Citizens in District 4 may express their views to County Superintendent Tim Carter, who will make the appointment, by email at Tim.carter@yavapaiaz.gov, or meet personally for a 10-minute meeting between 9 am to 4 pm on Monday, December 16

There are three candidates vying to fill the remainder of outgoing District 4 Yavapai District Governing Board member Chris Kuknyo’s term, which expires December 31,2026. Their names were announced earlier this week.

Residents of District 4 can share their views with County Superintendent Tim Carter, who is responsible for making the appointment. They may email him at Tim.carter@yavapaiaz.gov or schedule a 10-minute in-person meeting on Monday, December 16, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Yavapai County Education Service Agency, located at 2970 Centerpointe East, Prescott, AZ 86301. Meetings will be conducted on a first-come, first-served basis.

The three candidates, in alphabetical order are:

Mr. Alex Daniels of Chino Valley. Daniels is a 2017 graduate of Chino Valley High School. He holds an Associate of Arts degree in Cyber Security and Networking from Yavapai College. He completed his Bachelor of Applied Science degree at Northern Arizona University. He is an IT professional (Systems Engineer) for Yavapai County Government.

Mr. Henry Ebarb of Prescott. Henry is a 2005 graduate of Prescott High School. He also holds an Associate of Arts degree, in Business Administration and Management from Yavapai College and two Bachelor of Science degrees from Northern Arizona University, one in Music Theory and the other in Political Science. His Masters Degree is from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Digital Marketing and Finance. He owns and operates several local businesses.

Mr. Patrick Kuykendall of Prescott. Kuykendall  is a 1983 graduate of Prescott High School. He entered the United States Army where he served four years and then another 18 years with the Arizona Army National Guard where he served a combat deployment in support of the Gulf War/Desert Storm. He retired in 2005 at the rank of E-8, First Sergeant. He has been serving veterans ever since, in several leadership roles.

Carter is expected to announce his decision on Wednesday, December 18.

In Sedona Red Rock News Christopher Fox Graham calls the restrictions on Board members’ communication with faculty and staff unconstitutional, arguing they violate fundamental free speech rights

Christopher Fox Graham

In a November 29, 2024 opinion column, Sedona Red Rocks newspaper managing editor Christopher Fox Graham expressed alarm over a policy adopted by the lame-duck Yavapai Community College Governing Board. The policy restricts communication between elected District Governing Board members and any member of the Community College staff. Should such communication occur, the staff member may face disciplinary action, even if the interaction involves an innocent question related to the College’s operations.

In his column, Mr. Graham alleged that the College “doesn’t have a grasp of basic constitutional law, or it would not attempt to strangle free speech in the throats of faculty members who want to discuss legitimate issues with their duly-elected board members for the benefit of the taxpayers who elected them.”

He warned, “Hopefully the incoming board . . . will have the wisdom to shut down this policy before litigation by an offending faculty member leads to a costly lawsuit the college will certainly lose, costing taxpayers tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars in legal fees that could be better spent on programs, facilities and student services.”

You may read his column found in the Sedona Red Rock News about  this issue by clicking here. 

Volleyball roster lists only one local player out of 17, with others hailing from Serbia, Brazil, and beyond. Men’s soccer and baseball teams also appear to fall short of the minimum local recruitment goals

During his resignation speech at the November meeting of the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board, outgoing Board member Chris Kuknyo made the following statement:

“When our sports teams had next to no local athletes, we said at minimum 25% had to be local, and now that’s so.”

A quick review of a handful of current athletic rosters suggests this claim is inaccurate.

For example, the Yavapai College volleyball team lists 17 players, but only one is from Yavapai County (6%). To meet the 25% target, at least five players would need to hail from the county. Instead, the team includes five international players, hailing from Serbia, Brazil, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Poland.

Similarly, the 2024 baseball roster comprises 38 players, with only four (10%) from Yavapai County—far short of the 25% benchmark.

The 2024 men’s soccer team includes 26 players, of whom only three (11%) are from Yavapai County. To meet the stated goal, the team would need at least seven local players. Like the volleyball team, the soccer roster features a strong international presence, with players from Colombia, Australia, Canada, Spain, the Cayman Islands, and Mexico.

These figures indicate that Yavapai Community College athletics has not yet achieved the 25% local athlete goal cited by Kuknyo in his remarks.

You may hear Mr. Kuknyo’s statement taken from his remarks at the Board meeting  below: