“Asinine decision is slap in face to the Verde Valley”

In a September 16  editorial by the Managing Editor of the Sedona Red Rock News, Christopher Fox Graham, the decision by the three West County members of the District Governing Board to dismantle the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee was characterized as an “Asinine decision.” 

Mr. Christoper Fox Graham

Graham wrote in part that “The move to kill the one committee that has staved off a full-on lawsuit to remove the Verde Valley from the yoke of bad governance smells of Yavapai College President Penny Wills, who has done everything she can to marginalize our residents.”  He also wrote that “The board has taken this prize show pony out back and shot it.” 

You may read Mr. Graham’s entire editorial on the decision to dismantle the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee by clicking here.

FEAR OF PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF INEQUITIES SPELLS END TO VVBAC

Commentary

The decision by the three-member West County voting block on the Yavapai College District Governing Board on Monday, September 13 to essentially dismantle the existing Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee (VVBAC) was an insult to every citizen in the Verde Valley. It was made almost in secret in the late afternoon of the Board’s retreat when there were no citizens present and without placing the item on the agenda in a recognizable fashion.  Unlike regular Board sessions, there was no video record of the proceeding being made.

Recall that the VVBAC is a blue ribbon volunteer committee made up of seven outstanding citizens from every corner of the Verde Valley.  When it was created 21 months ago, every effort was made to avoid bias and be all inclusive. Therefore, the towns, cities, Yavapai County supervisors and the Yavapai Apache Nation prepared a careful list of possible VVBAC committee members, which was sent to Yavapai County Education Superintendent Tim Carter. After Mr. Carter interviewed all the candidates, he made the final appointments.  It was an inclusive, transparent and honest process–a rarity in today’s ugly political world. Obviously, none of this mattered to the West County Board majority.

It is stunning that no one on the Governing Board had the common courtesy to call the VVBAC Chair prior to Monday’s retreat to inform him the issue of the VVBAC’s future was to be discussed.  No one on the Board even had the common courtesy to ask the Chair or any members of the VVBAC if the Committee’s work had been concluded prior to Monday’s vote. Of course, we all know the VVBAC’s work was far from done. The motive of the West County majority for not discussing the matter with the VVBAC and acting almost in secret is obvious.  

Good manners, simple courtesy, and civility took a back seat Monday to the growing fear held by the West County voting block that it might lose its 50-year grip on power over the Verde Valley because of continued public disclosures. The public was learning from an unbiased, trusted source far too much about the College’s wild spending spree on buildings and the educational inequities between the East and West sides of the County.

The West County majority also must have concluded that only by dismantling the VVBAC could it continue to maintain absolute control and distribution of the tax revenue coming from the East side of the County in support of the West County community college educational empire. Again, the VVBAC was revealing far too much!

For those of us who observe the Board carefully, it was clear that as the VVBAC’s voice grew on behalf of the Verde Valley, its existence was increasingly being placed in jeopardy. It had become the last thing the West County voting block could tolerate:  a trusted, democratic, open, strong, thoughtful and effective voice for the citizens of the Verde Valley concerned about post-secondary education. Furthermore, it was producing excellent documents to support its intelligent and thoughtful recommendations. Finally, it was continually offering a hand of conciliation and cooperation to the District Governing Board to resolve many of the post-secondary issues in the Verde Valley.  That generosity was never reciprocated and could not be tolerated.  

Now that the West County majority has dismantled the VVBAC, the College propaganda machine will swing into overtime to try and “fix” things.  The strategy above all else will be to pacify Sedona’s Mayor, Council, and citizens. They are feared above all else in the Verde Valley.  It will do this with “B.S. rhetoric,” and financial handouts. It will promise to return a small portion of the $6 million to the Sedona Taxing District it annually pays out to support the College. The handout will be applied to renovate the Sedona Center–probably $3.5 million or so of its $80 million annual budget with the promise to develop a culinary program. A drop in its financial budget bucket.

Recall that the “fix-it” phase of the relationship with Sedona is being done only after the West majority and President Penelope Wills created a public relations nightmare for themselves when they unsuccessfully considered closing and selling the Center.  And shuttering the internationally recognized film school.

Once Sedona is pacified and its political voices calmed, the controlling West County majority will quietly return to using the millions of excess discretionary dollars now at their disposal to build more and more facilities, athletic fields and programs for the West County.

The political lesson is clear. The only avenue left for the 70,000 residents of the Verde Valley if they are to ever develop a strong Community College is to seek help from the legislature. The legislature has the power to create a separate contiguous taxing district and Community College for the Verde Valley.  Something similar to what was done when the legislature created the Sedona high school district.

I encourage you to write your legislators and the Governor of Arizona demanding that the historic inequity existing between the East and West sides of Yavapai County in post-secondary learning opportunities be corrected. The remedy is for legislation to create a separate contiguous taxing district for a Verde Valley Community College. That is the only long-term solution to the continued absence of post-secondary learning opportunities in the Verde Valley.

Bob Oliphant

Unincorporated areas of the Verde Valley can’t create leverage such as Sedona has done when it faced losing the Sedona Center

One of the issues discussed at Wednesday’s meeting of the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee was what, if anything, can be done to get the College’s attention on the more rural, unincorporated areas of the Verde Valley.  These areas include Rim Rock, Village of Oak Creek, and Beaver Creek.

District Governing Board member Al Filardo suggested that if the members followed the example set by Sedona they would be successful in gaining notice from the College.  Chair Bill Regner replied to Mr. Filardo and suggested that Sedona has been successful in moving the College only because the Administration created a “public relations nightmare” when it announced the closing the Sedona Center and once it became known that the Sedona Taxing District paid somewhere around $6 million a year to support the College.

Representative Carolyn Fisher said that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for her area, much of which is in the Village of Oak Creek,  to create the kind of atmosphere created in Sedona when Dr. Penelope Wills announced she was contemplating closing the Sedona Center. Ms. Fisher’s area of the Verde Valley is unincorporated.

Zachery Jerrigan covered the meeting for the Red Rock News and his article can be found in the Friday, July 15, 2016 (p. 3A) edition of the newspaper.  The online version of the article can be read by clicking here.

Analysis of survey may be undertaken; note location of meeting

The Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee will meet this Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 8:30 a.m.. The meeting is scheduled at a new location, the Vista Hall – The Collective Sedona, 7000 Highway 179, Sedona, Arizona.

Although the official agenda has yet to be published, the Verde Independent said in an article written by Mr. Bill Helm on July 10, 2016 that the following items were possibly on the agenda:
Advice regarding a minimum percentage of the money collected in the Verde Valley through taxes, tuition, fees and other means, be spent on education in the Verde Valley in each designated period.

Advice concerning the Sedona culinary arts and hospitality programs being developed.

Advice regarding a separate administrative college.

Updated advice on the college’s latest 2015-2019 Strategic Plan response to the committee’s recommendations.

Request for Representative of College Marketing and Recruitment to meet with the board advisory committee.

Advice on domicile of future new hires for dean positions.

To read the entire article on the Verde Independent, dated July 10, 2016 please click here.

Here is a map of VOC showing the location of the meeting: 7000 Highway 179.

President Penelope Wills’ Enrollment Philosophy Criticized

Paul Chavalier

The Chair of the Verde Valley Board Advisory Board criticized the enrollment philosophy being followed by Yavapai Community College President Penelope Wills.  In an article in the Cottonwood Journal Extra of July 6, 2016 Mr. Paul Chavalier told reporter Zachery Jernigan that Wills’ philosophy of matching the percentage of spending to percentage of enrollment had ensured poor funding for the Verde Valley.

According to the article, when enrollment in the Verde Valley declined from 30 percent of total enrollment to 15 percent, the decrease ensured poor funding for the Verde Valley.  Consequently, the number of classes declined and facilities such as the Sedona Center have gone unused.

Chavalier also suggested that relationships between the College and Northern Arizona Healthcare Verde Valley Medical Center have been damaged by efforts to cut careers programs that contribute to a qualified workforce.

The full article has not as yet been posted online.

Focus on other projects; not analysis

Based on the brief discussion of the Governing Board at the June 14, 2016 meeting, the seven-member blue ribbon Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee is not to get into the job of analyzing feedback received from around 70 or so Verde Valley residents regarding how well the College is operating. 

Verde Valley Representative Al Filardo raised the question at the Board meeting. He said that he would advise the Committee that “the job of the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee is to collect feedback, not necessarily analyze it.  Is that correct madam Chair?”

Chair Pat McCarver replied that “if we look back that we were asked that question by the newspapers.  So we look back at the minutes and it was so that we could gather the feedback  . . . that was as far as it went.  I think that is what we want.”

Filardo said:  “There’s so much we need to focus on that focusing on the right things is a good thing.” 

McCarver also said that during their fall retreat they would talk about what they want from the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee next year.    

You may view the video of this brief discussion by clicking here.

Says he is “disappointed” over low returns on survey

Yavapai Community College Representative Al Filardo was on the front page of the Verde Independent May 14 criticizing the blue Ribbon seven member all volunteer Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee over a lack of responses to a questionnaire.
According to the Verde Independent, Filardo said “I expressed my disappointment with the VVBAC because I expected each member to turn in around 20 responses each as they indicated during a previous meeting. At this point I think we have a total of 30 or so responses. The approach based on what I can tell is reaching out via email, phone call, and face-to-face request to complete the form.”

The criticism is puzzling in view of the extensive discussion between Board members and Mr. Filardo at the May 11, 2016 Advisory Committee meeting (three days prior to the Verde Independent story). Mr. Filardo did not express specific disappointment with the committee members at that meeting and agreed to a June date when all the data would be received. He also heard from all the Board members present who recommitted themselves to a greater volunteer effort to gain responses to the questions. They also agreed to try specific techniques suggested by Committee members and Mr. Filardo to gather additional responses to the questions.
Committee members have volunteered dozens, in some cases hundreds, of hours since November, 2014 in an effort to suggest improvements in Community College educational opportunities in the Verde Valley to the District Governing Board. They have made detailed recommendations to the Governing Board and have appeared at numerouls meetings of the Governing board in support of them.
The Blog finds it unfortunate that Filardo felt that public criticism of the Committee was warranted when a June data for the Committee to turn in the information requested had been agreed upon by him and the Committee.
You may read the front page story in the Verde Independent by clicking here.

Verde Campus, 8:30 a.m.

 The Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee will meet this Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. on the Verde Valley Campus,  Building “M,” Rm 202. The Verde Campus is located at 601 Black Hills Drive, Clarkdale, Arizona.

Building M, Rm 202, Verde Campus, 8:30 a.m. this Wednesday, April 21

The Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee, will meet Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. on the Verde Campus, 601 Black Hills Drive, Clarkdale, Arizona.  The meeting will be held in Building M, Room 202.  

The public is invited.