OCEANSIDE: Questions linger over MiraCosta's 1.6M Richart buyout

PAUL SISSON - psisson@nctimes.com

MiraCosta College's attorney said last week that the college
must now dissolve the $1.6 million settlement it granted its former
president and superintendent in 2007, but a Carlsbad activist who
fought the deal said parts of the agreement should stand ---- just
not the roughly $1.3 million the college overpaid in the
buyout.

Leon Page, the activist who sued MiraCosta over the deal, said
Friday that the college fulfilled it's agreement with its former
president Victoria Munoz Richart, even if an appeals court decided
later that parts of the settlement were illegal. The college
appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court, which this week
declined to review the matter.

"The college did everything it said it would," Page said, adding
that the settlement only called for the college to pay Richart the
agreed-upon sum ---- it didn't say she had the right to keep the
money.

The point is important because in December, a Richart attorney
named Robert Ottilie said he believed the college would have to
take back Richart's resignation if she were forced to give up her
settlement.

"That would return everyone to where they were," Ottilie said at
the time. He said he believed that Richart's four-year contract
would run at least through 2011, and perhaps even longer, meaning
the college could owe Richart hundreds of thousands of dollars in
back pay.

Richart attorney Randy Winet could not be reached for comment
Friday.

MiraCosta attorney Jack Sleeth, who led the college's three-year
battle to uphold the deal, said earlier Friday that he believed the
appeals court ruling means "we have to undo the settlement."

If that happens, "surely we could have numerous legal issues
that remain," MiraCosta president Francisco Rodriguez said.

The college's agreement with Richart included 18 months salary
and benefits totaling $330,000; a lump-sum check for $650,000 for
unspecified "damages;" and $43,500 in attorney fees. Trustees also
agreed to give her a total of $315,000 in retirement benefits, as
well as health benefits for herself and her husband through age
75.

All but about $300,000 of the total settlement amount has been
paid.

Page argued in his lawsuit that state law limits the amount of a
settlement with a public employee to 18 months salary and benefits.
A trial court sided with Richart, but Page appealed.

In November, an appeals court agreed with Page and ordered the
case be sent back to Superior Court. MiraCosta then appealed that
ruling to the state Supreme Court, which on Wednesday announced it
wouldn't take up the matter.