College sends invitations to certain local unnamed politicians; meeting open to public to observe
Yavapai Community College has announced the Community Forums that were cancelled in April will be held on August 16 and 17. The August 16 meeting will be held on the Prescott Campus, room 32-119 at 1:00 p.m. The August 17 meeting will be held on the Verde Valley Campus in room G-106, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
The College has invited a number of local politicians to attend the meeting but has not disclosed its invitation list. It will control the agenda and the information supplied to the politicos prior and during the meeting.
The question of whether citizens
may attend these forums was a hot button issue back in April. When they were originally announced, it appeared that they were private affairs and the public could not attend and observe. However, when the issue was raised during an April 2018 meeting, President Penelope Wills and Governing Board Chair Ray Sigafoos said they were open to the public. Representative Deb McCasland said that she was told by President Penelope Wills that the forums were not open to the public. Wills replied that McCasland was wrong. According to Wills, her office had said that the public could observe but not participate. McCasland challenged that statement saying she was specifically told that there was no room for the public at the meetings.
Representative Connie Harris seemed to indicate relief during the March 2018 Governing Board meeting that the forum participants would be speaking in a “safe” and “anonymous” setting. Observers at that meeting inferred that given this language the two forums were in fact private.
It is clear, however, that the August meetings are open to the public. They have been put on the Governing Board meeting agenda web site.