Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

News

Long Beach City College President Fired, Employees Wonder Why

Former Long Beach City College superintendent-president Reagan Romali delivering the 2018 State of the College Address (Long Beach City College)
()

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today. 

An email sent last week to Long Beach City College District employees is doing little to answer questions about why the college’s board of trustees fired Superintendent-President Reagan Romali.

Adjunct political science professor Mike Bressler read the email but was left wondering why the board wanted her out.

“It seemed to me because she was applying to different positions, but I'm just not clear,” he said.

The move was unexpected. “I was kind of surprised, yeah,” he said.

Support for LAist comes from

Trustees voted on Wednesday in closed session to fire Romali. She'll get one month’s paid leave first. The email from board president Vivian Malauulu wished Romali well but didn’t give a reason for the firing.

Romali could not be reached for comment.

In the last year, Romali had been a finalist for community college president jobs in Miami, Albany (Oregon) and Minneapolis (she's still in the running in Minneapolis).

No interim Long Beach City College president has been announced. The board said it would say more at its March 25 meeting.

Read the email to employees from LBCCD board president Vivian Malauulu:

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist