OCEANSIDE - Trustees of MiraCosta College will meet in closed session Wednesday to discuss what may be yet another lawsuit against the beleaguered Oceanside institution.

The board of directors will also discuss three existing lawsuits, all stemming from a controversial investigation into the illegal sale of palm trees by the school's Horticulture Department. Employees say the probe soured the collegial atmosphere on campus and the ongoing discord inspired a $1 million deal to buy out the remainder of former college President Victoria Munoz Richart's contract.

College officials are mum on the subject of the newest legal threat, listed on the agenda as a "Conference with Legal Counsel - Anticipated Litigation." The agenda stated that the college faces "significant exposure" to legal action, but did not specify what.

College spokeswoman Bonnie Hall said Monday that the district received a document that gave rise to the agenda item, but could not release it because it is a "privileged communication" between an attorney and his or her client.

On July 1, local attorney Leon Page filed a demand with the college seeking to rescind Richart's settlement, saying trustees violated the state's open meeting laws when the board negotiated the deal.

Page said Monday his threat may be the subject of Wednesday's agenda item.

Although all seven MiraCosta board members approved Richart's buy-out, three minority trustees said later that they felt pressured into signing.

The trio - Judy Strattan, Gloria Carranza and Jaclyn Simon - held a news conference on June 20, saying the board was "dysfunctional" and incapable of moving the district forward. They said the public must decide if it is important enough to question the legality of the settlement.

As part of Richart's settlement agreement, trustees were barred from discussing any aspect of the deal.

Richart's attorney, Bob Ottilie, said Monday his client does not want more legal action.

"There has been no threatened suit," Ottilie said, "but I found it surprising to learn that members of the board of trustees had held a press conference, and (surprised to learn) the nature of the issues that were discussed at the press conference."

In a separate action, a group of current and former educators called Restore MiraCosta is moving forward with its push to recall board President Charles Adams and Trustee Gregory Post.

The group announced June 30 that it was launching the recall effort.

One of its members, Susan C. Hermann, said Monday that Restore MiraCosta filed recall papers last week with the San Diego registrar of voters and sent notices to Adams and Post via certified mail Thursday.

Post on Monday blasted those who he said were behind the campaign.

"The recall effort is being done by a group of activist faculty and is nothing more than a brazen power grab to gain control of the board of trustees," he said. "If they can replace just one trustee with someone they can control."

Bea McWilliams, a spokeswoman for the recall group and a professor of communications at MiraCosta, said that Post's comments better reflect his own thinking about power.

"That idea of power and control - I find it interesting that Post would use those words," McWilliams said. "They are exactly the concerns we have had with the four-member majority. They are fixated on control."

McWilliams said the recall is necessary to return MiraCosta to a responsive democratic institution.

"The president may be gone, but, unfortunately, the people who allowed her to run amok still remain," she said. "Regrettably, the four - and I mean Charles Adams, Gregory Post, Rudy Fernandez and Carolyn Batiste - have not shown any willingness to change.

"The committee feels that if we were to bring a new president into this same environment with the same board members that we will likely have a repeat performance," she said.

- Contact Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or online at pireland@nctimes.com.