With a no-confidence vote looming over him, Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez sent out an open letter to the campus community on April 10. In the letter Gonzalez responded to issues brought up in the Faculty Senate’s referendum, addresses additional campus concerns and accused a handful of faculty members of “mean-spiritedness.”

“In the 28 years I have been part of the California State University?I have yet to encounter the level of incivility, mean-spiritedness and outright distortion that I have found among some members of the (Sac State) community,” Gonzalez said.

Assistant Professor of Sociology Kevin Wehr said that any ill will toward Gonzalez is a direct result of his attitude and presidential actions.

“In the four years I have been here, I have seen the president squander the good will of the faculty and students by ignoring our input about important issues,” Wehr said. “It seems to me that the current climate was instigated by the president’s own actions and dismissive attitude towards both students and faculty members.”

In his nine-page letter, Gonzalez addressed the Senate’s claims of “misplaced funding priorities and consequent allocations,” unnecessary cuts to the Academic Affairs budget, a “substantial increase in the Student Faculty Ratio (SFR),” an increase in the number of management personnel plan employees, a $1.7 million total increase to MPP employee salaries, a non-transparent budget and failure to provide a “vision” for the university’s academic programs.

In response to claims of “misplaced priorities and consequent allocations” Gonzalez said that the Faculty Senate’s statements are true. In response to all of the other issues Gonzalez said that each is either completely untrue or partially inaccurate.

“During the time that I have been here, the SFR has fluctuated between 22:1 and 20:1,” Gonzalez said. “When I arrived (here), I inherited a significant budget cut stemming from a system-wide reduction. Since the first year, I have developed and managed three budgets?and (on) each of those?I worked systematically and diligently to restore and strengthen Academic Affairs. Even after this year’s budget cuts, Academic Affairs has had a significant net gain in resources.”

Gonzalez said the Faculty Senate’s referendum, which was accepted 36-7 with one abstention on April 5, was developed due to a lack of campus understanding and is driven by inaccuracies and unreliable information.

“I am very disappointed that the senate chose to follow this path?.The context in which the motion was passed is more reminiscent of a witch hunt than the halls of academe,” Gonzalez said. “There was convergence of a lot of factors. Just the atmosphere of going through contract negotiations, the budget deficit and the lack of understanding of the budget?all of that contributed to the anger that is out there. Anger that is, in my opinion, misplaced.”

President of the Sac State Chapter of the California Faculty Association Cecil Canton said that Gonzalez’s statements couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I completely disagree,” Canton said. “I think that the referendum came around because the faculty has a better understanding of budgetary issues and of Gonzalez’s overall performance. I think he’s selling the faculty members and their intellectual capacity far short.”

Wehr said he is not nor has he ever been a victim, despite how much Gonzalez would like to make himself out to be.

“His misplaced priorities have eroded confidence in his leadership,” Wehr said. “The senate’s decision to present the referendum of no confidence is the democratic and responsible thing to do. When important concerns are not addressed the faculty and students feel disrespected, support for authority erodes and good will becomes its opposite. This is not misplaced anger; it is a reasonable and highly democratic reaction to the administration’s poor leadership and go-it-alone governance approach.”

Music Professor James Chopyak said that he too believes that any anger directed toward Gonzalez is well deserved.

“Faculty anger is not misplaced,” Chopyak said. “It is the priorities of this administration, expressed through President Gonzalez’s actions, which have caused faculty to be so angry. Most people have no confidence in the way we are headed. No one wants a failed president on this campus, but faculty has been left with little choice since their clear and consistent advice has been ignored.”

Gonzalez said he feels that a lot of the information put out by the CFA and the senate over the last year has been part of a negotiation strategy.

“Everybody is being painted by the same brush,” Gonzalez said. “People have said that (the administration’s) priorities are misplaced, which is part of a negotiation strategy, and that’s fine. I’ve kept very quiet on the whole thing because I didn’t want to get involved in any exchanges that would influence anyone in a negative manner.”

Canton said that while he can’t speak for the actions of the Faculty Senate he knows that all of the CFA’s actions and arguments have been based on what is best for the faculty, not on hatred for Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said there are a number of Sac State faculty and staff members who have and will continue to fight him on every decision he makes, regardless of the reasoning behind it.

“There is a group of faculty here who have made it their goal to discredit me and to gain control of some of the processes here on campus,” Gonzalez said.

Canton said that Gonzalez’s recent attempts to speak with the media and the Faculty Senate are his way of putting the blame on others instead of taking responsibility for his own mistakes. “He’s trying to deflect responsibility away from himself,” Canton said. “The faculty have legitimate concerns?.Gonzalez can’t just wish this one away, he needs to address our concerns and make the necessary adjustments to fix the problem.”

Gonzalez said that while he is unsure about whether or not the faculty will vote for or against him, he knows that accountability goes both ways.

“If the vote passes, it passes, and if doesn’t, then it doesn’t,” Gonzalez said. “I can’t do anything about it either way. I do know that, whether it passes or not, I will continue to work cooperatively and openly with the campus community.”

Scott Merlino, a philosophy lecturer, said the vote goes beyond a few line items in the campus budget, noting that some classes have increased from 35 to 45 students.

“Class sizes have increased a lot,” Merlino said. “I can’t give (students) as much as I’d like to, as I used to.”

In response to the referendum, Gonzalez provided statistics showing the student-faculty ratio has remained at 20-to-1 during his tenure.

“There is no trend and no evidence that it has increased substantially,” Gonzalez wrote last week.

Gonzalez said he would not resign, noting that any decision about his job should be in the hands of the system’s chancellor and board of trustees.

California State University spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow said the referendum was a campus issue for its own faculty to sort out.

Faculty Senate Chair Michael Fitzgerald said the referendum will probably go against Gonzalez.

Voting began Monday and will continue through April 27.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ashley Evans can be reached at [email protected]