YCC Community Outreach Coordinator circulates nominating petitions for Governing Board candidate Harrington
Official records have disclosed that newly appointed Yavapai Community College Outreach Coordinator, Linda Buchanan, was hard at work on August 4, 2014 obtaining signatures on nonpartisan nominating petitions for Second District Governing Board candidate Harold Harrington. Those close to the Community College believe that the top administrators fear a change-over on the Governing Board and are doing whatever they can within the law to help out. Harrington had publicly said he would not run as a candidate for the Governing Board if another candidate filed. However, he quickly changed his political tune when Ms. Deb McCasland filed for his seat on the Governing Board.
Arizona has a law, AZ 15-1408, which appears to prohibit community college employees from influencing the outcome of an election or using community college resources to do so.
No one has suggested that Buchanan violated the Arizona statute by obtaining signatures for Harrington on August 4. In fact, Arizona law allows a Community College employee to do whatever he or she wants to on his or her own time. However, do you think it was appropriate for a high level Community College employee in a fiercely fought nonpartisan political campaign to become involved by collecting the signatures for Harrington? Do you think that such behavior would affect the future relationship of Buchanan with McCasland if McCasland is elected to the Governing Board?
You may view the petitions by clicking on the following link. Binder1.