Chair and attorney block Kiel from responding to the unwarranted behavior. Was the December appointment of Kuykendall a major mistake? 

OPINION: Fourth District Yavapai Community College District Governing Board member Patrick Kuykendall launched a vicious personal attack on First District Representative William Kiel during the February 18 Governing Board meeting. The outburst occurred amid a discussion on the authority and accountability of Yavapai’s president, Dr. Lisa Rhine, and the adoption of a resolution that vested virtually all power in her.

In his carefully controlled but angry tirade Kuykendall declared that he “wanted it on the record” that, in his view, Mr. Kiel had “made threats and been . . . disrespectful.” He further claimed, “I’ve sat on a lot of boards, and I’ve never been on a board with somebody with so much hate and discontent.” He provided no examples.

Not satisfied with his initial attack on Kiel, Kuykendall pressed on in anger saying:  “The reason we’re not in live meeting is when somebody mentions firearms and they’re unstable, it is a threat.”  Once again, he provided no examples to support his attack.  (See video clip.)

Mr. Kiel, clearly caught completely off guard by this stunning accusation, attempted to question the source of Kuykendall’s claim regarding “stability.” Yet, he was abruptly prevented from doing to  by the Board’s attorney and Chair Deb McCasland. (See video.)

Such an inflammatory and vicious public attack on a fellow Governing Board member is unwarranted and should immediately call into question Kuykendall’s fitness to serve on the Community College Governing Board. In my judgment, his appointment in December to the open Board seat in District 4 now appears to be a major mistake.  Given his discomfort and anger directed at Mr. Kiel, he  should resign.

A video clip of Mr. Kuykendall’s outburst in context follows below: A complete video of the meeting is available at the Community College’s Governing Board website.

Staff may face discipline even by giving out the date of a retirement party to the media

OPINION: At Yavapai Community College, President Dr. Lisa Rhine’s leadership has fostered a pervasive culture of fear among faculty and staff. Employees risk termination for as little as engaging with a District Governing Board member or responding to media inquiries—a directive Dr. Rhine has enforced with unmistakable clarity.

The chilling effect of President Rhine’s mandate is so profound that even a simple request for the date of a retirement celebration honoring a respected faculty member was denied—staff too fearful of jeopardizing their jobs to share basic information. This unfolded just last week when the Blog contacted the college  to inquire about the retirement of Linda Shook, the Associate Dean for the Sedona Center and Program Director for the Osher Lifelong Learning Program (OLLI). Shook, an exceptional leader and dedicated member of the college since 2019, will be a significant loss to the OLLI program.

The staff member contacted by the Blog was visibly apprehensive, unwilling to respond to the straightforward request for the date and time of Dean Shook’s retirement celebration. Citing institutional restrictions, she stated, “We cannot talk to blogs,” underscoring the atmosphere of fear and intimidation that now permeates the college.

Dr. Rhine has taken extraordinary steps to muzzle employees. She has reinforced her hardline stance through small-group meetings, formal letters to faculty and staff, and repeated warnings about the severe consequences of engaging with outsiders. During District Governing Board meetings, she has doubled down, making it clear that disciplinary action—including termination—awaits those who defy her directive.

With fear now the defining feature of Yavapai College’s work environment, open dialogue and transparency have become casualties of Dr. Rhine’s authoritarian media-Governing  Board mandate.