Steve Irwin wins by a nose
Governing Board Director Steve Irwin won the Blog’s Pinocchio of the Year award, although the voting was close. When Mr. Irwin ran his 2014 campaign for the District Governing Board seat, he made what most people believed was a clear and specific promise to not raise property taxes on Yavapai County taxpayers. When the Blog looked at his Facebook page in 2014 that promise seemed clear.
Here are the postings on his 2014 Facebook page:
October 31, 2014: “You have a choice—get out and vote for Steve Irwin #YavapaiCollegeGoverning Board as a member of Yavapai College Governing Board I promise to help guide the College in Financial Responsibility and be a strong supporter of not raising your property taxes while requiring a higher quality of education.”
October 19, 2014: * * * “A vote for me equals NO NEW TAXES.”
However, Mr. Irwin earned this year’s award when at the June, 2015 Governing Board meeting he had the chance to abide by his pre-election promise. Instead, he was the swing vote on the five member board that resulted in a property tax increase for County residents. He also voted to increase student tuition; the 10th year tuition in some form has been increased.
The final vote was 3-2 with Deb McCasland and Al Filardo dissenting.