Apologizes if anything he said at October meeting was construed as an attack

Yavapai Community College District Governing Board Chair Ray Sigafoos apologized at the November Board meeting for what Deb McCasland alleged was a verbal attack on her at the October meeting.  Sigafoos said that “sometimes I’m not very diplomatic and I apologize if that was taken in the wrong way.”

Ray Sigafoos

He also said that “I don’t remember the discussion at all. I’m sorry.”  McCasland reminded him that “It was lengthy—look at the video.”

Representative Pat McCarver commented that sometimes “we’re responding to questions that aren’t being asked. That there is a misunderstanding as to what the comment is.”

The approximate three minute video of the discussion and apology follows below. You may also view a video of the entire meeting by clicking here and then clicking on “Meeting Videos.”

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Responding to Sigafoos’ persistent questioning of her during the October Board meeting, Representative McCasland said:  “I feel a lot of intimidation from you.”

“Mansplaining is a blend of the word man and the informal form splaining of the verb explaining and means “to explain something to someone, characteristically by a man to woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing”.  Source: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansplaining.

For some who attended the October 24 Yavapai Community College District Governing Board  meeting, the exchanges between Chair Ray Sigafoos and Representative Deb McCasland created an atmosphere that was less than pleasant.  The exchanges took place over more than an hour.  Ms. McCasland eventually told Sigafoos that she “felt a lot of intimidation” from him. 

The Blog believes that the treatment of McCasland by Sigafoos fits the classic definition of “mansplaining.”

At one point during the exchanges, a member of the audience, Ms. Ruth Wicks, got up and left the meeting room.   When interviewed, she told the Blog that she could no longer stomach what she perceived as the unfair attack being waged by Sigafoos on Ms. McCasland.

McCasland, who is perceived by the Blog as having been a target for Sigafoos’ efforts at intimidation since she was elected, stated to the Blog she was not fazed by the fieriness of Sigafoos’  effort to demean or embarrass her.

Below is a four-minute clip (out of more than an hour of back and forth exchanges) that  exemplifies what the Blog believes is a classic example of mansplaining.  Review it and see if you don’t agree.  You may also view the entire Governing Board meeting and all of the exchanges on Video by clicking here and going to the College Governing Board website.

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