At a meeting of the Yavapai College Governing Board on Nov. 16, board members went on the attack against District 3 Representative Paul Chevalier, who represents the inter­ests of Sedona and Clarkdale, both of which have a college campus in their jurisdictions, as well as Cottonwood and parts of Cornville.

The board targeted Chevalier, who asked some tough questions during a presentation about the performing arts the week prior, noting that the college program had 564 participants but, according to Chevalier, less than a dozen were getting instruction in the Verde Valley, meaning more than 552 were residents on the Prescott side of Mingus Mountain. Twelve would be proportionally fair if only 5,002 of Yavapai County’s 235,099 residents lived in the Verde Valley. However, we have 68,000 residents, so a fairer proportion should be closer to 163 students, i.e., 13.5 times more than 12.

One of the board members said that when college staff make a presentation, they sometimes get scared about what the board members might say or worry the questions the board asks might be tough to answer.

Good.

Chevalier’s job as an elected official is to fight for his constituents in District 3 and thus, every time a college staffer makes a presentation, Chevalier should ask, “how does this benefit my people in District 3?” Department heads are spending our tax dollars to educate our population and if they can’t demonstrate how it helps our students and benefits our taxpayers, then the program should be culled to make room for a better one that does help our residents.

Quiver.

Sweat.

Shake in your boots.

“How does that presentation end?” Yavapai County District 4 Representative Chris Kuknyo asks, then answers, “With a grilling by the guy [Chevalier] who always grills about the Verde Valley,” with a clear, nasty and petty sneer on words “Verde Valley.”

Kuknyo then stated that any of these west side performing arts programs are “available” to students on the east side. His false claim is misleading because geography exists. Programs are “available” to anyone on the east side, but not offered here, meaning our taxpaying students have to drive 90 minutes a day to attend a class in Prescott.

Kuknyo’s dumb claim is akin to saying Arizona has oceanfront beaches right there, on the west side of California.

Also misunderstanding grade-level geography, Kuknyo seems to think he and the other board members are elected “at large” to represent the entire county equally. They’re not. That’s what the “District 4” in his title means. District 4 voters elect him and he must represent them.

Perhaps Kuknyo should sign up for Yavapai College instructor Stephen Doyle’s “Intro to Physical Geography [GEO 103 10188]” starting Jan. 18 at the Prescott campus.

Kuknyo clearly doesn’t represent the county as a whole, nor District 3, as evident in perhaps the most tone-deaf, idiotic and ignorant question of the entire meeting question, “Does Sedona have professional performing arts compa­nies?” — one which underscores that he hasn’t visited this side of the county.

The professional performing artists on this side of Mingus Mountain would be happy to reply — if they weren’t busy getting paid to perform around the Verde Valley or the state.

Kuknyo was trying to falsely allege Sedona and the Verde Valley have no artists, or none up to the lofty level of Yavapai College’s performing artists from his District 4 Chino Valley, like, um … I’m sure someone there plays a guitar.

Conversely, off the top of my head, I can think of four Sedona residents who have won Grammys.

[That’s kind of a big deal for performers].

It’s disappointing District 2 Representative Deb McCasland, who represents Camp Verde, is part of a college culture that’s OK with cheating us out of tax dollars and didn’t defend Chevalier tooth and nail.

Kuknyo explicitly wants Chevalier silenced; he told Verde Valley’s Chevalier to shut up and smile while the county community college steals our tax dollars and provides us nearly nothing while dumping our tax money on Prescott area campuses.

That’s not hyperbole: Toward the end of the meeting, an irritated Chevalier asked the board, “So at public meetings, I should never mention discrepancies or inequities in the Verde Valley?”

“Not at all,” Kuknyo immediately answered.

Kuknyo explicitly told Chevalier to stop representing us, his voters.

If Kuknyo demands Chevalier’s silence, we demand Chevalier shake the dust, rattle the walls and bring the house down.

We demand Chevalier get louder. We demand he be more combative about getting what our tax dollars pay for.

We demand Chevalier make Kuknyo’s meetings a night­mare of constant questions about every nickel and dime. Chevalier was elected by us and is beholden to us and us alone.

If the board doesn’t like his tough questions, then stop mistreating us.

He represents his voters and we elected a fighter.

We’ve got your back, Paul, if you’ve got ours.

Christopher Fox Graham

Managing Editor