Keeping Chino Valley in the dark on intergovernmental raceway agreement until a Town vote

It wasn’t on the agenda for discussion. In fact, it wasn’t mentioned anywhere on the agenda. Yet, the Yavapai College Governing Board decided in the last four minutes of the long March 7, 2017 Board meeting, without asking first for a formal vote, that  Chino Valley could not make a presentation to it in April about the proposed raceway near the Chino Valley Center. The Board will wait until a final vote by the Chino Valley Town Council approving the raceway before it will show its hand.

According to Board Chair Sigafoos, an informational presentation given by Chino Valley would simply “fill up the room” with Chino Valley people and “hi-jack” an April Board meeting. He also said, “we don’t have a dog in the fight.” This statement no doubt came as a surprise to the Chino Valley Town Council and its citizens. Chino Valley Board representative, Pat McCarver, agreed with Sigafoos.

Given the March 7 discussion, it is clear that the Governing Board is in no mood to cooperate with Chino Valley. Nor is there an interest in educating the entire board on the matter so they can be better informed if and when they are asked to decide whether to approve the raceway. Consequently, Chino Valley officials must plow ahead with the Raceway proposal and spend thousands of dollars on the project without knowing the District Governing Board’s position.

So far, the District Governing Board and President Wills have created a bewildering mountain of confusion for Chino Valley. The following outlines the story:

1. Because of an intergovernmental agreement between the College and the Town of Chino Valley executed in 2002, Yavapai College holds a veto over construction of a raceway near the Chino Valley Center. The Town is considering allowing construction of a raceway near the Center.
2. The members of the Governing Board have not received any preliminary information at a Board meeting where the matter could be discussed. A Board discussion about the project would give College President Wills direction in the matter. And help educate Board members about the intergovernmental agreement and concerns about the location of the raceway in relation to the College’s Chino Valley Center.
3. The College and Governing Board members have received approximately 300 email requests for information from persons interested in the raceway project. Those requests have gone unanswered. According to president Wills,  she sent the emails unanswered to Chino Valley Town officials.
4. President Wills made a presentation to the Chino Valley Town Council on February 14, 2017 without informing the Governing Board she was doing so. To confuse the matter, she spoke on behalf of the College and not the District Governing Board. This made little sense to the listeners. Furthermore, she suggested there were obstacles to the raceway that had to be met while also saying the final determination is with the Town. (Her speech can be viewed by scrolling down this Blog about 4 pages; Feb 28 post.)
5. Governing Board Chair Ray Sigafoos sent a letter to Chino Valley officials before to the March 7 Board meeting without prior approval from the Board. He  stated in the letter that the Board would not allow a presentation to be made to the Board until there was a final vote by Chino Valley. To be clear, this Board policy statement was never brought before the Governing Board for discussion.
6. At the March 7, 2017 Governing Board meeting there was no mention on the agenda of a report or discussion about the Chino Valley raceway.
7. During the final minutes of the Board meeting, Sigafoos reported on his letter. His action was informally approved by Pat McCarver, the Chino Valley representative on the Governing Board. It was also informally approved by the Second District representative. The way this was handled raises a technical question about whether the Arizona open meeting law was violated.
8. It is clear from the March 7, 2017 discussion, which appears below, that the Governing Board will not act and will not inform itself of the issues surrounding the raceway and the potential impact on the College until after the town votes on the issue. It places Chino Valley in a very difficult position because it doesn’t know what kind of study, if any, would meet Governing Board requirements or whether any requirements will be required. So much for cooperation.

You may view the discussion held by the Governing Board on March 7, 2017 below.