistic instincts tookover.

Twenty minutes beforePresident Mark Rocha began hisarranged news conferencedownstairs from the newsroom,the Courier published its firstbreaking news alert to its onlinereaders.

The rest is PCC history.The breaking news came just

as staff writers and photogra-phers were recovering from themost arduous print productionnight in recent memory. As iscustomary, on the Wednesdayevening we had just completedthe preparations for the printednewspaper when a commotionerupted at the Board of Trusteesmeeting across the hallway from

the news-room.

We couldhear theuproar.

For moredetails ofwhat fol-lowed checkthis articleonline:

http://www.pcccourier.com/news/notebook-a-hectic-24-hours-1.2877012#.T9ejHb_lLmY

A decision was made to delaysending the files to the printer,and staff members scrambled tocover the unfolding drama. At 9p.m. the existing front page wasscrapped and the revised ver-sion made it to the press aboutan hour later.

Exhaustion on Thursday wasnot an option. As the historicevents cascaded one atop eachother, Courier staffers snappedimages, wrote copy and pub-lished it immediately online,working until late in theevening.

Friday morning saw an

almost full complement of staffin the newsroom.

Instead of working on theJournalism final, however, theywere researching, reporting,writing and photographing sto-ries relating to the bribery inves-tigation.

Soon, they began to chat onour internal network about put-ting out a special edition, eventhough the semester was all butover and all scheduled newspa-pers had been published.

At around noon, CourierAdviser Warren Swil announcedthat permission had been grant-ed to publish a print version ofthe paper the following week, ifthe staff wished. “It’s entirelyup to you,” he wrote in an emailmessage to the staff.

Each staff member was askedto immediately make a commit-ment to participate in the printedition, and by 5 p.m. Friday, 17had signed up. Show time!

More than half the stafferscleared their schedules to attenda planning meeting on Saturday,and work began in earnest. The

first major story, “Campus com-munity shocked, saddened bycriminal probe,” was publishedby mid-afternoon. Working lateinto the night, Courier staffersdug into the archives to assem-ble the second major piece.Meanwhile, an email wasreceived that alerted editors toanother breaking development:“President takes over FacilitiesServices Department” was pub-lished mid-afternoon onSunday, the first time since 1915that the Courier has publishedanything on Sunday.

On Monday the staff put theirshoulders to the wheel, and ifyou have been following ourweb edition, you know theresults.

(By the way, you can get allthe breaking news alerts by reg-istering for an account; click onthe tab in the top right-handcorner of the front page labeled“Login / Register”).

The news has been breakingso fast, we have been sprintingto bring it to you as it happens.As I write this, I and incoming

2012-13 Editor in Chief NicholasSaul have just returned from anhour-long on-camera interviewwith college President MarkRocha. The bulletin and a pho-tograph have already been pub-lished online.

The rest of the story appearselsewhere in this paper.

For those of us in theJournalism class and on thepaper, this has been a learningexperience in so many facets ofreporting, writing, editing andpublishing that no amount ofclassroom instruction could everequal.

It has also become a memoryall of us will take with usthroughout the rest of our lives.

It has been a privilege to servethe PCC community in thisunprecedented time, and wehope to see the Courier continueto provide important news in atimely manner in print andonline for many years to come.

Neil Protacio2011-2012 Editor in Chief

From the Editor

A very Special Edition: We are privileged to serve you

3CourierJune 13, 2012

Letters to the EditorThe Courier welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be about

300 words and may be edited by Courier staff. All letters must containyour full name and a correct daytime phone number. Letters can bedelivered to the Courier office in CC 208 or sent by e­mail to cornejo_courier@yahoo.com.

Corrections The Courier staff endeavors to ensure accuracy in all aspects of its report­

ing. If you believe we have made an error, please contact us at (626) 585­7130or via e­mail to protacio_courier@yahoo.com.

Note to Readers

Courier2011 JACC General Excellence

Award WinnerEditor­in­ChiefNeil Protacio

News EditorNicholas Zebrowski

Assist. News EditorPaul Ochoa

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Opinion EditorF.E. Cornejo

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Features Editors:Cicely Chisholm, Christine Michaels

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Staff Writers:Antero Barrantes III, Brandon Drexel,Dustin Earl, Tiffany Herrera, AmarKasopovic, Edwin Lee, MichaelMcGrath, Raymond Pecson, LuisRodriguez, Karla Sosa, Colin Sum

Staff Photographers: Kevin Balmadrid, Katherine Bussey,Megan Carrillo, Nikki Debbaudt, MinelaDela Cruz, Steven Fuel, AntonioGandara, Ya Ling Hsu, Ronald Johnson,Anthony Richetts, Steven Valdez, Blair Wells

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The Courier is published weekly by thePasadena City College JournalismDepartment and is a free­speechforum. Editorial opinions and com­ments are those of the authors and donot necessarily represent the positionof the institution and its administra­tion, student government or that ofthe Pasadena Area Community CollegeDistrict.

The Courier is written and produced asa learning experience for student writ­ers, photographers and editors in theJournalism Department.

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ONLINE POLL RESULTSONLINE POLL RESULTSOnline, we asked: How do you think Board and administration officials are handling the bribery crisis?Top three results as of 5 p.m. Tuesday:

Awfully: 53%The best we can expect from them: 23%Very well: 13% vote at

pccCourier.com

Editorial

Best of the Web

Special Edition

Spring 2012 hasbeen the mostvolatile semesterin the recent his-tory of PCC.

The semester that beganwith protests has endedwith more protests and thecriminal investigation oftwo administrators.

It is shameful and despi-cable that this is what PCChas become and willalways be rememberedfor.

The Board of Trusteesand the administrationhave repeatedly madeattempts to hide their mis-takes from the PCC com-munity in the interest oftheir own agenda.

If anything, this semes-ter has proven that PCChas been run no different-

ly than any of the “bigbanks,” which acceptedgovernment bail-outs andthen betrayed employees,taxpayers and customers.

Did the administrationand the Board really notknow what Vice Presidentof Administrative ServicesRick Van Pelt andFacilities Supervisor AlHutchings were up to?

If they did know, theyshould have done some-thing about it. If they didnot, it means no one wasminding the store.

Or is corruption justbusiness as usual at PCC,and Van Pelt andHutchings are taking thefall?

Either way it is a slap inthe face to the people whohad put their faith in PCC.

The turbulence of thissemester was not a ran-dom uprising, but ratherthe inevitable eruptioncaused by numerous baddecisions by several keypeople over a long time.

At the end of the PCCmission and values state-ment it reads: “We recog-nize that we draw uponthe college’s rich traditionof excellence and innova-tion in upholding thehighest standard of qualityfor the services we pro-vide to our students andcommunity.”

It is clear that, intention-ally or not, the currentBoard and administrationare incapable of living upto the promise of the state-ment by serving studentsand the community.

It appears that theadministration and theboard have lost all of thetheir credibility, if not theirmoral compass.

The administration’sdeclaration that PCC “ismoving forward and con-tinuing all normal busi-ness,” is out of touch andfrightening. How can wemove forward and pre-tend as if all is well atPCC?

To continue normal busi-ness is not acceptable.

That is what broughtPCC to this low point tobegin with. The PCC com-munity should not allowit.

May this be the begin-ning of the end for the dis-ease that has been killingPCC. We hope so.

The following comments are related to“VIDEO: Rocha announces investigation”

Off with their heads!- Queen of Hearts

PCC's hiring practices are less than ade-quate. Van Pelt was hired over the objectionsof the hiring panel. His former boss, RodFleeman was under investigation at NorthOrange Community College District forimproprieties, Hutchings has a long historyof employment indiscretions involving trustand honesty and the new police chief washired over more qualified applicants with nohonesty issues in their backgrounds. PCCgets what it gets from poor personnel poli-cies.

- Anonymous

This does not surprise anyone on PCCcampus. It's a shame it took this long.

- Anonymous

Maybe monkeys could be trained to do abetter job of operating this school? EitherPresident Rocha is a well-intentioned guywho fell into a hard term (like PresidentHoover). Or perhaps he is part of it, contain-ing this threat and playing dumb with fabu-lous results?

If chivalry is dead and integrity followedwith it, we may as well revert to our moreprimitive instincts (like greed) and becomecannibals. As long as we're only living toplease ourselves, why not have a seeminglyendless food source just inches away from usat all times? If we don't eat each other alive,somebody else will.

- Cannibalism is on the rise!

Maybe Van Pelt inherited a magical ringand all the other administrators are trying invain to protect him, and [the] is using the …money to take a trip to New Zealand where

they will throw the ring into a volcano?- Anonymous

“But there will be no justice, there will beno government of the people, by the people,and for the people, as long as the govern-ment and its officials permit bribery in anyform: John Jay Hooker”

- Anonymous

The following comments are related to“Campus community shocked saddened bycriminal probe

Why does this story not include any com-ments from members of the Board ofTrustees? Are the reporters asking them?

Or are they hiding under their desks? "Nocomment" is no answer.

There is not a reason in the world theyshould have been silent so long. At the veryleast, the Board president by now shouldhave put out his own statement about the sit-uation.

Pipe up pipsqueaks!- District 1 voter

PCC has been a rudderless ship for a longtime. There was the last President, Paulinewhat’s-her-name, salarygate and now this.

I attempted to register for an ExtendedLearning Course a couple of years ago andwas treated so rudely by the ExtendedLearning Staff that I gave up. It's pretty clearnow that the only thing anyone is interestedin at PCC is lining their pockets with taxpay-er money and collecting a paycheck. .... andwhere is the board during all of this? Why allof the secrecy? Trustee Mann is demandingrespect at the trustee meetings yet showsnone to her constituents.

- Anonymous

What a sorry state of affairs.If those in charge knew what was going

on, why didn't they do something about it?If they did NOT know, they were derelict

in their duty.- Willfully blind

I remember in 1995 when Van Pelt washir[ed] he came from Ambassador Collegewith a purpose on his [mind]: to clean theFacilities [Department] of all the people thatPresident [James] Kossler won’t (sic) to elim-inate. So now, the whole campus has to pay[for] the consequences of stupidity. I don'tknow why you need a Ph. D. to do so muchdamage.

- Anonymous

Rocha should resign. He guaranteed (sic)for van Pelt and it's time to pay.

- Anonymous

The following comments are relating to“Interim replacement appointed for vanPelt”

And it just keep getting worse. Van Peltknew nothing about maintenance and thisguy [Vice President of Educational ServicesRobert Miller] knows even less! Meanwhilestudents suffer due [to] total incompetencefrom the Board!

- Anonymous

The following comments are related to“NOTEBOOK: Eyewitness to history

“An employee of the Campus PoliceDepartment had escorted them to Facilities,as they were walking into the building theDA agents told her that other DA officialshad earlier been on campus.”

"After the "news conference," a reporterfrom ABC Eyewitness News requested aninterview. It was agreed."

Q: Did an editor review this article? - Anonymous

These comments have been recently posted to stories published online

A dark chapter dawns

The CrewFacilities Services workers keep campus clean, tidy ... and safe

Max Perez/CourierA worker on Facilities Services Department crew uses his leaf blower to clean up a mainpath through the campus on Tuesday.

Steven Fuel/CourierA worker power washes the pavement in Quad on Tuesday morning.

Justin Clay/CourierAfter hours on Monday, the door to the Facilities Services Department displays a sign alerting that the office is closed.

Steven Fuel/CourierEmployees of the Facilities Services Department replace a fire hydrant near the Jameson Amphitheater and the Boone Scuplture Garden on Tuesday.

Steven Fuel/CourierService workers use personal transport vehicles to move quickly around the campus.

Justin Clay/CourierFacilities Service workers operate a power washing machine in the Quad on Tuesday.

SCENESCENE4 Courier June 13, 2012Special Edition 5CourierJune 13, 2012 Special Edition

6 Courier June 13, 2012Special Edition

What’s your view on the bribery probe?

Reporting by: Philip McCormick, Luis Rodriguez and Colin Sum, Photos by: Daniel Nerio and Louis Cheung

“I’m glad there is [an investigation]. With the budget

cuts, there shouldn’t be room forcriminal activity.”

Albert Popovian, business

“If this turns out to be true, it’shorrible. We should make regular

checks on the administration.” Nathalie Torres,

computer engineering

“We don’t need anymore contro-versial things, especially when

there’s so much going onalready.”

Diva Ward, technical theater

“This kind of thing happens inhigh schools too. It’s nothing that

shocks me.” Albert Lopez, undecided

“It’s a great thing that they areinvestigating it and are trying tofind out what really happened.”

Maria Cano, English

“At least it’s good that they caught[them]. It’s crucial that they’re

investigating the funds that areaccounted for.”

Art Lemus, journalism

“It doesn’t help PCC move for-ward and if its proven true, I’m

very disappointed.”Peter Torres, business

“I was really shocked. I don’tknow what to expect if [Hutchings]really did it or not. He didn’t seemlike the type of person to do this.”

Hannah Gonzales, undecided

“They are taking favors to putmoney in their pockets but somepeople deserve [to get] the job.”Chantha Touch, political science

“It’s disappointing, a superior tak-ing bribes. We as students look

up to them.”Christian Noble, computer science

“The state is going corrupt. It putsless faith into people at PCC and

PCC is a good school.”Juan Quezeda, environmental

management protection

“He took advantage of the situa-tion. He wasn’t looking out for thestudents and took advantage of

bad economic times.”Michael Lang, psychology

“It’s very comical that [van Pelt]used to be a business teacher.”

Jordan Perreira, business

“I know Hutchings personally. Hewas my political science profes-sor. I don’t think the alleged cor-ruption should pertain to him. Ifthere’s evidence, it is what it is.”Javier Gutierrez, communications

“It is a crime.”Marissa Fonseca,child development

VOICES:

New study finds that U Building is safePHILIP MCCORMICKAssist. Opinion Editor

A new report on the safety ofthe U Building’s questions theinitial evaluations that the schoolhad done in previous years,which became the basis of deter-mining to abandon the building.

According to someone whohas seen the report because he ison the panel of the FacultyAssociation, which has orderedit from a consultant, it is author-itative.

“The person who made this[new] report,” said Theater ArtsInstructor William R. (Rod)Foster, “is one of the worldsleading authorities on earth-quake structures and statisticaltesting.”

Vice President ofAdministrative Services Richardvan Pelt had said in November2010 that the first reports, com-piled by Dasse Design and laterAmarre Studios, that the UBuilding was the least structural-ly sound building on campus.

“The prudent thing to do,”said van Pelt in 2010. “Is notaccept any level of risk.”

The person who made the newreport had something very dif-

ferent to say, though. He said that if that data from

the initial report was correct,then there had already beenthree earthquakes big enough to

demolish the U Building, saidFoster.

“We [the Faculty Association]are not fighting the replacementof the U Building,” said Foster

“What we are afraid of, is thatthe college is about to be drivenoff of a financial cliff becausethere isn’t money to even teardown the U Building, let alonereplace it.”

The replacement project hasbeen estimated to cost a total of$70 million.

The first reports had said thatsteel joints, which unite thecolumns and beams of the build-ing, were slightly smaller thanwhat is standard under currentbuilding codes, according to vanPelt.

The building was supposed tobe emptied in January of 2011,but there are still classes beingheld in the U Building to thisday.

Foster said that he had seenand forwarded the initial reportscompiled on the U Building tothe people leading the new eval-uation and that they would havethose reports within days.

Max Perez/CourierRod Foster, Theater Arts instructor and Faculty Association negotiater, talks to staff in front of the R Building before heading into the Visual Arts and Media Studies Division office, on Tuesday.

said that initially he did notknow whom the search warrantstargeted.

“They notified me that theywere looking into a matter hereon campus,” Rocha said. “Iimmediately turned it over toour General Counsel GailCooper.”

After finding out that van Peltand Hutchings were the targets,Rocha said he refused to disclosethat information to the two menfor fear of getting in the way ofthe investigation.

“We were cooperating fullywith the District Attorney so wewere under [their guidance] intheir criminal investigation,”Rocha said. “So you normallyfollow that guidance, and it’sfairly obvious that when the DAis investigating a possible crimethat you would not inform the

suspects.”Rocha also said that he did not

know about Hutchings’ and vanPelt’s businesses outside of theschool. He was also unaware ofHutchings’ controversial profes-sional background. Hutchingsresigned from the L.A.P.D afterbeing convicted of theft, and hewas also removed as chief of theMaywood Police Departmentafter two weeks on the job.However, Hutchings did man-age to land a position at PCC.Rocha did find out that van Peltwas part of the committee thatrecommended hiring Hutchings.

“It’s sad that their actionsaffect many more people thanjust the two of them,” Rocha con-cluded. “The college has a longpast and will have a longfuture.”

said yes and walked away.“[The Board members] were

all quite shocked to hear of theinvestigation and the allega-tions,” Wah said via email. “Iwas personally saddened to hearthat search warrants were beingserved. My experience with bothDr. Van Pelt and Mr. Hutchingshas been positive and profes-sional.”

Less than 15 minutes later,Wah sent another email explain-ing all responses were to be han-dled by the Director of PublicRelations Juan Gutierrez. “I justhappened to see your emailbefore I saw Juan’s email,” shesaid.

Gutierrez had sent a staff-wideemail explaining that noresponse should go directly toany media request before it was

submitted to him first. “All inquiries from the press,

including the Courier, should berouted to me . . . it is especiallyimportant at this time given thevery serious nature of theDistrict Attorney’s ongoinginvestigation,” he said.

Trustee Thomson, who is alsoan attorney, responded an hourbefore deadline, by phone.Thomson said he was at theQuarter Finals for the FrenchOpen during the press confer-ence last week. He received anemail on his blackberry on June 5about the search warrants.

“I am just extremely disap-pointed any employees woulddo something like this if the alle-gations are true. If they are true,this would definitely be a 180-degree turn for the college,” saidThomson.

a great deal of work to [do to]restore a sense of trust in theschool.”

Director of InstitutionalEffectiveness Crystal Kollrosssaid she worked well with vanPelt, but reserved her judgmentabout the criminal allegations.

“I’ve had an excellent rela-tionship with [van Pelt],” shesaid. “I can’t make any judg-ments so we’re going to let dueprocess take its course.”

Former Vice President ofInstruction Jackie Jacobs, whoretired at the end of 2011, saidshe had no personal knowledgeabout the whether the briberyallegations against van Pelt orHutchings were true.

“I certainly hope not,” she toldthe Courier on Monday. “I amonly aware of what has been inthe news media.”

Jacobs added that the collegeneeds to keep its focus on“Student Success.”

“It is my prayer that the inves-tigation will be fair and clearlybring an end to this matter. Thecommunity deserves the bestleadership possible and will con-tinue to expect nothing less.”

Student Trustee Alex Soto wassaddened.

“Given recent events it’s diffi-cult not to have a sense of disap-pointment and not to wonderhow this college will operatemoving forward,” Soto said.“Hopefully the campus commu-nity can work diligently to makesure that these matters are com-pletely resolved so we can con-tinue to move forward and asense of integrity can be reestab-lished on this campus.”

Supervisor of FacilitiesServices Sarah Flores struck acompassionate note.

“I am concerned for them both[van Pelt and Hutchings] andtheir families as well,” she said.

Facilities worker of 12 yearsKathy Sowels expressed shock atthe investigation. “[Van Pelt]liked to do everything by thebook,” said Sowels. “He is a verysharp, smart man.”

Sowels was surprisedHutchings had been put onadministrative leave. “The custo-dians were being treated morefair[ly] when he came,” she said.

According to Sowels, collegePresident Mark Rocha’sThursday meeting with FacilityServices staff members was topoint the way forward.

“[He told us] we are startingfrom a clear, plain white wall,”she said.

No arrests have been made,but both men are currently onadministrative leave.

"The allegation was a solicita-tion of contracts for the college,"Demerjian told the Courier onThursday. The DA received acomplaint from an individual inMarch which prompted theinvestigation.

“ I find it pretty shocking. I’mreally disappointed that the DAoffice is investigating potentialcorruption at PCC. It’s disturb-ing,” said Pat Rees, adjunct fac-ulty.

“All people are innocent untilproven guilty, said Jim Gonzales,ceramics instructor.

“If they are guilty of the alle-gations I say they should beburied in a deep hole because ofthe damage it’s done to our col-lege and the relationships wehave with people outside the col-lege. I have a funny feeling theinvestigation isn’t over yet. It’sgoing to be interesting whatcomes up.”

“I am really biased and myopinion is really biased. When Imet [van Pelt and Hutchings]together, I had a gut feelingabout them so when this hap-pened I wasn’t surprised,” saidGonzales.

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7CourierJune 13, 2012 Special Edition

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For breaking news, video and pictures, visit Courier online atpccCourier.com

Reporter’s notebook: A hectic 24 hoursCHRISTINE MICHAELSStaff Writer

At the chaotic Board ofTrustees meeting Wednesdayevening, a photographer took apicture of Vice President ofAdministrative Services Richardvan Pelt checking the NHLscores on his desktop screen.

Asked if he thought van Pelt’sbehavior was appropriate,Director of Public RelationsJuan Gutierrez deferred to thecollege lawyer.

“You will have to talk to[General Counsel] Gail Cooperregarding that issue,” saidGutierrez. He seemed nervous

and taken aback by the ques-tion. I was confused about whyhe would ask me to talk to Ms.Cooper about a almost comicalissue.

On June 6, the Board was con-ducting its meeting in theCreveling Lounge from 7 p.m.until about 8 p.m. At 6:30, about10 protesters were seen gettingready for the meeting. A fewwere waiting for the mouthsthey had painted to dry on theirnecks. On the other side of theCC Building, cadets and officerswere seen patrolling the area.

A few minutes later a reporterran into the Courier newsroomsaying the public comment peri-

od was getting loud. Back in theCreveling Lounge, protesters atthe back of the room were nowholding posters, while a studenttalked to the board. A red lighton President Geoffrey Baum’sdesk was lit and Baum attempt-ed to call up the next speaker.

The crowd vehemently inter-rupted with chants of “LETHIM SPEAK!” Board memberssat with poker faces, not utter-ing a word. A student came upand screamed that the boardhad no respect for students.Baum responded: “I respectyou.”

The room erupted, “No!”There were whispers amongst

Board members and many leftthe room. Vice President ofInstruction Robert Bell stayed inhis seat, along with a few othermembers of the Board.

In the outer lounge, I askedPR Director Gutierrez if he feltBaum’s response to public com-ment was appropriate.Gutierrez looked nervous. “Ican’t speak for him,” he said.

What happened next was asurprise. In the hallway rightoutside the Courier newsroomChief of Police Stanton Perezand Board members were walk-ing out of the conference roomand into the EmergencyOperations Center, which is

adjacent to the newsroom.Earlier, Baum had told

Courier Editor-in-Chief NeilProtacio, that one reporter andone photographer would beallowed into the EOC, wherethe Board meeting was recon-vening.

Could this be a potential vio-lation of the state’s open meet-ings law, the Brown Act, whichrequires business of the Boardbe conducted in public?

A debate arose as to the legali-ty of holding a meeting withouta public audience.

For more visit Courier online,at pccCourier.com

Campus shocked over recent events

‘On leave’employeesremain in limbo

Public hears very little fromBoard members on probe

Daniel Nerio / CourierIn an on-camera interview, President Mark Rocha answers questions Tuesday regarding the bribery probe.

RONALD JOHNSONCourier staff

It’s a leafy, 3-bedroom 3-bathhouse purchased for $279,000 in1990 in a stony enclave ofAltadena, just west of LakeAvenue. Early on June 9, a squadof apparently unmarked lawenforcement cars descended onthe home, according to an eye-witness.Los Angeles CountyAssessor records show the homeis owned by “Richard P. andCarol J. Van Pelt.”No one washome at about 8:45 on Saturdaymorning, but a UPS parcel sittingat the front door.

According to a next-doorneighbor, it was left by the UPSdriver the day before.Apparently, the package hadremained  on the front porchovernight, giving the impressionthat no one was home to take itin.The contemporarily styledhouse is just 22 years old. It wasbuilt in 1990. Leafy bushes flankthe ornate double front doors.

Two second-floor windows pro-trude from the steeply slopedroof, and a two-car garage greetsvisitors as they pull into thedriveway surfaced with pavingstones.The lot is 7,425 squarefeet. In the 2010-11 tax year, thevan Pelts paid $3,842 in proper-ty taxes. Its total market value inthat year was assessed at$341,389. Much smaller homesflank it on the east and west.According to the neighbor, thehouse often appears to be unoc-cupied because the van Peltsapparently spend their time athome in the back part of thestructure. The neighbor notedthat the van Pelts park theirvehicles in the garage. Rick vanPelt drives a red sports car; hiswife drives a 4x4 SUV, shesaid.On Saturday, the neighborsaid she had not seen them sincethe police raid on June 9.

She added that when the vanPelts leave town, their vehiclesremain in the garage and a driv-er picks them up at about 4 a.m. 

PHILIP MCCORMICKStaff Writer

It was stunning. At about 10 a.m.two officials wearing sweatshirtsemblazoned with “Los AngelesCounty DA” on their backs, got out ofa car that had just pulled into ParkingLot 1 and walked into the FacilityServices building.

As any curious reporter would, I fol-lowed and asked them why they werehere. They said they couldn’t talkabout it because it involved an ongo-ing investigation. An employee of theCampus Police Department hadescorted them to Facilities, as theywere walking into the building the DA

agents told her that other DA officialshad earlier been on campus.

College General Counsel GailCooper was inside the Facilities office.Cooper told me that she would notanswer any questions from the mediaand that there would be a news confer-ence at 2 p.m.The DA investigatorswere by now grabbing paperwork andplacing documents into boxes. Later itwas learned that they also had takencomputer hard drives from the officesof Vice President of AdministrativeAffairs Rick van Pelt and FacilitiesSupervisor Al Hutchings.

Later that morning, I was one of fiveCourier reporters assigned to cover theofficial news conference. When it start-

ed, it emerged that an official state-ment would be read by President MarkRocha who was accompanied by Boardof Trustees President Geoffrey Baum.No questions would be taken.After the“news conference,” a reporter fromABC Eyewitness News requested aninterview. It was agreed.

ABC 7 Reporter Miriam Hernandezasked what I had seen earlier on cam-pus. As the interview ended, LancerRadio also requested a live interviewfrom me, Courier Editor-in-Chief NeilProtacio and Chief PhotographerDaniel Nerio. We told the radio listen-ers what we had seen. We had justbeen eyewitnesses to PCC history inthe making.

SPECIAL EDITIONSPECIAL EDITIONJune 13, 2012OURIERC

For breaking news, video and pictures, visit Courier online atpccCourier.com

Facilities workersfear speaking aboutcorruption casePAUL OCHOAAND CHRISTINE MICHAELSStaff Writers

There is a strong sense of fearlurking on campus; you can seeit in the eyes of facilities workers.With the recent departure of AlHutchings, director of FacilitiesServices, the Courier hasswarmed the Facilities Servicesoffice and its workers trying togather information. What theygot, however, were the samegeneric answers and suspiciouslooks.

When Editor-in-Chief NeilProtacio approached two facili-ties workers as they were gettinginto their cart in the quad, theyseemed wary of the press. Heasked them what was going onin facilities. One of workers toldhim in a sarcastic sounding tonethat he was new and did notwant to lose his job. He thenreferred to a memo sent out byJuan Gutierrez, director of publicrelations, which informed allfacilities workers not to speak tothe press, specifically theCourier and to direct all ques-tions to him.

Anyone going into theFacilities Services office won’tfind anything out of the ordi-nary. However when an employ-ee working the front desk wasquestioned about the changes infacilities, she said, “It’s just busi-ness as usual, just another ordi-nary day.” When the reporterattempted to schedule an inter-view with the person in charge,she was told that any questionsor interviews with the supervi-sor in charge must be donethrough email.

Other facilities workers emp-tying trash cans nearby wouldn’t

comment on anything. One said“Really can’t tell you anything.They sent us a memo to direct allquestions to Gutierrez. I just tryand comply.”

The Facilities Services employ-ees seem to be scared of thepress. Some say they don’t wantto lose their jobs. They do theirbest to avoid reporters and whenthey do say anything, they referback to the memo sent out byGutierrez.

One facilities worker diddecide to comment, but like theothers was fearful of being fired.The worker was utterly shockedto hear about the criminal inves-tigation of Vice President ofAdministrative Services RichardVan Pelt and FacilitiesSupervisor Alfred Hutchings.

The worker said, “[Mr.Hutchings] treated the workersfair. Before he came, people wereput on leave for no real reason.”The worker also said Van Pelt“liked to do everything by thebook. He is a very sharp man.”

But the worker did criticizeother facilities supervisors, say-ing they were not fair to theirworkers while others allowedtheir team of workers to haveextended breaks in the laundryand break room. “Some supervi-sors have their favorites.”

The worker also said thatsome people who have no busi-ness being in carts can often beseen riding around on one oncampus all day. Yet another facil-ities supervisor was accused ofharassing workers, untilHutchings was hired. “Theoffending supervisor becamereally quiet for a while when Algot here.” That man was control-ling and verbally aggressive,according to the worker.

Daniel Nerio/CourierReporter Philip McCormick interviewed on June 7

by ABC 7 reporter Miriam Hernandez at The Cap &Gown Room.

NOTEBOOK: Eyewitnesses to history

Van Pelts paid $279,000 for their house

Teresa Mendoza/CourierThe home of Richard and Carol van Pelt is seen on New York Drive in Altadena. The van Pelts have ownedthe property since 1990, according to the Los Angeles County Assessor.

Ronald Johnson/CourierA parcel delivered to the van Pelthome by UPS is on their frontporch on Saturday morning.