Was Salary Increase used as PR Stunt?
Presently, Yavapai Community College President Penelope Wills is reportedly paid an annual salary of $267,811. At the May 10, 2016 District Governing Board meeting, it voted 4-1 to extend her contract for one year and hand her $5,000. Board Representative Deb McCasland voted against the extension and $5,000.
Wills’ used the $5,000 as a PR stunt, indicating according to the Board, that she intended to donate the $5,000 to the Yavapai College Foundation. It is a tax deductible contribution from her gross income.
Representative Ray Sigafoos poured political syrup on what is suspected as a Wills’ PR stunt saying he had “never seen” an executive do this in “35 years of higher education.” The Blog speculates that Sigafoos, a tax accountant, must have seen many clients with incomes over a quarter million dollars routinely making much larger donations to charities. They didn’t, however, have a public platform on which to boast of their gift.
Representative Al Filardo fell for the suspected Public Relations stunt and poured additional political syrup on the tax deductible donation. He said he “really appreciated you (Wills’) doing that.” (Maybe we should see the tax returns of Wills’ and all the Governing Board so we can say, “we really appreciate your charitable contributions.”)
The Wills’ reported public record of failures for the past year include: (1) Lost $1 million in tuition revenue because of the drop in student enrollment. (2) Lost another $1 million because the aviation program has collapsed (not clear if this is also tuition or what; College only reports the drop in revenue is in addition to the $1 million noted earlier.) (3) Achieved an estimated 5% drop in overall student enrollment. (4) Failed to settle multi-million dollar lawsuit with whistleblower who headed the aviation program before he was fired and now alleges the College failed to comply with VA regulations). (5) Opposed giving the Verde Valley a semblance of independence at the March, 2016 Board meeting. (6) Presided over the continuing multi-year decline in enrollment. One speculates that the $5,000 was awarded because matters didn’t get any worse.
The Governing Board set no specific public goals for Wills to meet during the next year.
The portion of the Governing Board meeting devoted to the extension and salary increase can be viewed by clicking here.