Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee Philip Yarbrough has been temporarily suspended by his colleagues from his officer posts pending independent investigations into complaints filed by the chancellor and a vice chancellor.
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This was the second time in less than a month that trustees discussed removing the board president from his duties — though this time an ad hoc committee softened its recommendation, calling for a temporary suspension instead of removal.
The trustees cannot remove Yarbrough from his elected position, only from being the board’s chair, a largely honorary role the trustees decide among themselves each year. The suspension, which was supported 4-3, also removes him as chair of the board’s Fiscal/Audit Review Committee and chair of the Policy Committee.
Board members in the ad hoc committee said some of Yarbrough’s recent actions may have violated board policy and its code of ethics, including allegations that he’s failed to follow the direction set by the full board, failed to follow policies to respect the authority of the board members and chancellor and the process for developing the board’s agenda and his conduct interfered with the implementation of board decisions, among other complaints.
Chancellor Marvin Martinez in April filed a complaint alleging Yarbrough was responsible for “discrimination, harassment, and due process violations” — one that came weeks after Yarbrough pushed the board to hold the chancellor accountable following revelations of an off-the-books fund.
Yarbrough, the board’s longest-serving trustee, has been a vocal critic of the chancellor following a March 2025 forensic audit, which concluded that district administrators failed for years to disclose to the board an account with at least $7 million in insurance rebate funds, as state regulations require, and that until October 2023, knowledge over the years of the account that dated back to 1997 was essentially limited to the chancellor and senior staff in Business Services, Human Resources and Risk Management.
The fund predated Martinez, who was brought on in 2019.
The board said in a statement Monday that, based on available information, it had “not found any district employee engaged in fraud, theft, concealment, or misappropriation of district funds” and no audit or review presented to the board has found such wrongdoing.
The board said the money in the rebate fund was accounted for, had earned interest over many years, and was ultimately used for district purposes, adding that an independent investigator is still reviewing the allegations and that it remains committed to “decisions based upon verified facts rather than allegations and speculations.”
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The board said the chancellor’s complaint created a conflict of interest for Yarbrough, who was part of an ad hoc committee that had been created earlier this year to review Martinez’s performance. Despite Yarbrough being asked to recuse himself from chancellor-related matters, board members allege he continued to push.
Most recently, board members complained this week that Yarbrough had disclosed a confidential legal opinion the district had obtained about the handling of the insurance rebate account to the state Chancellor’s Office without the board’s knowledge.
Yarbrough, whose appointment as board president runs through December, called the trustees’ decision “basic unfairness and a violation of my rights,” adding that he was being “railroaded.”
He told the other trustees the process of considering his removal had violated his rights, and argued that the allegations “are not findings,” and that he was never given a chance to respond to them.
Vice-President Tina Arias Miller, who will now serve as the board president, and trustees David Crockett, John Hanna and Daisy Tong voted in favor of the suspension, with trustees Zeke Hernandez and Cecilia Iglesias joining Yarbrough in opposition.
Though described as temporary, the suspension will last until the board “receives and considers” findings of independent investigations into complaints filed against Yarbrough by Martinez and a district vice chancellor.
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