Blog: Houston Community College trustees deny PAC influenced … – Houston Chronicle

Maldonado’s contract extension still failed, with five trustees – including Lenton-Gary – voting Wednesday against re-signing. (Lenton-Gary’s available campaign finance filings do not show any contributions from the PAC.)

“I’d be very interested in talking with you briefly about the pending issues with the renewal of the chancellor’s current arrangement with the college,” Day, naming himself as the chair of the coalition, said in the voicemail. “Please give me a call at your convenience.”

The recording signaled a more drawn-out fight over Maldonado’s contract than was previously known: Conversations about the pending deal had largely taken place behind closed doors in executive session. But several administrative problems in Maldonado’s nine years as chancellor were part of the fight. Two of the trustees who voted against the renewal afterward cited steep declines in admission as well as lawsuits brought under the chancellor’s tenure – including one alleging discrimination against Black employees – as some of their personal reasons for opposing his continued leadership.

Trustees say PAC didn’t influence vote 

Trustees Monica Flores Richart, Eva L. Loredo, Charlene Ward Johnson and Adriana Tamez voted in favor of the extension. While they each reported campaign contributions from the business education PAC, all four denied financial influence in their decision making. Day also denied any ethical conflict occurred.

“We’re people who pay taxes, we have an interest in the performance of the college,” Day said in a phone interview. “That’s materially affected by the selection of the chancellor, the chief executive officer. We of course have an interest in that. I think it would be very disappointing if the business community here in Houston was not vitally involved in that kind of a matter at the college.”

In addition to being chair of the PAC, Day is special counsel at the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth. One HCC watchdog on Wednesday questioned whether the phone call was aboveboard. 

Tamez, of District III, received more than $14,000 from the Houston Business Education Coalition in 2021. Loredo, of District VIII, received more than $25,000 from the PAC that same year. Ward Johnson, of District II, filed $19,000 from the group in 2022. And Richart, of District I, filed $19,500 in 2019, according to HCC campaign finance records.  

“I smell a rat,” said Candice Matthews, minister of politics for the New Black Panther Nation. “I’m very concerned with the ones that said yes – those are the ones whose campaign reports I’m looking at.”

One expert who specializes in campaign finance regulation warned, however, that direct connections between a donation and a policy have to occur to make such interactions unethical.    

“If somebody calls somebody else and says, ‘We won’t support you unless …,’ then I think you’ve got something illegal,” said Richard Briffault,
Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation at Columbia Law School. “The essence is quid pro quo. We’re making a deal here or we want to enforce a prior deal. It may be a little unsavory, maybe not illegal.” 

No votes point to lawsuits, enrollment

The five trustees who voted against Maldonado’s contract extension did not offer any reasons immediately after the Wednesday vote, nor did the chancellor react. He did not respond to requests for comment. 

In a letter issued to the HCC community, however, Maldonado cited several gains in student achievement and building a financial reserve of $256 million as some of his biggest accomplishments. 

“I am proud of my service as chancellor of HCC and of the many accomplishments, awards, and recognitions we have achieved together since May 2014,” Maldonado said. “The best is yet to come and we must all keep advancing the institution’s goals – keeping true to our North Star, the ultimate student experience, which shines bright and guides us from good to great in every aspect of our college’s service.”

But in separate phone calls, two trustees pointed to a number of management issues in Maldonado’s administration as their reasons for voting ‘no.’ One of those is a systemwide decline in enrollment, with more than 12,000 students lost between fall 2019 and fall 2020 – although system officials say they expect more than 30-percent increase in enrollment growth through 2035.

“I voted not to renew chancellor’s contract because of the precipitous decline in enrollment, underperforming campuses, poor fiscal management, absence of a turnaround plan and an astounding number of lawsuits involving current and former personnel,” District IV Trustee Reagan Flowers said. “I fundamentally believe that we need to move this institution in a new forward direction under different leadership.”

One of those lawsuits is seeking $100 million from the system. Filed in 2020 on behalf of hundreds of current and former Black employees, the suit alleges that 90 percent of the longtime black professionals at the community college have either been terminated or demoted since Maldonado arrived, compared with 10 percent of white employees who have been displaced. Hispanic hires and promotions, however, have increased by 50 percent, according to court documents.

The plaintiff’s attorneys also claim that Maldonado used a list of tactics to undermine and get rid of black employees, including padding their personnel files with false complaints to be used as reasons to fire them, using the word “transformation” as a code word for getting rid of black employees, placing doubt on black employees’ claims, and forcing black employees to take leaves of absence without cause in order to use those as grounds for termination.

“There’s a bunch of negative clouds hanging over his head,” District VI Trustee Dave Wilson said. “That was the easy part, not renewing that contract. We’re all going to have to work together as a group and turn this school around and stop us bleeding.”

Trustees: Voicemail was ‘deeply troubling’

The terms of the contract that the trustees considered are unknown. In 2017, Maldonado signed a contract with a $412,529 annual salary, not including cost-of-living adjustments, according to a copy of the document. 

Lenton-Gary and the four other trustees who voted against the extension did not report contributions from Day’s Houston Business Education Coalition in recent years, although two received money in previous election cycles. Pretta VanDible Stallworth received $9,000 from the PAC in 2017, and Robert Glaser received $10,000 from the PAC in 2013.

In a statement, Lenton-Gary confirmed that she received a call from Day but did not return it. Flowers and Wilson both said they found the voicemail recording problematic.

“I found the purported phone call by one ‘Jonathan Day’ deeply troubling and an egregious breach of the fidelity of an internal personnel matter,” Flowers said. “The act was unprecedented to my knowledge and in my experience of dealing with public institutions.”

Wilson said many HCC trustees, some who are no longer on the board, have a history of receiving donations from the Houston Business Education Coalition.

“I will say that I think this money that … he has given has had a negative influence on their judgment,” Wilson said.

Several of the trustees with donations from the PAC said they took issue with any claims that their votes were cast under financial influences. Richart said she received many perspectives and opinions on the matter of Maldonado’s contract, but the decision was hers alone.

“As a Trustee bound by law, ethics rules, HCC bylaws and policies, and my own moral code, I made this decision, as I have all other decisions as Trustee, based on the best interest of the College,” she said. “To suggest otherwise is an insult to not only me, but each one of my colleagues who have received campaign contributions from individuals and groups who care about the future of HCC and Houston.”

The other three trustees released similar statements, some of them affirming that their support for Maldonado stemmed from approving of his track record as well as seeking to avoid disruption at the system.

“My campaign finance report is a public record,” Loredo said. “None of those contributions have impacted my vote or actions as a Board member at any time. My focus will continue to be student success at HCC.”

“People who donated to my campaign, donated because they believed in my vision and my qualifications,” Ward Johnson said. “I’m insulted by the implication that a donation from anyone can influence me to not vote for what is best for HCC and its students. My vote was based on the fact that I’ve seen what has happened at other colleges and districts when there is a sudden change in leadership.  I voted for an extension to allow the board sufficient time to conduct a search for a new chancellor, while maintaining continuity in leadership. I support my colleagues’ decision, and I know that they respect my views.”  

After Wednesday’s vote, which took place in a special meeting, Tamez expressed surprise at the outcome. She said she believed people were open to extending Maldonado’s contract to provide a “transition” period for a new chancellor.

“My support of Chancellor Maldonado is based solely on his performance as the chief executive officer of this institution,” Tamez said in a statement on Thursday. “During his tenure, Dr. Maldonado has taken us from an unhealthy state in 2014 to what we enjoy today; greatly improved student achievement, fiscal stability and excellent financial ratings, integrity and institutional pride.”