River Cities Business Journal: Education

MCC board member objects to hire; In sweeping move chancellors resign, board hires replacements

Ric Swats

River Cities Business Journal

BULLHEAD CITY - In a highly unusual move the Mohave Community College governing board approved the hiring of replacements for the school's top three officials in a meeting March 13, at the Bullhead City campus.

Current chancellor Tom Henry and vice chancellors Bill Lovejoy and Billy Bates announced their intention to resign at the meeting and the board immediately approved a motion to hire their replacements in a 3-2 vote.

Henry and Lovejoy stated in the motion that they intend to resign on Oct. 31.

Bates will leave the college on June 30.

All three stated their reason for leaving is “to pursue other available professional opportunities.”

In the same motion the college offered a five-year, $185,000 per year, contract to Dr. Michael J. Kearns to serve as the new chancellor beginning on Nov. 1.

It also included five-year vice chancellor contracts for Charles D. Spotts and H. Lynn Cundiff at salaries to be determined by the chancellor.

What makes this unusual is that Henry and Lovejoy announced they intend to resign.

They did not announce their resignations and there was no mention of the resignations being accepted by the college.

Chancellors hired without looking at other applicants

Further, the job openings were not posted for the possibility of a variety of candidates to apply, no applications were submitted to the board, and board members did not have the opportunity to interview the candidates prior to hiring them.

Board member Lynda French, one of the two dissenting voters, questioned whether the decision was in compliance with federal Equal Employment Opportunities laws, which apply to all governmental institutions with 15 or more employees.

She also raised issues with the process.

“Abiding to state and national laws regarding the posting, review and selection of public employees is incumbent upon the board,” French said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “This is one of my most serious concerns. It stretches the boundary of the intent of how a community college is supposed to be run.

“How can we hire these people when we don't have an appropriate process, don't interview them, don't review past performance or conduct a background check?”

Dan Hargrove, Kathleen Hodel (who participated by cell phone) and Victor Wakimoto voted in favor of the new hires with John Neal and French voting against it.

Neal's objection was that he favored a three-year contract rather than a five-year deal.

No competition

for $185 million contract

French criticized the decision of the board.

“They totally abdicated their state statute required responsibility,” French said. “Think about this. A $185,000 contract plus all the perks like a car and mileage, a five-year contract, we've just given him a $1 million contract. Do you know anybody else in this county who can walk away with a $1 million contract with no interviews and no vetting process?”

Another objection raised by French is that the vice chancellor spots were filled with no contract in existence and at a wage that is solely at the discretion of the chancellor.

Questions whether open meeting law was violated

Also, she questioned whether the meeting violated the state's open meeting laws because the resignations and hirings were under a single heading of “Employment contracts” that she considered vague.

And, according to the state's open meeting law if a board member is going to attend electronically, as Hodel did, it is required to state that fact in the published agenda and the law also requires that the individual be clearly audible to all in attendance.

Members of the board asked Hodel to repeat herself more than once and she told board members she was having trouble hearing the proceedings more than once.

In the same motion, the board approved two-year contracts for campus presidents Mike Ford, Nicholas Sanchez and David Shahan at salaries to be determined by the chancellor.

No mention was made of whether the salaries will be determined by the incumbent chancellor, Henry, or the chancellor in November, Kearns.

The board also refused comments from the public on the motion while it was being discussed.

According to the agenda Henry and Lovejoy were to provide recommendations for leadership succession when they left. The board, however, is under no obligation to accept the recommendation.

French was complimentary about Henry's tenure.

“He's done a remarkable job of bringing the program up to speed,” French said. “There has a been a tremendous amount of advancement.”

Henry indicated he was comfortable with his accomplishments at the school.

“For the whole decade of the ‘90s our enrollment was flat and we had a population increase of 60 percent,” Henry said. “Last year we served a head count of 15,000. We are the fastest-growing community college in the state.”

Mohave Community College is owned by the taxpayers and is subject to all federal and state hiring laws.

The physical properties of the college, campuses and buildings, are the property of the governing board, vice chancellor Bill Lovejoy said.

Hargrove and Wakimoto did not return calls by press time and Hodel's number was not in service when called. Neal was out of town and unavailable for comment.