Saddleback welcomes new Vice President James Buysse on Monday

Position filled one week after sudden resignation of Richard Storti (Holly Broxterman/Lariat)

Saddleback College appointed James Buysse as acting vice president of administrative services on March 9. Familiar with the local community college atmosphere, Buysse was formerly acting vice chancellor of business services of the South Orange County Community College District before coming to the college. Prior to his time in Orange County in recent months, Buysse served as interim chancellor of administration and finance at Riverside Community College District and was the chief administrative officer of De Anza College prior, where he narrowly missed crossing paths with Saddleback President Gregory Anderson.

“While working at De Anza, I recall hearing mention of Jim’s service to that district,” said Anderson in an official statement on March 9. “More recently, I’ve had the pleasure to work with and learn from Dr. Buysse on a variety of projects and initiatives during the time I have been President. With that in mind, I know that he will confidently and effectively lead the managers and staff of administrative services.”

Saddleback hired Buysse three days after the unexpected resignation of the college’s former VPAS Richard Storti with his first day being March 12, exactly one week after Storti’s sudden departure.

“Well, these things happen of course, we have to understand that and move on,” said Anderson in an interview hours before the hiring announcement on March 9.  “The good news is that I’m very close to identifying a candidate to come in and probably join us through the end of the calendar year, which would give us the kind of stability that we need.”

Personal reasons behind Storti’s sudden departure remain unclear and little can be ascertained by his absent or protected social media presence online. Storti had only been in his role at Saddleback a few months, however “moving on” seems to be the general consensus.

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