Urges Board to listen to citizens who are speaking to it about this issue

Ruth Wicks

Citizen Ruth Wicks appeared before the Yavapai Community College Governing Board at its October meeting.  She urged the Governing Board to delay final appointment of a College president until the Board, including any new members, was seated in January.

Wicks’ suggested the decision to move ahead and make the appointment in December, regardless of the election outcome and the possible seating of new Board members, gave the appearance of a “do or die process.”  She also suggested that by sticking so rigidly with the current selection date that there was an undercurrent of concern or suspicion that the new president had somehow already been selected.

You may view Ms. Wicks plea to the Board for delay in the short video below.

Says Chevalier’s opponent is an “absentee College representative”

Paul Chevalier

Christoper Fox-Graham

The Sedona Redrock News strongly endorsed Paul Chevalier for the Third District Governing Board seat in an editorial in its Friday, November 2 edition.  The endorsement, written by the paper’s  managing editor Christoper Fox-Graham, said that Chevalier “has the experience to serve and is well-aware of the college tax and educational inequity between the Verde Valley and the Prescott side of Mingus Mountain and has fought to reverse it.”

His opponent, wrote Mr. Fox-Graham, “has been an absentee representative and failed to defend the interests of Verde Valley taxpayers since her appointment in January 2017. We have little faith this would change if she were reelected.”

The newspaper urged voters to vote for Mr. Chevalier.

You may read the entire endorsement by the newspaper online by clicking here. 

Response reproduced below originally made to reporter Bill Helm in October 23 Verde Independent

Paul Chevalier

Verde Independent reporter Bill Helm asked Paul Chevalier to respond to Yavapai-Apache Nation’s Council Chair Jane Russell-Winiecki’s letter criticizing the governance model used at Yavapai Community College. Mr. Chevalier is a candidate for the Governing Board.  The following are Mr. Helm’s questions and Mr. Chavlier’s response as reported in the newspaper October 23:

(Mr. Helm) Yavapai-Apache Nation Tribal Council Chairwoman Jane Russell-Winiecki recently said in a commentary that Yavapai College is “sadly lacking” and that the current model of governance “is ineffective.” Do you agree with the chairwoman’s statement? Please explain. 

(Mr. Chevalier) I agree 100 percent. The current model is wrong and has been a disaster for the Verde Valley.

In this model, the board delegates almost all decisions to the president. What is left for the board to do is approving the president’s recommendations for the annual budget, tax, tuition and fee hikes and the President’s salary.

The current president has spent millions of dollars of our Verde Valley taxpayers’ money to expand one single campus in the county, and that is in Prescott.

Our Clarkdale site is not considered a community college campus by this state (too insignificant – too few students, teachers and classes) and neither is any other place in this county, except Prescott considered a community college. 

A county community college system is supposed to bring education to residents’ communities throughout the county — not just one spot in a county bigger than Vermont, Delaware or Israel.

The current model, which gives the president the power to focus on creating a community college in only one spot in the county, ensures we, in the Verde Valley, will never be allowed to get equity and use our tax money for our residents. 

(Mr. Helm)  With several community colleges in the Phoenix and the Tucson areas, as well as four-year universities north and south of the Verde Valley, what do you believe that Yavapai College needs to do to remain a relevant and desirable option for post-secondary learners?

(Mr. Chevalier) By giving our residents the educational opportunity they need and want, and to do it at a much lower price, by being much more cost effective than we have been.

I would create classes, in partnership with business, for needed professional middle class paying jobs – i.e. HAV, electricians, plumbers, various hospital technicians, nurses (in conjunction with hospitals) etc. I would train chefs, not just line cooks (which are minimum wage jobs), at the Culinary Institute.  

I would expand our wine production educational capabilities. This is a winner so let’s go with it.

I believe our board members should get out more in our communities to find out what jobs are needed and wanted and how to partner with our businesses. Ultimately the buck stops with the Governing Board. 

(Mr. Helm) With the Verde Valley’s reputation as the place where young people flee once they graduate high school, what could Yavapai College do to keep young people in the area for college – and beyond?

(Mr. Chevalier) I do not have an answer for this. I do know that for those young and not so young people who do want to stay in the Verde Valley we need to try and provide them with good and relevant education leading to middle class and above jobs right here in the Verde Valley, if they so wish.

Charges that current model of governance is not forward thinking and is ineffective

In a letter to the Verde Independent of October 16, 2018 Jane Russell-Winiecki charged that the current model of governing Yavapai College is not “forward thinking” and “ineffective.”  Ms. Russell-Winiecki  is the chairwoman of the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s Tribal Council. The following is the letter she sent to the newspaper.

It may be hard to believe, but there was a time when the Verde Valley campus of Yavapai College was a busy, bustling campus. Two of my children attended; one while attending Mingus Union High School and the other after graduation from Mingus.

Visiting the beautiful campus was an adventure. The bookstore was open and filled with students. There was also a busy little lunch room. One often had to drive around to find an open parking space.

The Yavapai-Apache Nation has a longstanding scholarship program which paid my children’s tuition, fees and expenses. Over the years, the Nation’s Scholarship Program has grown with an ever-expanding population of high school graduates.

Many of our Tribal citizens have taken advantage of the college’s two-year degree programs, which easily transferred to four-year programs at the state’s three universities. The college became a good resource and starting point for local students seeking higher education.

Unfortunately, recently at Yavapai College, many courses have disappeared, resulting in a significant drop in attendance and degrees by the Nation’s students.

A visit to the campus these days will find plenty of parking spaces and an all but abandoned campus. We understand that college enrollment is down across the country and that distance learning is a wave of the future. But what a sad statement, that the Nation is unable to spend its millions of scholarship dollars in its own community.

With the prospect of a 2-percent increase in taxes, most of which go to the Prescott campus, has the college considered improving its Verde Valley curriculum to see if the community may respond with increased enrollments, thereby increasing revenues to its bottom line?

From the Nation’s point of view, the ‘business’ of running a college is sadly lacking and the current model of governance is not forward thinking and is ineffective. The Governing Board has basically abdicated their role and turned their responsibilities over to the college. We’re looking for someone who supports the Verde Valley Yavapai College.

In our view, past goals for the Verde Valley have not included any substantial progress and we believe we need to take a serious look at our future Board of Directors.

The prospect of a new Yavapai College president is encouraging and we look forward to an individual who is interested in the educational well-being of the whole of Yavapai College, including not only Prescott but the Verde Valley. We have studied our options for the upcoming Yavapai College Governing Board election and are going to support the individual who is interested in supporting the Verde Valley Campus through their leadership and voting record.

We believe that most voters do not support raising taxes each year as a matter of practice and hope that voters are interested in meeting the increasing educational needs in the Verde Valley.

The Yavapai-Apache Nation will always support efforts to satisfy the increasing educational needs, not only of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, but also the needs of all communities throughout the Verde Valley.

We encourage voters to find the candidate that best fits that definition. We certainly do all that we can to support our student’s needs through our scholarship program.

Given an improved curriculum and strong Board leadership, we would love nothing more than to once again send our citizens to Yavapai College’s Verde Valley Campus.

This letter originally appeared in the Verde Independent, October 16, 2018 at 

https://www.verdenews.com/news/2018/oct/16/commentary-business-running-yavapai-college-sadly-/

Verde Independent remains silent; Postcards allegedly masquerading as a newsletter would have hyped current Board members running for election

The Sedona Red Rock News has joined the Cottonwood Journal in reporting on the investigation into the alleged politically tainted postcards masquerading as a newsletter Yavapai Community College was preparing to send out just prior to the November election.  It is alleged that the postcards hyped the current Governing Board members including Ray Sigafoos and Connie Harris who are running in contested elections in their districts. 

The article, authored by Corey Oldenhauis, appeared on the front page of the October 19 edition of the newspaper. It detailed the conflict between College President Penelope Wills and Paul Chevalier and Wayne Meddaugh, who are running for the seats on the Board, over the meaning and application of Arizona statute 15-1408.  The statute prohibits community colleges from using their resources to influence the outcome of an election.

You may read the article by Mr. Oldenhauis on line in the Sedona Red Rock News by clicking here.  

Verde Independent ducks coverage

The Cottonwood Journal was the first newspaper in the Verde Valley to report on the Arizona Attorney General’s investigation into Yavapai Community College’s plan to mail individual postcards masquerading as newsletters  that laud the College and the current Governing Board members.  Many consider the material to be a subtle political effort by the College to help Ray Sigafoos and Connie Harris in their bid to keep their seats on the Board.

The article, authored by Corey Oldenhuis of Larson newspapers, detailed the sequence of events surrounding the dispute between Paul Chevalier and Wayne Maddaugh, candidates in Districts 1 and 3, and President Penelope Penelope Wills. The article appears in the Wednesday, October 17, 2018 edition of the Cottonwood Journal. It will shortly be posted online.

The article reports that President Wills was sent three emails by Governing Board member Deb McCasland regarding the postcards but received no reply.  Paul Chevalier’s lawyer said he believed the College was “stonewalling us.” They then began legal action.

However, legal action was halted when Chevalier’s lawyer received correspondence from Wills announcing the College would not send out the postcards.  At the same time, the Arizona Attorney General’s office launched an investigation because of concern the College was violating a state law prohibiting it from using its resources to influence the outcome of an election.

Please read the full article once it is posted on the Cottonwood Journal website.

Tells Board by phone that she sees no problem

If it were up to Governing Board member Pat McCarver, she would send out the cleverly designed individual postcards masquerading as a newsletter before the November election.  At the October 2018 Board meeting, she claimed there was nothing about voting or the election in them.  Therefore, they could be sent out.

You may hear the relevant portion of her view made at the October 9 Governing Board meeting below.

You may also view a mock up of one of the cards prepared by the College below that shows the political nature of the material.

Headline and copy used in story given to the Prescott Courier and Verde Independent contain same words and same misleading information

Those critics who were suspicious that Yavapai College was attempting to influence the outcome of the District One Governing Board election for Ray Sigafoos when it issued a press release to the Prescott Courier about a Governing Board decision to apply excess revenue to reduce bond payments obtained more evidence supporting them on Sunday, October 14, 2018.  They pointed to a story appearing in the Verde Independent on that date apparently provided by the College.

The story in the Independent generated suspicion because it contained the identical headline and identical copy as the one issued to the Prescott Courier a couple days earlier.  The story quoted only Ray Sigafoos, who is in a heated political campaign with Wayne Meddaugh for the Governing Board seat in that district. Sigafoos is trying to shake the fact that he has voted for tax rate increases whenever the College asked for them for more than a decade.  The story provides, critics say, some cover for Sigafoos in the highly political issue of tax rate increases in the Prescott area.

The story is also inaccurate in that it says the $4.8 million is a “bond payoff.”  Actually, the $4.8 million reduced the outstanding bond obligation, it did not pay of the bond entirely.

The $4.8 million is the result of a failed project undertaken by the College and Northern Arizona University at the Prescott Valley government complex.  The College has never indicated why the project failed.  The money is a refund of sorts related to the cost of classrooms, parking lot, etc.  at the complex that was constructed and  paid for by the College around 2007-08.

You may view the story released by the College in the Verde Independent by clicking here.

Story released to Prescott Courier contained quotes from Sigafoos regarding reducing taxes, an issue that Sigafoos is trying to run from because he has voted for all of the tax increases asked by the College while he was a Board member

A story from Yavapai Community College given to the Prescott Courier has raised questions about whether the College administration was once again trying to influence the outcome of the District Governing Board election.  The reason for the suspicion is twofold:  First, normally the College puts out a complete report about a Governing Board meeting that is written by staff and contains no quotations from any Board members.  It normally does not provide information in a story about one issue discussed during a meeting. 

However, the College apparently took the unusual step this time of providing information applauding a decision to use $4 million dollars it received from the failed Prescott Valley/NAU project and the sale of its classrooms at the Prescott Valley City complex to help reduce outstanding bond obligations.

Second, the College not only applauded the Governing Board decision but prominently used quotations only from Ray Sigafoos in it. Sigafoos is being challenged by Wayne Meddaugh for the District One seat on the Board.  Critics immediately saw the possible political implication, which is the College linking Sigafoos by name to a reduction in taxes.  The story comes on the heels of the College back-peddling from its decision to send out alleged politically tainted postcards disguised as a newsletter promoting Sigafoos. 

Sigafoos’ has been under attack in his District because of the fact he has approved a tax rate increase every year it has come before the Board in the last decade. This story, along with a photo, will not doubt help him in his political effort.

It should be noted that Deb McCasland has argued for more than a year that the College should use excess revenue it receives to reduce it outstanding bond obligations.  However, there was no mention of McCasland or any other Board member in the story.

Here is the story that ran in the Courier as it was presented to the Blog (without photo).

Yavapai College Board approves bond payoff, says move saves taxpayers millions
The Yavapai College District Governing Board approved the payoff of general obligation bonds owed by the college, which is says will result in a significant amount of savings for Yavapai County taxpayers.
The board voted unanimously in approval of the bond payoff at its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the school’s Verde Valley campus.
The payoff is possible because of a finalized sale of YC’s Prescott Valley condominium to the town of Prescott Valley. In anticipation of the sale, the college
also has expanded its Center at Panther Path.
“Over the past few years, the college board agreed to consolidate our Prescott Valley facilities at our Panther Path center, adjacent to the high school,” said District Governing Board Chairman Ray Sigafoos. “We believe a larger consolidated facility at this location will create more opportunities for high school students as well as the rest of the community.”
Those sale proceeds can now be used to pay down general obligation bonds debt.
“This will allow the college to reduce property taxes beginning next year, to pay off the general obligation bonds two years early, and to save taxpayers $4.8 million, which is a significant amount of money,“ Sigafoos said.
Information provided by Yavapai College

Sigafoos denies he knew much about the newsletter and said he resents the implication he would authorize political material paid for by taxpayers

Chris Kuknyo, president of the Prescott Citizens Tax Committee, challenged the College and Ray Sigafoos in particular at the October Board meeting, over the College’s aborted effort to mail alleged politically tainted postcards in November to support Board members running for election. He commented that the Board “put us through a  lot of work just to do what is right.”  He argued that “any common man on the street could see what you were planning on sending out was not a newsletter.  It was a District specific incumbent promotion paid for by the taxpayers right before an election.”

Looking at the Board directly, he said:  “Ray, did you not see that?” referring to the promotional material. “Connie, you didn’t say wow, this looks like a promotion for me?”   

He also outlined his efforts to stop the mailing including asking for Deb McCasland’s help, whose request to the College went unanswered.  Then he contacted the County Superintendent of Public Education who Kuknyo said “cringed” but could not help.  He also said that the County Attorney would only speak to a Board member and that County Superior Court judges appeared “scared to take this on.” He concluded his remarks stating that it should not take an intervention by the Attorney General of the state of Arizona to get the College worried about sending out the newsletter (alleged politically tainted postcard).

Ray Sigafoos responded during the Call to the Public indicating he knew little about the alleged politically tainted postcard and resented the implication that he would use taxpayer money to support his campaign.

You may view Mr. Kuknyo’s  speech to the Board below.  You may also view an edited clip of the response from Ray Sigafoos below. His entire response is posted on the District Governing Board website.