First District Representative Bill Kiel requests further explanation from chair regarding the time limit but receives no response
At the start of the January 28 all-day workshop, Yavapai Community College District Governing Board Chair Deb McCasland announced she was holding an “order” restricting Board members to just two minutes of questioning per presenter. She justified the limit by stating it was necessary “so everyone could participate.” The Board consists of five representatives.
First District Governing Board representative Bill Kiel questioned McCasland about the reasoning behind the extremely short restriction, but she did not respond. He argued that he had spent hours preparing for the meeting and could not understand the sudden “order” limiting his ability to ask experts about their research and various opinions they were providing the Board.
In the Blog’s view, limiting a Board member’s questioning to two minutes—particularly during an all-day workshop—is unprecedented and excessively brief. This is especially concerning given that members may receive dozens, if not hundreds, of pages of data just three or four days before a workshop.
Some presentations on January 28 were highly complex, such as the extensive financial briefing delivered by the Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services. From the Blog’s perspective, a two-minute window is woefully insufficient for meaningful discussion and opportunity with questions in this area, especially when it involves the following: A $126 million dollar budget, Arizona’s complex property tax law, fund accounting used by the College, and related matters. It is clear that a thorough, clear understanding of these issues, even for those on the Board who might possess a strong background in accounting or finance, is challenging.
Moreover, the two-minute rule appeared to be inconsistently applied. For example, after Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine’s presentation, Representative Kiel exceeded the two-minute limit without interruption. Yet, at other times, he was abruptly cut off by the Chair or the Board’s legal counsel and cautioned that his two-minute time for questions was up.
The selective enforcement of this rule raises questions about its purpose and fairness.
It is worth noting that Governing Board members serve without compensation and have limited time before meetings to review extensive data. As a result, some may struggle to fully digest the material, leading to a reluctance—or inability—to ask substantive questions. Instead, they default to praising presentations and presenters, sidestepping serious inquiry, which makes the two-minute rule largely irrelevant to them.
By contrast, Representative Kiel stated that he spent hours reviewing the data and came well prepared. However, the strict time limit prevented him from asking all his relevant questions. Below is a video clip of an early exchange between Chair McCasland and Mr. Kiel regarding the two-minute rule—one of several clashes that unfolded throughout the meeting.