Los Angeles College District Approves New Controls Over Construction Money

The Los Angeles Community College District established on Wednesday an inspector general’s office and a whistle-blower program for its $5.7-billion construction-bond program, one of the nation’s largest college expansion projects.

Even as college construction has slowed, the 140,000-student district has been able to build new facilities at a breakneck pace, supported by a series of voter-approved bond measures. But a letter from a law firm retained by the district indicated concerns that some of the bond money could have been spent too broadly under state law.

In a letter to the district, made public on Wednesday, the law firm wrote that the district should review its construction spending and eliminate some activities that do not directly relate to construction, including lobbying for legislation, traveling to conferences, and applying for grants. A state law, Proposition 39, places limits on the ways that school districts can spend voter-approved bond money.

Stuart Silverstein, a spokesman for the building program, said the district’s trustees had approved the new ethical controls because the construction program had expanded. A new $3.5-billion bond measure was approved by voters in 2008, he said.

“Given that in recent years the size of the program has expanded so much, they thought it would be wise to take a good close look at how the program’s money is being spent,” Mr. Silverstein said.