Thursday evening’s (June 25th) DACC Board of Trustees meeting did not draw the same overflowing crowd as last month; when Adult Education and Literacy Dean Terry Goodwin, and Director of Adult Education and Literacy Chantal Savage Bryant were terminated, and a proposed “resignation agreement and release of all claims” for Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs Dr. Carl Bridges” was accepted.
But this time around, the two-dozen or so who were in attendance, including Goodwin himself, showed definite anger and did their best to listen in on every word spoken; though quite often trustee voices were not picked well by the microphones.
The Board’s decision to now pursue a forensic audit produced the most rumbling. A forensic audit is defined as a specialized examination of financial records aimed at uncovering evidence of fraud or other financial misconduct.
Speakers during the “Public Comment” part of the meeting questioned if the board was just looking for a forensic audit to justify the already made decisions to dismiss Goodwin and Savage Bryant for alleged financial mishandlings. The question was brought up again later on by Student Trustee Leonidas Hamza; as he addressed DACC President Dr. Randy Fletcher and Board Chairman Greg Wolfe. Hamza stated that instead of doing this “after the fact,” it would have been more logical to take the “Forensic” route before the dismissals of Goodwin and Savage Bryant. Hamza stated that when he himself brought up the “forensic audit possibility” before the dismissals, he was told it was just a “fancy term.” Fletcher stated that the move for a forensic audit now is not related to the dismissals.
Once the DACC Board had gone into closed session and everyone else had left the meeting room; CIMG had the chance to speak with Goodwin, followed by “Public Comment” speakers Andrew Musson and Kyle Finley.
AUDIO: (Goodwin) I think there’s a lot of people who have questioned whether; whether the processes they’ve gone through were complete from the beginning. And the student trustee was trying to ask that question.
AUDIO: (Musson) It’s interesting to me; because, essentially if you’re going to have an audit; and you’re going to say it’s not due to what’s previously gone on. Yet, it’s a different finding, and all these are happening under the current administration; where’s the failure happening at?
(1st Picture) Andrew Musson addresses DACC Board of Trustees. (2nd Picture) Kyle Finley turns to face meeting attendees while addressing DACC Board during “Public Comment.”
AUDIO: (Finley) I don’t know what their hidden agenda is. But there’s just; so many people are bailing out of the college as far as employees. There’s employees that are staying, they’re saying they’re fearing for their job. What is going on, that’s behind the scenes so much, that there’s so much disfunction.
An example of the intensity during the meeting came when Finley shouted out that the board would be spending taxpayer money on the forensic audit. Chairman Wolfe told Finley that it was not the time for him to speak, saying that “this is a meeting held in public, not a public meeting.”
