SECRETS: YAVAPAI COMMUNITY COLLEGE GOVERNING BOARD ADOPTS PRESIDENT’S THREE ANNUAL GOALS FOR THE COLLEGE BUT CAN’T TELL THE PUBLIC WHAT THEY ARE

Goals were set during secret executive meeting with President November 15 but College upon request refuses to disclose them

The question of goals the President of Yavapai Community College should achieve came up during a secret executive meeting on November 15, 2022, with the College District Governing Board.  Apparently, three goals were agreed upon. 

Once the executive meeting ended, the Governing Board returned to a public meeting and adopted by motion the three goals.  However, the Board did not publicly explain what the three goals were.  The public was left completely in the dark.

In an odd twist of the application of Arizona’s Open Meeting law, because the goals were brought up during secret negotiations over her revised multi-thousands of dollars severance package she will receive if fired because of poor performance, the Board took the view the Board could not  reveal the goals. 

The College, when asked to reveal them, stated because they were a part of the secret meeting it need not reveal them.

The Community College’s actual statement from its information office in response to the request from the Blog for information was:

“I don’t have access to that information as it was part of the executive session with the District Governing Board.”

The secrecy over goals set for a college  president is both odd and to a certain extent somewhat humorous.  The secrecy is apparently intended to prevent the public from holding her accountable for  achieving the goals. Obviously, as long as the public doesn’t know what the goals are, she cannot be held accountable.

Whether this is some kind of new age shenanigan, cleverness by the President’s lawyer in outsmarting the Board, or just a sign of extraordinary political weakness on the part of both President Rhine and the Board I leave to the reader to judge.  You may view the motion made at the Board meeting and the very brief discussion on this issue by clicking here.