Did negative tactics used by winners help cement a victory?
Incumbent Linda Thor and Jacqueline Smith won four-year seats on the Maricopa Community College Governing Board. Thor won over Shelli Boggs and Smith defeated incumbent Laurin Hendrix. They will serve as at large members of the Governing Board.
As reporter Anne Ryman wrote in her article in the Arizona Republic of November 3, this was “the most unusual [Governing Board election] in recent memory as far as campaign tactics.” The Blog agrees.
During the campaign, opponents of losing candidate Boggs sent out a campaign mailer that showed a recent photo of her wearing a red tank top, mirrored sunglasses and holding an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. The mailer read: “Shelli Boggs couldn’t be trusted with children in a classroom. We can’t trust her on the Maricopa Community Colleges Board!” Boggs opponents also claimed she was “forced out” of her job as a cosmetology instructor over complaints she belittled and bullied students. Boggs denied the allegations.
The incumbent and loser, Laurin Hendrix, had his web site address taken over by Smith during the campaign. Smith then posted messages urging people to vote Hendrix out of office. Smith told the Arizona Republic that she was curious about Hendrix’s platform so she looked up the internet domain name www.lowertuitionnow.com advertised on his campaign signs. She said she found the domain name was available, took ownership and began posting information about Hendrix.
Hendrix told the Arizona Republic he was unaware that Smith owned the domain name he had used in the 2016 board election. Hendrix said he reused campaign signs this year from the 2016 election and was unaware the website listed on his signs hadn’t been kept active.
The Maricopa Community College District Governing Board race has become heated for at least two of the four candidates seeking office this year. In a story written by Anne Ryman in the Arizona Republic on Sunday, October 18, the campaigns of candidate Shelli Boggs and incumbent Laurin Hendrix appear to have become involved in unusual stormy political tactics for these nonpartisan positions. 
The search for a new chancellor at Maricopa Community College was allegedly disrupted and stopped in August because of the actions of a single Governing Board member on the search committee, Kathleen Winn. In an article in Inside High Ed, reporter Madeline St. Amour wrote that an investigation found that Winn, who was a member of the search committee for a new chancellor, tainted the process “by violating a confidentiality agreement and attempting to persuade a candidate to not apply for the position.”
Third District Paul Chevalier publicly responded to the letter adopted by the Yavapai Community College Governing Board at its Governing Board meeting on September 8 regarding transparency in his individual capacity as the Third District Yavapai Community College Representative. In his response, Chevalier compared the College’s 28 page $84 million budget with entities such as the cities of Cottonwood (budget 310 pages), Prescott (307 pages) and Prescott Valley (309 pages), NAU (187 pages) and others.
An open letter to the public in which Third District Representative Paul Chevalier expressed his view that the Community College budgeting process should be more transparent ruffled the feathers of some members of the District Governing Board. The letter, a copy of which was published by this Blog July 21, 2020, caused Governing Board Chair, Deb McCasland to draft a response that was adopted in a 4-1 vote.
A question was raised about whether current Yavapai Community College Board member Steve Irwin could simultaneously hold the positions of both a County Supervisor and a Yavapai Community College Board member. However, It is clear that under current law he could not hold both positions.