The Board of Trustees censures Sunny Zia for behavioral issues

The Long Beach City College Board of Trustees voted 3-2 on Wednesday August 28, to censure Trustee Sunny Zia for referring to the board president’s Christian faith and for inappropriate behavior in the previous board meeting.

Trustees Udak-Joe Ntuk, Doug Otto, and board president Vivian Malauulu voted for censure, while Trustee Virginia Baxter and Zia voted against it.

Before the vote, Zia apologized for her behavior in the last meeting.

“Quite frankly, I messed up,” Zia said.

“I lost my temper and said a number of things I should not have said. And I definitely very much regret saying it. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize.”

In the previous board meeting, Zia and Malauulu had a conflict when discussing a proposed project on the agenda.

“This was not personal, this was policy,” Malauulu told The Viking News. 

According to Malauulu, the type of behavior that Zia showed during the last meeting is not new and has been going on for a very long time, Trustee Otto concurred with Malauulu. 

“It is my opinion that given evidence and dysfunction of this board not just on the 24th of July but over an extended period of time, something must be done,” Otto said. 

After Zia apologized at the meeting, Malauulu accepted her apology but wishes she had apologized earlier.

Coincidentally, when Malauulu sent her complaint about Zia on August 22 to Superintendent-President Reagan Romali, Zia apologized to Malauulu.

Trustee Baxter voted against the censure however Baxter told The Viking News that she agrees with Malauulu, that Zia should’ve apologized earlier. 

John Taeleifi, who is part of the CITT Policy & Steering Committee at Cal State Long Beach came to comment about the board meeting on July 24.

“What I observed was somewhat of a subtle bashing of faith,” Taeleifi said. 

The rest of the constituents who arrived for public comment recommended that the board not censure Zia. 

“It was surprising, and it felt very endearing,” Zia told The Viking News.

The next board meeting will be held on Sept. 11 at 5:30, in room T-1100 of the Liberal Arts Campus.