Governing Board Chair political misconstrues request to stop Ten-Year-Plan going forward West side of County
For over a year, dozens of citizens in the Verde Valley have appeared before the College District Governing Board and pleaded that it stop the Ten-Year $100 million dollar plus Construction Development Plan until the East and West sides of the County have a fair opportunity to review it and develop a joint strategic plan for the future. So, far, those pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
In March, the Verde Valley Advisory Committee, which is made-up of representatives appointed by local and county governments from throughout the Valley, appeared in person and specifically recommended that “the Board not approve the capital budget prior to completion of a strategic plan that would include both the east and west sides of the County.” Citizens pleaded with the Board at that meeting to listen to the Committee.
The Advisory Committee then submitted a written report to the District Governing Board restating its recommendation. The recommendation came before the Board April 14.
Governing Board Chair Pat McCarver quickly found a political way of completely misconstruing the recommendation so it could be ignored. She stated that “the one we can’t really address, we can’t delay approval of the budget until the strategic plan is completed because the strategic plan going forward is scheduled to be completed in September.” The other members of the Board must have thought she was correct as they did not challenge her statement.
McCarver, of course, was totally incorrect. The Advisory Committee only asked that a small portion of the $84 million dollar budget involving capital construction be taken out of the budget until there was a plan that had been submitted and approved by the entire County. Removal of that portion of expenditures would not have prevented the College from submitting its budget in June. McCarver, who supports the Administration by rubber stamping any request it makes, misconstrued the recommendation to give the Administration political cover and to insure the money to fund the huge building spree on the West side of the County is not halted.
So, despite demand after demand after demand to halt the wild spending spree on the Prescott Campus, it seems impossible for citizens to do anything about it. You may view McCarver’s political handling of the recommendation by clicking here.