Joel Staadecker reminds Dr. Connie Harris that she reports to the “citizens,” not the Governing Board

At the March 7, 2017 Governing Board meeting held in the Verde Valley, Sedona resident and Verde Valley activist Joel Staadecker reminded newly appointed third District Governing Board representative Dr. Connie Harris that the College is “owned” by the citizens and that she reports to them, not the Governing Board. Dr. Harris, who has not lived in the Valley a year, was appointed in December to fill the seat of Al Filardo, who resigned in frustration with the Board’s treatment of the Valley. Her entire constituency is the Verde Valley.

You may view Mr. Staadecker’s short reminder to Dr. Harris below.

March 22, 2017 was her last day at Yavapai College

The sometimes controversial Yavapai Community College Economic Director, Alexandria Wright, has quit her job at Yavapai College. She begins work in August at the Ventura County Community College District in California.

The full announcement of her departure can be viewed in the on-line Verde Independent newspaper by clicking here.

As noted above, Ms. Wright has at times been controversial. For example, on September 15, 2015 she was removed from her seat for a variety of reasons on the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) Workforce Development Board by a four – one vote of Yavapai County Supervisors. Scott Farnsworth, the College’s Dean of sciences, health and Public Safety, was subsequently appointed to that seat.

You may view more about her problems with NACOG in 2015 in an article in which she responded to beng replaced  in the Verde Independent newspaper by clicking here.

If you disagree with a Board vote, too bad – – keep your mouth shut afterwards

Reporter Zachary Jernigan wrote in the Cottonwood Journal Extra of March 15, 2017 that “President Wills [is] having trouble with board members speaking to the press.” Mr. Jernigan was referring to the March 7, 2017 board meeting during which Wills complained that it took her and her staff an inordinate amount of effort to respond to questions if a Board member spoke to the media.

There was no doubt that the comments were aimed directly at Second District representative Deb McCasland. This was confirmed by Mr. Jernigan when he interviewed McCasland following the meeting. She told him: “I am sure that [statement] was in reference to me.”

Since joining the Governing Board, McCasland has been leading the fight for more equitable treatment by the College in the Verde Valley. For the past two years she was joined in that effort by former Governing Board member Mr. Al Filardo. During that time, while making it clear that she was not speaking for the governing board, McCasland often shared crucial information with the citizens of the Valley about the direction the College was taking in the County.

President Wills wants any dialogue between the Verde Valley’s elected representatives on the Board and the citizens of the Valley stopped. The effort to restrict information coming from the elective representatives was the major topic during the Board retreat February 13, 2017. As Wills indicated during her brief outburst at the March 7 meeting, she wants nothing to be shared outside a Board meeting with the public other than what she or current Governing Board spokesperson Ray Sigafoos feeds them.

Sigafoos is the leader of the West County voting bloc that controls Governing Board decisions and is a close ally of Wills. The voting bloc has rejected a long list of recommendations coming from the Verde Valley over the past three years. Sigafoos knows little about the Verde Valley and certainly would not provide the kind of crucial information that McCasland has been sharing with Verde Valley citizens and public meetings and in the press.

The constant pressure coming from Wills and the West County voting bloc to halt McCasland from speaking to her constituents may have had an indirect impact on the third District representative Connie Harris. She seems to buy into the idea that she is not to share information with her constituents and the press in the third District. Her District runs from Jerome to Sedona and includes Cottonwood, Clarkdale, and the Verde villages. Harris, in her third month as a replacement for Filardo, has yet to utter a single sentence in support of a Verde Valley project.

Overall, the effort to suppress the First Amendment right of an elected representative to fully inform his or her constituency is under a full-court attack from the West County voting bloc and Wills. You may view the one-minute statement at the March 7 meeting by Wills below.

20 Page pdf pamphlet can be obtained here

The 20 page pamphlet reviewing the decisions by the College and the Governing Board in 2016 that may have affected the Verde Valley can be downloaded by clicking here.  2016 IN REVIEW REVISED BOOKLET JAN 1 2017

Sedona resident Jessica Williamson speaks to Governing Board about their voting bloc

Sedona resident and former member of the Sedona City Council Jessica Williamson encouraged the District Governing Board to reflect on how the West County voting vote is treating the Verde Valley — the minority on the Board.  Her theme, “The Tyranny of the majority.”  Her short speech to the Governing Board is reproduced below.

Blog Editor outlines a few of the decisions that most affected the Verde Valley in 2016

In the following three-minute video presentation, the editor of this Blog outlined some of the decisions made by the District Governing Board that adversely impacted the Verde Valley in 2016.  You may download the 20 page pamphlet in pdf that reviews 2016 here.2016 IN REVIEW REVISED BOOKLET JAN 1 2017

Claims there is a lack of respect, trust and open communication

Board representative Deb McCasland made several observations about how poorly the district governing board was functioning at the January 10, 2016 meeting. Her written comments were made in response to various monitoring questions put to board members prior to the meeting and are contained in the agenda that is on the district website.

 The following is some of what Ms. McCasland wrote:

 “We [the board members] are fragmented and inefficient. The resignation of two District 3 Board members in two years is a sad example of how disjointed we have become.”

 “. . . I do not experience open communications, trust, nor respect on the Board with reference to Dr. Wills. There should be more in depth communications with broader and specific financial data on budget matters. There should be no surprises nor unanswered questions, especially with reference to Capital Improvement projects.”

 “We need to dump the Carver Model and the Board needs to resume the legal directives of Board members. Board driven strategic plan that includes specific and measurable goals, thorough budget reports, Board approval of administrative hires, Board approval for expenditures above a set limit, etc.”

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On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 Deb McCasland and Connie Harris were sworn in as members of the Yavapai College District Governing Board by Yavapai County School Superintendent Tim Carter. McCasland begins her second term as the board representative while Harris is new. In fact, Harris has lived less than a year in the Verde Valley.

The West County voting block maintained administrative control of the board by electing Ray Sigafoos as board chair and Steve Irwin as Secretary. Sigafoos was nominated by West County representative Pat McCarver as was Irwin. Two years ago Sigafoos nominated McCarver. These positions ensure the West County will control the agenda for the next two years.

When interviewed by a newspaper reporter about her reappointment, McCasland said. “I hope in the budget process, especially the capital improvement fund items, maybe spread some money to the Verde campus, especially help for JTED and reaching our outlying students and remote education centers, those are my two big projects I’d like to see happen.”

You may find the newspaper article by clicking here.

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– PENELOPE WILLS MUST GO —

Newly elected District 3 County  Supervisor Randy Garrison sharply criticized Yavapai College president Penelope Wills in an article in the Cottonwood Journal Extra, dated January 4, 2017.  He observed that her tenure has been marked by declining enrollment and near-obsession with building unneeded facilities in Prescott. In the article written by Zachary Jernigan, Garrison added: “I know what [the College] can do when it works. … I know it can do better.”

Garrison also told the reporter that in order for the College to address the educational needs of the Verde Valley it needs new leadership beginning with a new president. Garrison said: “Somebody has to step up and say something.”

Garrison was elected in a landslide at the November election. During his campaign, he repeatedly criticized Yavapai College’s performance in the Verde Valley. As pointed out in the article, although Yavapai College is a government body independent of Yavapai County, the County and Yavapai College often work together on projects.