Wednesday, 02 April 2008
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Student Alledges Conflict of Interest
College student alleges conflict of interest after bringing complaint to DA's unit
San Bernardino Valley College student Dawn Crawford thought the unit was the perfect place for her complaint. The 32-year-old San Bernardino resident alleges that the community college district board of trustees discriminated against her and other people of color.
Crawford, who has lawsuits pending against the college, is running in the November election for a seat on the board. Earlier this year she tried unsuccessfully to recall all seven district trustees.
Crawford filed her complaint in person April 23, the day the Public Integrity Unit was formed, but didn't hear any response for months.
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"I kept sending e-mails, kept writing letters inquiring and he would totally ignore me and I couldn't understand why,' Crawford said. "He worked for the school and had no intention of doing anything about it. He can't investigate a complaint when he's working for these people.'
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But Crawford doesn't buy it.
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Crawford has sued the college over a series of incidents in 2000 and 2001.
In 2000, she was serving as a senator on the college's Associated Student Body. After another senator directed racial slurs at her, she said, she refused to work in the Associated Student Body office. Crawford, who is black, was later removed from the senate for failing to perform her duties.
Crawford sought to be reinstated but was unsuccessful. She filed a series of complaints against the college. Soon after filing a civil rights complaint with the state Attorney General's Office in May 2001, her apartment was searched by police. The search warrant said she was suspected of making terrorist threats against a fellow student and two staff members. Crawford denied making the threats."They tried to turn me into this monster,' Crawford said. "At the time they raided my house, I was sitting on their dean's list, I had just won a scholarship. They didn't have probable cause. They claimed I was sending threatening e-mails. To this day I have never seen an e-mail I'm supposed to have written.'
Crawford said the search and a subsequent decision to deny her financial aid are part of a pattern of harassment by the college since she began filing complaints.
"It's not just one person,' Crawford said. "It's like every year there'sa demotion, and it's a black or Hispanic person in a leadership position.'
The community college district could not comment on Crawford's complaint due to pending litigation and because she is a candidate for the board of trustees.
Crawford sited several people who had been fired from the college and submitted newspaper articles about them to the Public Integrity Unit with her complaint.****
Redlands Daily Facts - News
Crawford, is a student at San Bernardino Valley College who filed a complaint with the District Attorney's office alleging she was a victim of racial discrimination.
She forwarded her complaint to the Public Integrity Unit in the District Attorney's office April 23. In November, Crawford received a response rejecting her suit.
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Crawford began preparing a drafted petition to recall Ramos last week, but dropped the recall petition effort Wednesday, according to the e-mail.
Crawford was unavailable for comment.
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After Crawford complained about Vanella's conflict of interest, her case was later forwarded to two other attorneys.
The situation began in 2000 when the 32-year-old San Bernardino resident said her complaint about being the victim of racial slurs was ignored by the community college district board of trustees. Crawford, who is black, was kicked off the Associated Student Body Senate for "non-performance" the same day she was elected by her peers.
In 2001, she unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the community college district board of trustees "to get attention" following her complaint against the college.
If Crawford continued to pursue circulating her recall petition, she would have had 160 days to collect 65,000 valid signatures from registered voters within the county.
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Crawford currently has nine civil lawsuits pending against administrators at San Bernardino Valley College.
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