Southwestern Governing Board Member William Stewart resigned in protest Friday due to a lack of transparency and threats of layoffs, he told the college's paper The Southwestern Sun.
Recent financial improprieties "have contributed to genuine and legitimate erosion of trust" of citizens of the community and employees, Williams said in his resignation letter.
William said he wanted to be different when he was elected last fall, but now feels unable to continue.
Administrators have failed to provide accurate budget figures to board members or union representatives, he said.
"Without information, all the information, oversight is a sham," Williams said in his resignation letter.
There are good people on the district's governing board, he said, but there are disagreements.
"We particularly diverge on points of finance, how we negotiate with bargaining units, including the threat of layoffs and how we prioritize our funds," he said in his resignation letter. "From proposals of hiring directors and other administration while cutting deeper into funding for classes, the library or Southwestern's Sun, I cannot sit by and say all is well or even okay. You deserve more."
See William's resignation letter and reaction from the campus community on theswcsun.com.
