Board rejects invitation to openly discuss potential bias by West side of County against the East side
Third District Governing Board representative Paul Chevalier attempted to generate a discussion among Board members about possible voting bias between the East and West sides of the County at the March 2019 Board meeting. He asserted that prejudice exists “against East side representatives by West side representatives.”
Chevalier stated that the Board 3.1 policy asked the members whether they were “enforcing the discipline needed for excellence” on the Board. He said the discipline was absent because of bias. He gave as an example that “East side representatives are not voted to become Board Officers.” He observed that “to do so requires at least one West side vote (along with two East side votes).” He pointed out that no one from the east side of the County has held the position of Board Chair for at least 12 years or Board Secretary in nine years. He said that “prejudice causes ill feelings” and encouraged the Board to discuss the issue.
Chevalier went on to say that when you have a problem you should discuss it. He said that it appeared the Board was not enforcing its own guidelines that mandate it to respective Board member roles in policy-making principles because of the existing prejudice. He challenged the Board to explain why, for example, keeping East side representatives off as Board officers was not counter to the existing policy.
Sigafoos rejected any effort to discuss this issue. Said he was not going to get into a debate over the issue; that it was past history. No one else commented. Chevalier said, “So Everything Stays the same.”