This morning I was going over the agenda for the Los Angeles Community College District's board meeting on Wednesday, and one thing popped out at me.
Two interim administration appointees -- selected to fill spots made empty by a retirement and a career change -- are getting some pretty nice benefits. They each get a car allowance of $1,530 per month.
*UPDATED on Aug. 31, see below
In these post-Bell days, every benefit and salary deserves scrutiny. And $1,530 is certainly more than any of our local officials get for a car allowance.
Of course, the nine-college district is huge, and driving around it could certainly rack up some mileage and might require multiple tanks of gas each week. Still, even if the new appointees were driving all over LACCD and were leasing a nice new car, I'd guess they'd have trouble racking up that kind of auto expense every month.
It looks like the board of trustees in 2006 approved raising the car allowance for college presidents from $700 to $900 -- and these two appointees are categorized as presidents for pay purposes. I put in a call to the district to find out what the car allowance policy is now.
The new appointees are: Yasmin Delahoussaye, set to fill the position of interim "Vice Chancellor for Educational Programs and Institutional Effectiveness" beginning Aug. 30; and Rose Marie Joyce, to act at interim president of West L.A. College.
From what I can tell from district salary scales posted online, Delahoussaye will make about $11,005 per month. Joyce will get about $11,610 monthly, as well as $1,600 per month in an "alternative retirement account."
While I'm at it, I should note this story, which shows that the executive director of the California School Boards Association earned more than $400,000 last year.
Now who says there no money in education right now?
*Michael Shanahan, associate vice chancellor for employer/employee relations, emailed me the agenda from the day this new car allowance was approved. On Sept. 17, 2008, the Board of Trustees approved increasing the car allowance for college presidents from $900 to $1,530 monthly. Then-Chancellor Mark Drummond recommended the bump, which also affected his compensation and that of seven other administrators.
Salary increases for many of those administrators were approved at the same time, as were contract extensions.
Shanahan said college presidents are expected to travel widely across the sprawling district. By my math, the perks mean the district pays about $26,000 per month for auto allowances.


