One week after a special DACC Board of Trustees 8 AM meeting that served as an employment hearing for dismissed Provost Dr. Carl Bridges and dismissed Dean of Adult Education, Literacy, and Middle College Terry Goodwin, Public Comment once again took center stage.
This time, during Thursday night’s (April 23rd), there was a podium, and there was a microphone. During the 20 minutes allowed for Public Comment, seven people spoke. Six of them were extremely critical of current DACC President Dr. Randy Fletcher, and current DACC Board Chairman Greg Wolfe.
There were comments about inability to reach board members via e-mail, comments that accusations used against Bridges and Goodwin were unfair and made no sense. But overall, concern was expressed about the current culture and attitude coming from DACC leadership. And there was plenty of applause and vocalizations after each speaker.
One of the most vocal was lifelong Vermilion County resident Jeff Nardoni. And even though the loudly complained about part of the Consent Agenda; requiring trustees to notify the president before speaking with any employee and to report to his office before every campus visit; was struck from the Consent Agenda before the vote on it; Nardoni said that doesn’t even begin to solve the overall problem he sees. In fact, a very interesting part of the meeting was Board of Trustees member Dylan Haun, censured by the board in January and appearing at this meeting over the phone, stated to President Fletcher that the new Core Values being considered for adoption were to him more of an economic development plan. Haun stated that, in his eyes, values like diversity, honesty, and integrity were not being affirmed, but removed. Nardoni agreed.
(2nd Picture) New Student Trustee Leonidas Hamza is sworn in. (3rd Picture) Former Adult Literacy Specialist again explains that he had to step down after what happened to Dean Terry Goodwin and Adult Education Director Chantal Savage-Bryant. (Last Picture) Greg Wolfe (L) and Dr. Fletcher (center) listen during Public Comment.
AUDIO: I don’t think Dr. Fletcher answered his question. His question is, “You can say what you want about DACC. Until we ARE those things, it means nothing.” So, you can slap a label on it; it doesn’t make it true. And that’s why I said, “Your position does not equal integrity You are not righteous because of your authority.”
Also speaking with CIMG was Vermilion County resident Kyle Finley, who has family who’s attended DACC; and former DACC student Andrew Musson. They both believe that enough negativity is enough.
AUDIO: (Finley) What’s they’ve been here at the college in this short time, it’s already stirred up the whole community. So, undoubtedly this is not good. If you’ve got this community up in arms this quick; I think we need to know what’s going on. (Musson) In my professional role; I actually evaluate systems, controls, and decision making processes. And when transparency is lacking, or established procedures are not clearly followed, that raises serious concerns.
When the DACC Board and President went into Closed Session around 7 PM, much of the overflow crowd stayed, talking and commiserating about the issues outside the board room. As of 7:40 PM, Closed Session was continuing. No final decisions on the Dr Bridges and Terry Goodwin employment hearing proceedings were expected Thursday night. Adult Education Director Chantal Savage Bryant was not part of the employment hearing, as she chose to officially resign after receiving a dismissal notice.
