Deb McCasland, the Yavapai Community College District 2 representative, recently sent a letter to college staff warning them to ignore criticism of college leadership and attempting to defend the board’s recent unconstitutional policy that endeavors to limit their free speech.
McCasland “represents” Camp Verde, but shows no interest in the concerns of taxpayers, residents or students from the area.
With the ousting of board member Ray Sigafoos in November, McCasland is the last official trying to undemocratically maintain power in the hands of unelected administrators.
In her letter, McCasland states, “I want to be upfront and open with you,” and says that she wants to address “some false information,” before unironically proceeding to make a litany of false statements. She writes, “As the District Governing Board chair and spokesperson, only I can release public statements about board actions,” which is untrue. Statements regarding the board as a whole can be “released” by her, certainly, but also by any low-level staffer who writes them at the board’s direction. Other board members can speak about those actions at their pleasure.
McCasland then states, “Any other member of the board has no authority to speak on behalf of the board with their own opinions; if they do, it holds no validity,” which is half-true, but McCasland is clearly confused.
First, the distinction is immaterial and unnecessary: When an elected official speaks, they’re never speaking for the board as a whole.
Second, when individual board members voice their opinions, that’s elected officials doing exactly what they were elected to do. Their opinions and statements are 100% valid. Members of any legislative body have differing opinions — that’s the point. Voters and taxpayers want to hear those diverse and conflicting opinions.
Third, all elected officials have free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and can certainly speak in their official capacity, even — and especially — if it contradicts the majority. If their opinions are in the minority after a vote, that’s representative democracy.
“Board members are trustees. Not administrators.” McCasland writes.
That’s true, which is why President Lisa Rhine serves at the pleasure of the board to a tune of $130,649 — three times more than what the average full-time instructor — not including benefits, which puts her over $250,000.
Unfortunately, McCasland’s dabbling in truth lasts for only six words, which are followed by the biggest whoppers of all: “District Governing Board Policy 401 delegates responsibility for all college operations to the President of the College. It has been this way for 57 years; it is not changing and never will.”
If that’s all the new policy stated, that would be true and McCasland would just be reiterating how all council-manager forms of government work in Arizona: City councils have city managers, school boards have superintendents, fire districts have fire chiefs, colleges have presidents. But new college policy Resolution 2024-18 goes beyond just “operations.”
It silences criticism. It forbids board members from speaking with staff — which violates their First Amendment rights to speak to their elected representatives for a redress of grievances.
It forbids board members voicing any public critique of Rhine, be it to you, their constituents, to us in the press, or to friends and neighbors at public or private functions — all of which violates their First Amendment rights to both free speech and right to speak as elected representatives.
McCasland tries to shoehorn this new suppression of free speech into guidelines of the Higher Learning Commission, but that’s overtly misleading. The HLC mandates that boards not run the day-to-day operations, which, again, is how council-manager governments already operate so the resolution is unnecessary, if that’s all it stated.
But Resolution 2024-18 was voted into effect on Nov. 19 — 58 days ago. I have food in my freezer older than that.
That baby-fresh resolution can be repealed or amended — unless McCasland and Rhine are saying they’ll refuse to agendize such a vote, which teeters on violating state law, and would be grounds for both Rhine’s termination and McCasland’s recall. If Rhine sucks at her job, voters need to know, and the board members must be the ones to criticize because they’re the only ones who can fire her. We taxpayers can’t.
McCasland then takes a swipe at the watchdogs keeping tabs on the college, warning staff not to read “illegitimate blogs and websites” or “unsourced and opinionated ‘news’ organizations,” then falsely states that we criticize Yavapai Community College staff or educators, which is patently and demonstrably untrue. Our critique is aimed solely at the college’s elected board who have undercut talented educators and hardworking staff.
We focus our criticism on administrators who mismanage the college and waste our tax dollars. We have never, in all our years, attacked any staffers or instructors at the college. They do excellent work. They have a passion for education. They give us news tips. They teach our kids.
You’ll find no such criticism from us, ever, and we challenge McCasland to prove that false.
In fact, McCasland herself signed a “Certificate of Commendation” recognizing our newspaper as “a community leader and education advocate in the Verde Valley” on Sept. 14, 2021, which we display in our newsroom.
McCasland’s need for control sounds so desperate because it is so unnatural; administrative tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.
Remember that.
