Says East-County has been deprived of any board leadership position for at least 12 years; laments treatment of McCasland

Third District Yavapai Community College Governing Board representative Paul Chevalier expressed his concern about the failure of the West-County Board members to seek a consensus with East-County members on important issues at the February Board meeting. Or, sharing leadership positions of any kind with members representing the east side of the County for at least the last twelve years.

After evaluating his first session with the full Board, he made the following written comments that are  included as a part of the February Board agenda.

“I have observed the Board since 2014. I have not seen the Board being engaged in any strategic thinking OR in-depth future planning at Board meetings.

“With regard to collective decision making, the west side Board leadership makes little or no effort to get consensus with the east side representatives (at least since 2014 to present).

“Board Leadership: There has not been a Chair or Secretary of the YCGB coming from the east side in 12 years. The Board majority (the three west side representatives) does not share Board leadership with the east side representatives, unlike our County Board of Supervisors that rotate the chair and secretary positions every year. The east side representatives have been shut out for twelve years!

“Last month I nominated Deb McCasland (who represents part of Verde Valley and is in her 5th year on the Board)) for secretary and all three westside representatives declined to vote for her. We continue with a chair and a secretary from the west side. The west side representatives unwillingness to share Board leadership with east side representatives contributes to making us a divided Board.

“I hope for change.”

Kudos to Mr. Chevalier!

Sending taxpayer paid postcards that “might” evade state law barring use of College funds to promote political candidates is ethically irresponsible; common sense tells us the College is promoting its two favored candidates for the Governing Board by sending the postcards

The Community College is rushing to complete postcards for individual Governing Board members featuring the current board member in a district, the member’s photo plus text written by the Board member.  The publication has been described as looking like a political promotional piece for a Governing Board member.

The content of the newsletter/postcard provides an incumbent Board member with an unchallenged political platform with a photograph and an opportunity to extol his or her virtues, real or imagined.

The College is fully aware of the prohibition on using public funds to support political campaigns placed by Arizona law on Community Colleges in AZ. Stat. 15-1408 (2018). That statute bars the use of community college district resources to influence elections. Anyone with common sense knows the college is attempting to evade this statute by referring to the postcards as a Governing Board report.

Maybe the College Administration will be able to get away with its scheme.  However, in doing so, it is modeling the type of gutter politics that one would hope is frowned upon by faculty and students at the College. Frankly, in the heat of the November election and the Administration’s fear it will lose two of its closest supporters, it is ignoring any meaningful ethical behavior.

Should the Administration and the College Governing Board exhibit the highest ethical standards at all times for its students, staff and faculty?  Should it be a model of ethical behavior for the citizens of Yavapai County who support it? The answer is pretty clear: “No,” it prefers the political gutter and has no regard for ethical behavior.

McCasland’s mockup clearly shows how the mailing is politically tainted; McCasland says she is opposed to the mailing until a special Board meeting is convened to discuss the legal issues surrounding the material

The Blog was able to obtain a mock up of the political postcard Yavapai Community College  is intending to send to all homes and businesses in Yavapai County to support Board members Connie Harris and Ray Sigafoos.  Harris is in a tight battle to retain the seat she was appointed to a few months ago with Paul Chevalier.  Sigafoos is being challenged by Wayne Meddaugh in District #1.  Harris and Sigafoos need the taxpayer mailing to bolster their campaigns.

Take a look at the front page, which is reproduced below.  There is no question but this is a political document in the context of the November 2018 election. The College is barred by Arizona Law from using its resources to influence a political campaign.  However, can anything be any clearer about the motive of the College with these postcards than to influence the outcome of the November election?

Will Sigafoos, who politically benefits from the mailing by the College at taxpayer expense, call for a meeting before the politically tainted postcard is mailed to all County families and businesses?

The Blog has learned on good authority that a request has been made directly to Yavapai Community College Governing Board member Ray Sigafoos by a member of the Governing Board to schedule a special Board meeting to discuss the legality of the College mailing a politically tainted postcard that subtly supports Sigafoos and Connie Harris. The meeting would take place before the November election and before the College mailed the politically tainted material.

Both Sigafoos and Harris have strong opponents in the November election and need the mailing at taxpayer expense to try and bolster their campaigns.  As of the date of this Blog note (Sunday morning), there has been no response from the Chair of the Governing Board regarding the request.

As a matter of ethics, it is noted that Sigafoos is in a political battle with Wayne Meddaugh to retain his First District Governing Board seat.  For Sigafoos to make the decision to not call a special meeting immediately raises an ethical issue relating to his obvious conflict of interest in making such a decision.