EQUITY IS NOT IN THE WILLS’ POLITICAL AGENDA
Community College President Penelope Wills is not about to return any of the excess millions of dollars paid by Verde Valley taxpayers to the Valley to build a CTEC-like facility over here. That would be equitable. Recall that since 2007 the College has pumped an estimated $16 million of primary taxpayer revenue into the CTEC facility at the Prescott airport. It’s a terrific facility. How about a smaller similar facility in the Verde Valley? Are you kidding?
From Wills’ perspective, none of the taxpayer property tax money should be used in the Verde Valley for similar and obviously smaller facility. Instead, she claims there have been discussions about bonding and a decision made to encourage VACTE to float a General Obligation bond on its own. (A College-wide bond would involve the College and she clearly does not want to be a part of helping the Verde Valley in this way.)
So, with County property primary taxes paying $16 million for CTEC, $5 million for a new Arts building (now under construction); $4 million for the Prescott Valley Campus; $10.75 million for a Chiller on the Prescott Campus; $3 million for a soccer field; $5 million for the Performing Arts Center, and $7 million for renovated dormitories, one can see the extreme selfishness of her view. Oh, well. And the fact she makes decisions without public discussions at Governing Board meetings is standard operating fodder in Yavapai County.
Here is what she told the Clarkdale Town Council when the CTEC issues was raised.
“There have been discussions about should we as a College bond for that and bring a similar facility over here. I don’t think we want to go that direction. This is why. Because it would require if we bond for it it would have to go across the County. The Valley Academy has the ability to bond. They can bond for a building that is just within the Verde Valley. It would have a much higher chance of passing in this day of tax restrictions. So, we’re always looking for opportunities to work more closely together to bring more programs in here. And to have that pipeline coming into the College. And that to a large part explains the success of CTEC. Because of the Mountain Institute JTED and that strong pipeline coming into the College. So we’re looking for opportunities there. And I always look to see, o.k., . . . what is possible; let’s go for it. So I am very pleased that we are working very closely with Steve Dochery on that.”
The 2016 College for Kids program on the Verde Campus in Clarkdale will offer a large array of short summer classes for youngsters ranging in age from 3 to 17. This is the first time in the history of the program that this kind of effort has been made in the Verde Valley. 
Representative Ray Sigafoos poured political syrup on what is suspected as a Wills’ PR stunt saying he had “never seen” an executive do this in “35 years of higher education.” The Blog speculates that Sigafoos, a tax accountant, must have seen many clients with incomes over a quarter million dollars routinely making much larger donations to charities. They didn’t, however, have a public platform on which to boast of their gift.