Irwin joins with East County representatives to give East County first officer on Governing Board in at least 12 years
Tuesday’s Governing Board meeting of the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board saw a member of the Board, Deb McCasland, who represents a large portion of the East County in the Verde Valley, appointed as its Chair for 2020. It took West County representative Steve Irwin’s decision to abandon his West County colleagues in order for this occur.
The issue was one of the first items listed on the agenda for the Tuesday morning retreat. It opened with Paul Chevalier making an impassioned speech on behalf of representative Deb McCasland for the position. He carefully outlined her years of outstanding service on behalf of the Community College and several of her recent community projects. McCasland’s impressive record on behalf of the College begins at a time when she and her mother went door-to-door with a petition that was used to gather signatures in support of creating the Community College. Since then, she has been student, employee, Foundation executive, and member of the Governing Board.
After a second for McCasland by Representative Steve Irwin, Chair Sigafoos asked if there were any additional candidates. This was followed by an awkward silence.
Then in a somewhat high pitched voice, , West County representative Pat McCarver spoke up and nominated herself for the position. Both candidates then addressed the Board. McCarver said she should be appointed because she “had not been Board Chair for quite some time.” McCarver omitted reminding the Board that she had been chairperson from 2009-2010 and 2015-2016, in addition to serving as the Board secretary at various times.
The group then voted with McCarver and Sigafoos casting their ballot for McCarver but with three Board members in opposition. However, as a shock to some, West County representative Steve Irwin broke from the West County voting bloc (Sigafoos, McCarver, Irwin) and swung his support to McCasland on the second vote. Following that vote, which was 3-1 (Sigafoos not voting; McCarver voting “no”), there was a brief silence in the Boardroom. The fact that the West County voting bloc had been cracked sunk in with Irwin’s vote for McCasland. Finally, the Board attorney announced McCasland as the new Governing Board Chair.
The meeting proceeded under the gavel of Ms. McCasland. Most observers perceived an almost immediate increase in discussion among all Board members and a perceived reduction in the tension among Board members once McCasland was handling the gavel. Despite the fact that this was her first time as chair, the meeting moved along efficiently and smoothly for the entire day.
You may view Representative Chevalier’s nomination speech and vote on the video below.
Here is Mr. Chevalier’s speech in full in support of Ms. McCasland.
Today I will nominate Deb McCasland to be Chair of the Yavapai College Governing Board for the year 2020. My nomination of Deb is based on her ability and history with the Board and the College.
First she has Proven Leadership Ability:
Deb has served in numerous leadership positions on non-profit boards throughout her adult life. Currently she is the Board President of the Adult Center of Prescott. In addition, she is the Yavapai County Republican Women’s Club Treasurer, and she is the Vice Chair of the City of Prescott Library Advisory Board.
Second she has significant Past Experience on the Yavapai Community College Board:
For the last six consecutive years, Deb has been an active member of the Yavapai Community College Governing Board. She is the only current member of the Board elected twice, consecutively, to her current Board position. Each time, she was elected over her competition. During the six years as a Board member, she has attended six professional conferences focused on improving her skills as a Board member. Deb comes to Board meetings prepared to participate and contribute ideas.
Third she has significant Yavapai College Knowledge and Experience: Since the beginning of Yavapai Community College, Deb has been invested in its continuation, expansion, and educational opportunities. As a teenager, Deb walked the neighborhood with her mother collecting signatures to get the Community College District initiative on the ballot. She began taking classes at Yavapai Community College in January 1970, not long after the College’s inception. At that time, she became a student leader and member of the student senate. Later, she was elected Student Body Vice President.
After Deb graduated Yavapai College, she continued her education earning a bachelor’s degree from NAU as well as a Master’s Degree in Community College Education. In 1976, she joined the Yavapai College staff as College Student Activities Director. This was the beginning of her lifelong professional career at Yavapai Community College. During her long tenure at Yavapai College, Deb has served under every President of Yavapai College prior to Dr. Rhine assuming that position.
After 34 years of active Yavapai Community College service, Deb retired, However, since retirement, she has remained extremely active by serving the college as a volunteer in several capacities. She has more Yavapai College experience than any other individual on the Yavapai Community College Board. Deb has no equal on the Board for long service dedication to our community college.
The fourth and the final criteria I looked at is Diversity:
Diversity is usually thought of in terms of race, ethnicity or religion. In our County the most obvious diversity is that which exists between the populations of each side of Mingus Mountain. This Board has pledged to represent the residents of our whole county’s public equally – equally on both sides of the mountain. We violate this pledge when we exclude the representatives from one side of the mountain from leadership positions on the Board. And yet for the past twelve years the Board majority has never elected to the position of Board Chair anyone who represents any part of the east side of Mingus Mountain. This unwillingness has been continuous for the past twelve years and it needs to change. There is no better time to make that change than now. Deb’s Board District, as you know, includes communities on both the east side and the west side of Mingus Mountain. Electing Deb to the chair position will help calm the East Siders’ feelings of Board bias against them and their elected representatives.