Safety & Security at Rio Hondo Delayed

In January 2019, the Board of Trustees initiated a Safety & Security Assessment by contracting a former police chief and former arson investigator to perform an independent assessment of Rio Hondo College. This was primarily in response to the gun incident at Rio Hondo College that occurred months before and which left many wondering if the college was safe. This coincided with a change in the board composition where new board members were calling for an intensive review of safety and where incumbents board members wished just to put that in the past without any further inquiry.

The superintendent was reluctant against any safety assessment where the gun incident might be investigated. The gun carrying dean claimed that the superintendent allowed him to carry the gun on campus without notifying the board of trustees. The superintendent made herself clear to the board president that she was adamantly against any inquiry related to the gun incident and that she would strike out any focus from the scope of services. However, the board directed the superintendent to allow the assessment firm to do a full comprehensive review of safety and security at Rio Hondo College without any interference. In private, however, the superintendent demanded that the safety and security assessment occur only after she leaves which was counter to the board’s wishes and directive. The safety and security assessment passed five-zero on the board. The urgency was clear from the board.
Two months passed, and the superintendent stalled and delayed the signing of the contract of the assessment firm. She further delayed the contract and gutted the scope of the assessment thus obstructing a full independent evaluation. She now prescribed that the investigators only talk to two people on campus; the VP of Finance and the HR Director. All other communication was prohibited.

Five months passed until the two investigators of the assessment firm informed the board president of all the delays, stalls and gutting of the contract. The Superintendent was unresponsive. The board president met with the superintendent to ask about the status of the contract and she claimed ignorance. She did not know about the status. When asked further for a status update, a week later, she indicated that the contract “wasn’t ready”. Six months later, after the original contract scope had changed and the delayed continued, the contracted investigators communicated to the board president that the delays had now limited the scope and time frame. Where the original scope was for twelve months now they have only six months to do a year’s amount of work, if the contract ever gets signed.
On or about June 10th 2019, The board president received an amended contract to forward to the superintendent since she was unresponsive. The board president met with the superintendent to discuss the status of the contract and modification requested by the firm given that six months had passed and still no contract had been signed. In discussion, the superintendent agreed that a years’ worth of work must now be done in six months warranted a modification. The conversation about the importance of safety and security was mutually agreed and that the assessment was needed. The Superintendent informed the board president that the modification will be placed on the consent agenda by her recommendation. However, the story of the safety and security assessment was told differently by the superintendent at a board meeting.

The bottom line is this, Rio Hondo College students and employees deserve to study and work in a safe environment. After the gun incident and other reoccurring circumstances like stalking, now is the time to conduct an independent safety and security assessment so that we can identify our weak points and strengths to begin to address them. Why should we wait till a serious safety crisis arises? The stall and delay were a tactic to prevent any scrutiny of the gun incident. The delay was successful. The assessment will not be conducted while the sitting president is in office. However, the assessment must continue without delay or obstruction. Our students and employees deserve to be safe.