I don’t think that President Tom Fallo is
more deserving of a raise than the rest of
the staff on campus.
Fallo is being given a pay raise of
$40,000 with an additional five percent of
that to be added annually, in order to rescind
his somewhat abrupt retirement announcement.
If you do the math, Fallo will receive an
additional $172,000 over the next four years
on top of his original $277,000 salary.
According to Salary.com, he was already
making almost $6,000 more per year than
the average community college president,
and he will now be in the top seventy-fifth
percentile of Los Angeles community college
presidents’ salaries.
Some students cannot afford classes because
of rising tuition costs and the board
still decided to give one person a raise simply
because he would be difficult to replace.
All of this on top of the fact that he announced
his retirement three years ago and
was offered a $36,000 pay increase to stay,
which he refused due to financial contro versy.
The primary goal and concern for someone
who leads an institution that prepares
students for their future should be the well
being and growth of those students, not a
thicker wallet.
We recently received some relief due to
Prop. 30, but that doesn’t mean it is acceptable
to skim off the top and take funds that
could be put to better use.
While I believe Fallo is an outstanding
president and has done a great job managing
this institution, I do not think that he
needs to have this gross pay raise to fulfill
the same responsibilities.
He is not taking on any additional tasks,
he is simply doing the same job that he has
had since 1995, especially when the money
could be put to better use.
The money could help offer more classes,
as well as help settle any pre-existing
debts that the school has.
Is it really a good idea to pay Fallo more
money at this point?
We cannot afford to pay more for the
same service if we are in difficult financial
times.
There must be a better alternative to helping our school.
