Auditor Urges Prosecution of College Board Chief

The state auditor’s office has sent a letter to Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti accusing the president of the Cerritos College Board of Trustees of unlawfully releasing confidential information about an ongoing review of the Norwalk campus.

State Auditor Kurt Sjoberg confirmed Thursday that his office sent the letter in response to a press release written and distributed by board President Bob Verderber summarizing a confidential meeting last month between auditors and the board.

Sjoberg said board members were told not to share information discussed during the meeting, and that doing so is a misdemeanor under state law. A final audit report will not be ready until next month, he said.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said she could not confirm if charges will be brought against Verderber.

While Verderber maintains that he was not warned about releasing details of the meeting, he suggested Thursday that he was justified in spreading word that investigators have dismissed key allegations that prompted the audit.

Requested by Assemblywoman Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) and commissioned earlier this year by the state Legislature, the audit is examining allegations of budget problems, conflicts of interest and deficiencies in reporting attendance.