MCCCD Governing Board member speaks out on board controversies
By Nathan J. King and J.J. Dill, October 2009
State News Editor and Blog Editor
Maricopa District board member, Debra Pearson speaks out about the need for board reform, multi-million dollar consulting fees and accreditation investigations.
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Photo by Andreanna Sullivan
HLC committee member for MCC Governing Board review, Pearl Washington, embraces MCC Governing Board member Debra Pearson. |
On Sept. 22, Puma Press state news editor, Nathan King interviewed Debra Pearson, the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board member representing PVCC, about the conflict surrounding the current governing board. Here’s a peak at what she had to say:
On the current woes of the MCCCD Governing Board:
• For the past nine months the decisions of the District Board “have not been well thought out and (the behavior of) the board has moved from impetuous to urgency” in an attempt to complete an agenda…, says Pearson.
• “Five board members might have been enough when there was one campus,” says Pearson. But now with a $1.5 billion annual budget, 10 campuses, over four thousand faculty and nearly one-quarter million students, “the board needs more depth and experience.”
On the $1.3 million efficiency study of the 10 campuses currently underway:
• “This is a wasteful expenditure,” says Pearson. “Its like a gush…was inappropriate and in my opinion was a betrayal to the taxpayers and the people of the state and the people of this district.”
• “When in business…you take this kind of approach (bringing in a consultant when you are financially solvent) it is because you want to get rid of somebody, so that you can verify and validate what you are looking for—to justify getting rid of somebody”
• Of the time frame of the study, Pearson says, “I was like—oh my gosh—you think you’re going to be able to achieve all that...You turn a ship this big around that fast. You’re gonna have everybody falling off the side. You can’t do that. You will hit an iceberg. The whole thing will sink.”
On the accreditation investigations:
• The allegations of micromanaging by the District Boards that is under investigation by the Higher Learning Commission, an entity that is responsible for accrediting educational institutions, “has become a fight to protect this District from what is going on here,” says Pearson. “How do we address the issue of people being elected to positions that they have this much authority; this much power, and are able to jeopardize a system this big.”
See Puma Press Online for more on this story in the days ahead and for what the other four governing board members have to say in response at http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/puma. |
