Chancellor Finalist Would Accept : Education: Apparent front-runner says he won’t hesitate if asked to head community college district.

Philip Westin--the apparent front-runner in the search for chancellor of the Ventura County Community College District--said Tuesday that, if asked, he would not hesitate to leave the small community college he now heads to run the three-campus district.

“I would absolutely” accept the job, Westin said in an interview Tuesday. “I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about this. The decision to apply was not lightly reached by me or my wife.”

Although a team of officials who visited Westin’s campus Friday has not made its report to the district board, members say they were generally pleased with what they heard about his performance as president of Golden West College in Huntington Beach.

“He’s had good experience at all levels,” said Trustee Allan Jacobs, one of two board members who visited the campus. “One concern I had was that he has been president for about three years. I would like a little more experience than that, but if the rest of the board feels he’s ready, we’ll offer him the job.”

The district has been without a permanent chancellor since Thomas G. Lakin died nearly one year ago of an infection. In an effort to speed up the search, board President Timothy Hirschberg has called for a special meeting, tentatively set for Nov. 6, to decide whether to offer Westin the job.

After choosing three finalists this month from a field of more than 50 applicants, the board told the two other candidates last week that district officials would not visit their campus.

A six-member team--including college, district and board members--spent Friday at Golden West meeting with top college officials to discuss Westin’s track record.

Some even managed to slip away from the planned interviews to track down specific people they wanted to speak with and talk randomly to others at the campus, said Jerry Pauley, district vice chancellor of human resources.

One of the issues discussed was the suspension last year of a Latino student group, MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan). The group was suspended after sponsoring a fund-raiser where alcohol was reportedly consumed.

But the problem with MEChA extended beyond drinking, Westin said, to rivalry with other Latino groups on campus that sometimes deteriorated to “shoving matches.”

To protest his decision, student leaders chained their wrists and staged a sit-in in Westin’s office. At least three were arrested. Despite continuing protests, Westin refused to relent until the group had elected new officers.

On Tuesday, Westin said he saw the crisis as one of his main accomplishments at Golden West because it led him to seek the counsel of local Latino groups.

“I brought them in to see if they thought my actions were appropriate,” Westin said. “They were very helpful and cooperative. They helped me clarify that my perceptions were accurate.”

Amin David, president of Los Amigos of Orange County, a large Latino civil rights advocacy group, said most of the Latino community supported Westin’s decision.

Westin “has been a very staunch supporter of diversifying the campus and supporting Latino clubs on campus,” he said. “Well-established, credited associations . . . came forward and supported” the college.

Members of the visiting team also said they were satisfied with his handling of the group. “I think from the standpoint of all members of the visiting team, it was totally cleared up,” Jacobs said. “He did the right thing at the right time. He wasn’t autocratic . . . . We found total support with the exception of a small group from MEChA.”

The visiting team also looked into Westin’s handling of the school’s deficit--$2.5 million when he took over as president in 1993--which led to some early retirements and cuts in course offerings.

The only discontent expressed over Westin surrounded those cuts, Jacobs said.

“He had to cut $1.6 million from the budget in one year,” he said. “Any time you do that, people will say there is not as much involvement as they would have liked.”

The measures were similar to those undertaken by the Ventura County district in recent years and bolster confidence in his ability to manage the $62.4-million district, Hirschberg said.

Before becoming college president, Westin served as vice president of instruction for two years and has been an instructor of music at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

Running a three-campus district would be a welcome challenge, he said. “I really see the position as a good fit,” he said. “One of the things I see as my strength is building a team, and any large institution can benefit from that approach.”