Says that “interactions with Camp Verde are regularly looked upon with suspicion”
It is well known among most close observers of Yavapai Community College that its relationship with the town of Camp Verde has been less than ideal. Dr. Tina Redd reflected on some of the problems she faced that involved Camp Verde during her short term as Dean of the Sedona Center/Verde Campus. In her resignation letter to President Dr. Lisa Rhine She wrote:
“I was falsely accused of inviting Camp Verde Mayor, Dee Jenkins, to speak at the Skilled Trades Center opening in March 2021. . . ..
“The strained relations with Camp Verde, partly due to an incident involving Rodney Jenkins that happened before I was hired, continue to cloud and undermine interactions with city officials, yet I am charged with supporting every municipality in the Verde Valley. Interactions with Camp Verde are regularly looked upon with suspicion.”
The strained relationship referred to by Dr. Redd has a long history. Recall that around 2010 the Community College closed down the leased facilities it operated in Camp Verde. The College claimed at the time that student numbers there was not sufficient to continue, especially when the College was allegedly facing a financial crisis of sorts. Although the College recovered from its alleged financial crisis, little attention has been paid to Camp Verde since 2010.
The more recent relationship between the College and Camp Verde is checkered. Back in 2020-21 the town was hopeful that the College would locate its Career and Technical education facility in a structure located on highway 260 rather than build on the Verde Campus. They argued that the site was a more centralized location that would allow easy access for Mingus Union, Sedona and Camp Verde students to train in Career and Technical education courses. Although the College made overtures to lease space in a structure on 260, it was unsuccessful. It eventually completely rejected the 260 location idea and chose to build ilt a small CTE facility on the Verde Campus.
More recently, Third District Represent Representative Paul Chevalier was chastised by some Governing Board members at the January 29, 2022 District Governing Board Workshop for suggesting that the “College is not really dong anything for Camp Verde.”
At a March 2022 closed door meeting with local politicians and the College, Camp Verde offered free teaching space to the Community College at a structure it had purchased or was considering purchasing on highway 260. Nothing more is known about the offer.
The Community College is well aware of the poor relationship between it and Camp Verde and has taken some steps, it
appears, to improve it. For example, at the May 2022 meeting of the Yavapai College District Governing Board, the College administration announced it was seeking a $600,000 grant from the federal governing to fund the purchase of trucks with some of them going to Camp Verde, apparently for a truck driving school. No decision on this request will be made in Washington apparently until spring, 2023. Moreover, the College has not made public plans for a truck driving school in Camp Verde.