Urges transparency in strongly worded statement he was not permitted to read to the Board at General Meeting July 28; ruled not on agenda and no discussion of any kind could be held

Third District Yavapai Community College representative Paul Chevalier has consistently urged the College to produce a much more detailed, transparent budget to the public.  The annual budget is estimated at about $85 million and over 90% of funds come from taxpayers in one form or another.

At the July 28 meeting he again raised this issue and wanted to express to the Board and President Lisa Rhine his views on the subject.  Legal Counsel for the Governing Board ruled he could not read or discuss the issue because it was not on the Board agenda.

The Blog has obtained a copy of his written remarks and they are produced below (with Mr. Chavalier’s permission).  There is also a brief video showing the ruling on the issue by the Board legal counsel.

  Yavapai College Board Meeting Comment on Budget July 28.2020

I have an update comment to the Board and the President concerning the annual Yavapai College budgets that are presented to this Board for its approval. I have recently reviewed the annual budgets of other public entities in our county. I specifically reviewed four major Yavapai County cities 2019/2020 budgets, all of which are available on line. They are as follows:

First in alphabetical order is Cottonwood AZ’s annual budget that was presented to its City Council and is available to the public. It is 310 pages long. It is detailed and transparent.

Next, Prescott AZ’s annual budget – detailed and transparent – it is 307 pages long. 

Next, Prescott Valley AZ’s annual budget  – also a detailed transparent budget. It is 330 pages long.

Finally, Sedona, AZ’s annual budget – it too is a detailed transparent budget and it is 390 pages long.

All Yavapai County city budgets present in detail how public money is being spent and they offer explanations of why it is being spent.

What about nearby colleges and universities budgets?  Are they also detailed and transparent?

To find out I reviewed NAU’s budget.  NAU’s main campus is less than 30 miles from the Yavapai County border.  NAU’s 2019/2020 annual budget can be found online. It is 187 pages long.  Moreover, the print size on many of the NAU budget pages is much smaller than the Yavapai College or City budgets discussed above. If the NAU print size matched those budgets it would have been closer to 300 pages in length.

The NAU budget details individual expenses of each department and details individual expenses of its other major activities.  Not only can one find in the NAU budget detail on how the money was spent for each academic discipline but also one can read the detail of how the money was spent on activities such as information technology and athletics. 

The Yavapai College budget is neither detailed nor transparent. Its 2019/2020 budget is just 28 pages long. I do not have the exact length of the 2020/2021 Yavapai College budget handy but I am aware it is little different from its 2019/2020 budget length. It is impossible to be detailed or transparent in a 28 page Yavapai College budget.

 Members of the public in my district have discussed why Yavapai College won’t provide detailed transparent annual budgets to its Board and to the public.  

Our immediate past President had been blamed for not making the college budgets transparent. People now realize that if the blame were only with the past President then this situation would have changed when she left office a year and a half ago.

 It did not change.

Members of the public has been discussing why this is so.

The prime reason discussed by members of the public is that the college leadership refuses to provide detailed financial information because with this knowledge members of the public or a member of the Board might challenge the college on how it spends some of the public’s money.

The less detail the Board or the public is given about how the college spends money the easier it is for college leadership to spend it their way without questions being asked. Yavapai College leadership doesn’t want checks and balances over its power.

 This thinking, of course, ignores the fact that one of the key purposes of the rule of law is to control people in public power from abusing it. That is a key element of our democracy. Withhold transparency and democracy erodes. We need to insure our public actions support our democracy. Refuse to do that and we lose our freedom.

I will address another possible reason voiced by some members of the public that I respect. It is more even alarming than the reason already discussed and you should be made aware of it.  It is this  – some of the people in power at Yavapai College do not want the Board, or the public, or you, madam President, to know where all the money has gone that the College has or is taking in. The public audit required by law will not reveal it. It would take a transparent detailed public budget to account for all the money used and that is why some people believe the college is avoiding financial transparency.

I do not want to believe that corruption exists at the college but that belief is gaining traction. No good reason has ever been given for the college’s lack of budget transparency. It is not the practice of other major public entities in our county. I see no way to justify it.  Neither does anyone I have talked with.

If there is nothing to hide, why hide anything?

We are in a time in America of anger, fear, frustration and distrust with public protests brought on by multiple factors coalescing including high unemployment, increasing poverty, a deadly pandemic, racial discrimination, police brutality, corruption and assorted other abuses of government power. Out of this environment the public’s cry for transparency is permeating activist America.

Our local public’s suspicion generated by Yavapai College’s refusal to be financially transparent needs to be acknowledged not ignored. The college needs to maintain and further gain the public’s respect and trust. Refusing to disclose complete detailed financial information does the opposite.

All the Yavapai County City Governments discussed here provide detailed transparent budgets to the public and their elected city councils. NAU provides transparent budgets to the public and its Board.  Yavapai College needs to join them and become totally open to the public’s financial scrutiny and it needs to do it with its next budget.

Ignorance is the friend of tyranny and the enemy of democracy. Our college’s job is to reduce ignorance.  And yet when it comes to its own finances our college seeks to keep the public ignorant. Complete budget transparency is the right thing to do. Additionally it is the prudent course of action to take. The college should not risk harming its reputation by fighting complete public financial transparency any longer.  

Lisa, I am in touch with the public of my district. I am presenting to you here what I have been told, what I have observed and my personal research. I hope you find this helpful in making the decision on the depth of the content of the next college budget.

Paul Chevalier

Prescott lawyer and student advisor/lecturer  via his LLC will take Steve Irwin’s  District  #5 seat

Prescott criminal defense lawyer Mitch Padilla will join the Yavapai Community College Governing Board in September as the representative from District #5.  This District was represented by Steve Irwin who left the seat earlier in 2020  to run for County Supervisor. No one filed for the District #5 position by the deadline other than Mr. Padilla.

Mr. Padilla ran for Prescott Justice of the Peace in 2018 but was defeated in the Republican primary that year by Glenn Savona.  The seat on the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board is nonpartisan.

In addition to his law practice, Mr. Padilla operates a business called “My College Roadmap, LLC.”  He writes on his LLC website that “I  consistently address the importance of finding ways to pay for college in order to keep student loan debt to a minimum or eliminate it altogether.”  He offers seminars at high schools and attends fairs.  You may view the “My Roadmap, LLC” website by clicking here.

Mr. Padilla  grew up in Southern California and graduated from Cantwell High School in Montebello. Following graduation, he  enlisted in the U.S. Navy and while there  earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree from Chapman University in Orange, California.

He later earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of San Diego and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego.  He and his family  moved to Kingman and then settled in Prescott in 2008. He joined the Arizona Attorney General’s office and resigned in 2018 to set up private practice in Prescott. 

The following is the letter he sent to Yavapai County School Superintendent Tim Carter when he filed for the Yavapai Community College District #5 position.

“Hello Friends,

“My name is Mitch Padilla, a local attorney and resident of the Granite Dells community in Prescott. I am running for the Yavapai College Board, District # 5. It is an area that encompasses Yavapai Hills north to the Prescott Airport, south to the Walker area, and east to Prescott Valley (Fain Road).

“I am running for this Non-Partisan position because I am a proponent of higher education no matter what format it comes in. I believe that education should be affordable, but not necessarily free. Education should be accessible to everyone who wants it, but not so overwhelming that it intimidates those who may seek it. As a board member, I will look for ways to increase access to education while at the same time ensuring that Yavapai County taxpayers are never taken advantage of in their financial support of Yavapai College.

“SOME KEYS FACTS ABOUT ME:

“I have lived in Arizona since 2006; Prescott since 2008

“I currently serve as a Tri-City College Prep High School Board Member; since 2015

“I currently serve as a Yavapai Regional Transit Board Member; since 2018

“I created a business, My College Roadmap, in order to inform and educate high school students and parents on how to navigate the college application process.

“I am a practicing attorney in Prescott; primarily handling criminal defense cases

“I am a US Navy Veteran of 22 years

“MY OWN EDUCATION CONSISTS OF:

“Thomas Jefferson School of Law; Juris Doctor (JD)

“University of San Diego; Master of Business Administration (MBA)

“Chapman University; Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA)

“VISIT MY WEBSITES TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ME:

“www.mycollegeroadmap.net

“mitchpadillalaw@gmail.com

“Thank you!

“~ The General Election is Tuesday, November 3, 2020 ~”

Filings show the yawning public interest in overseeing work of $85 million County Community College as only one candidate in each of District #4 and #5 completed paperwork for position by deadline

The Yavapai Community College Governing Board will have two new members joining it shortly.  Absent an unusual happening prior to August 20, data from Yavapai County’s Superintendent’s office (https://ycesa.com/election-candidates/), shows only one candidate has qualified to fill the District 5 seat vacated by Steve Irwin. While the time for completing paperwork has expired,  there is always a  remote possibility  someone may file to  become a write in candidate.

 The person completing the appropriate paperwork for the position in District #5 is Mitch Padilla.  Padilla will most likely be sworn in sometime in September because the seat is vacant. Steve Irwin vacated the seat earlier in the year to run for Yavapai County Supervisor.

The District #4 seat, which is now occupied by Pat McCarver, will most likely be filled in January by  Chris Kuknyo.  McCarver decided not to run after serving for more than a decade on the Board. Kuknyo is the only person to have completed the paperwork by the filing deadline for the position in that district.

Below is a four minute Governing Board discussion regarding these two seats and the election.

Chevalier gets  Board to agree to a mid-July information meeting saying going four months without a meeting is “not doing our job”

The last regular monthly meeting of the Yavapai Community College District Governing Board until September was held May 12.  The scheduled August retreat was scrapped by a 3-1 vote.  Although the Governing Board  will not convene in a regular monthly session until September, it will, hold a public informational meeting with the College President in mid-July.   

At the May meeting, representative Paul Chevalier initially proposed that because of the  present unique circumstances, the Board should consider holding  regular monthly meetings in the summer.  “To go four months at this time of crisis without a regular meeting, I think, is not doing our job,” he said. He later changed his motion to a single mid-July informational meeting.

Ray Sigafoos opposed adding regular summer meetings to the Board schedule saying “some people have travel plans, which includes some things out of the country, like me.”

Pat McCarver also opposed adding regular summer meetings. She said that because changes at the Community College will most likely not occur until after July 1 that a June meeting was unnecessary.  She suggested something in July or August as an informational  meeting where the College President would provide  the Board with an update. McCarver noted that she had some commitments in June. She also suggested the meeting should run an hour or less.

Dr. Lisa Rhine, College president, said that a June meeting would not provide a great deal of new information.  She said that if the Board  added  a meeting that  one in July made the most sense to her. She also suggested that as an alternative to a public meeting that she could communicate the updates to the Board via reports.

In response to Dr. Rhine’s suggestion that she communicate to the Board without a public meeting of some kind, Chevalier pointed out that he is barred under existing Board practice  from directing any questions to the President unless it is done at a public Board meeting.  Without being able to ask questions about information provided by the College administration was troublesome to him. He indicated he was being forced into requesting a public meeting by current Board practice and procedure.  

Chair Deb McCasland said the Board could get together on zoom and reminded everyone that the Board is required to announce any meeting as an official meeting.  However, she noted that a July meeting  would not require the various reports from the President that are required at other official monthly meetings.  The Governing Board attorney agreed with McCasland.

When discussion had finished and it was clear he didn’t have support for a meeting every month in the summer, Chevalier moved to hold an information meeting online  in mid-July at “everyone’s convenience.” The motion carried unanimously.

The Board also voted 3-1 (McCasland dissenting) to defer the August retreat to another date to be decided.

You may view the Board discussion on the video below.

Majority decides  it should be up to President as they lack expertise and originally gave her authority as to when to close down in-person classes; minority  says reopening in-person classes is of such  grave magnitude  that it should be the Governing Board’s ultimate responsibility

At its April meeting, the Yavapai Community College Governing Board discussed whether the decision to reopen face-to-face in-person classes should be made by them or the President.  The discussion, which was opened by Representative Paul Chevalier, focused on the seriousness of the Covid19 threat to students and who should assume the enormous responsibility of deciding when the College reopens face-to-face in-person classes.

Paul Chevalier

Chevalier reminded the Board that if students are returned to face-to-face in-person classes before an effective vaccine is available, the decision presents a life and  death situation. Because of the unique circumstances and the weight of making such a  decision, he argued that the Governing Board “should not” delegate the responsibility to make that kind of decision to the President.  He also said that the Board is responsible to the public and should not delegate this issue because of that responsibility.

Deb McCasland

Governing Board Chair Deb McCasland argued that President Rhine was in a better position than the Board to make the decision to reopen face-to-face in-person classes because she is in communication with other colleges and many other authorities that she will provide guidance.  When compared to Dr. Rhine, McCasland said “I don’t believe that as a Board member I will have the vast range of knowledge needed” to determine the appropriate time to reopen face-to-face in-person classes.

Lisa Rhine

President Rhine said that reopening face-to-face in-person classes was “operational” and “her responsibility.”  She also said that she  did not think removing the final decision from her was necessary.

Pat McCarver

Board member Pat McCarver indicated that she wanted to be notified in advance of the decision to reopen, and surmised that this would happen.  She reminded the Board that it had delegated to the Community College President the decision of when to close face-to-face in-person classes so allowing her to determine when to restart face-to-face in-person classes appeared consistent with the earlier decision.

Ray Sigafoos

Board member Ray Sigafoos said he was not an “expert in this matter” and the President should rely on experts.  He also said that he doubted the Governing Board would have the kind of information available to it to make the decision as to when it was appropriate to reopen face-to-face in-person classes.

Ultimately, McCasland, Sigafoos, and McCarver voted to leave the ultimate decision of when it was appropriate to reopen face-to-face in-person classes in the hands of President Rhine.

Video clips of the discussion by the Governing Board on this issue can be found in the video posted below.

Board asks for more data regarding County high schools, overall trend in last decade, and ponders  whether remedial classes are needed at all

40% require remedial help.

According to data gathered and reported to the District Governing Board in November by Tom Hughes, Yavapai Community College Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Research, about forty percent of incoming students require courses in remedial math, English or both.  “They come not ready for College,” said Mr. Hughes.  He pointed out that this costs them more money in terms of tuition and increases the timeline before they will graduate from Yavapai with a degree.

The Governing Board was interested in obtaining additional information about this figure.  Chair Ray Sigafoos wanted to know if things had changed over the past years.  Does the 40% represent and increase, decrease, or no change in unpreparedness over the past? The College agreed to respond at a later date with this information.

Third District Representative Paul Chevalier wanted information about the various high schools in the District.  Do some graduate more students under-prepared for College than others? He also wanted to know if there regional differences between the east and west sides of the County.  The College has the information and will provide it at a later date to the Board.

Second District Representative Deb McCasland shared that during the latest  Association of Community College Trustees conference she attended that  some community colleges  have done away with developmental courses.  The reason for this is a belief that students involved in developmental courses before they get to credit courses “tend to drop out” before completion.  Florida, for example, is a state that has eliminated developmental courses.

You may view Mr. Hughes report to the Board on this topic and the Board discussion in the short four minute video clip below.

Was solicited at hotel and local market while attending conference; finds old San Francisco no longer exists

Yavapai Community College District Governing Board Chair, Ray Sigafoos,  attended the Association of Community College Leadership Conference in San Francisco in October. Steve Irwin and Deb McCasland also attended the same meeting. The conference is described as “the largest professional development opportunity for community college trustees, presidents, and other thought and policy leaders. . . . Community college leaders … share …  experiences and expertise, network with people from around the country and beyond, and expand [their] knowledge of the community college sector.”

Sigafoos brought a chuckle of sorts to some of those in attendance at the November Board meeting when at the outset of his report about attending the conference the lamented the loss of old San Francisco.  Mr. Sigafoos found the “old San Francisco” had disappeared. 

The two-minute vide clip below contains his opening remarks and a comment by Steve Irwin saying he “dressed appropriately” and had no similar experiences.

November 12 meeting   is last gathering of Board  this year; next regular business meeting  Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Yavapai Community College Governing Board will enjoy a nine -week break before its next regular  public meeting.  The last regular  meeting in 2019 was held November 12.  It is not scheduled to meet again until January 21, 2019.  There are currently  no special meetings scheduled during the nine-week lay-off.

In addition to the absence of Board meetings for this nine-week period, the Board has decided it will not meet in June or July of 2020.  It will most likely hold a retreat in August and  return for a regular meeting in September. 

The result of the current schedule is that the Board meets for regular public meetings only eight  times a year.  For four  months (December, June, July, August)  it holds no regular public meetings. It usually holds a special meeting in August and resumes regular meetings once a month in September, October and November.  

Given such a light schedule, there is probably good reason why the members are not paid in any fashion for their service

“Most important thing Board could do to improve function”

At the November meeting, Third District Yavapai Community College Governing Board member Paul Chevalier continued his effort to encourage greater discussion of important Community College issues among Governing Board members. He argued that if the Board engaged in extended discussion it would be possible to arrive at a consensus on a particular issue.

He noted that when he was  Chair of the Verde Valley Board Advisory Committee (VVBAC), the Committee made 22 recommendations with 21 of them being unanimous.  He said that sometimes obtaining a consensus may cause issues to be carried over from one meeting to another.  That, he said, would result in “better Board decisions.”

You may view his comments on the video clip below.

Suggests that Arizona law requires more than holding meetings and receiving documents from president to satisfy legal mandate it examine “management, condition and needs” of college; attorney disagrees but says Board could change the “means” it uses to satisfy the law

Representative Paul Chevalier triggered a discussion at the October 8 District Governing Board meeting on the question of whether the Board was complying with a provision of state law in its oversight of the President’s operation of the college.  He suggested that the means being used by the Governing Board over the past several years to evaluate the management, conditions and needs of the College was too limited and possibly contrary to the intent of the legislature.

The current evaluation process relies entirely on Board meetings and documents given to the Board by the Administration to meet the evaluation standard set out by state law.  Chevalier contended that the language of AZ 15-444 (4) “orders us to visit each community college under our jurisdiction AND examine carefully INTO management, conditions and needs. If the President is our only link to operations we cannot do this effectively.” (Board members under current process cannot talk with staff.)

The Governing Board attorney disagreed with Chevalier but suggested that the Board could alter the traditional means it has used  to examine the management, conditions and needs of the College.  There was a suggestion at the end of the discussion that a local legislator ask the Arizona Attorney General for an opinion on the meaning of the statue to determine the nature and extent of the Board’s obligation to examine management, conditions, and needs under exiting law.  However, because it was a discussion item, no formal action (no vote) was taken.

You may view an edited version of the nine minute discussion below.  You can see the entire argument on video on the Governing Board web site when it is published.