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Volume 89 Issue 7 • Nov. 10, 2014
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Two trustees displease faculty, students Attempts to recall trustees must derive from district constituents. By Bleah B. Patterson
before the end of their term if a judge finds them guilty Two members of the of a felony. board of trustees of the The policy also states Alamo Colleges could be in “a public officer may be so danger of recall. removed from office upon Palo Alto College stuconviction by a jury of any dents are asking felony or upon a for student trustee jury finding” of Jacob Wong to be incompetency, replaced because official miscon“he isn’t representduct, intoxicaing students’ intertion or nonattenest.” dance of board That complaint meetings. came from Kristie Katz Katz could Tarin, a memalso be recalled if ber of the Student a petition signed Leadership Coalition by her constituat the South Side ents is presented college, in an email. to a judge and Faculty from Palo the judge rules in Alto and St. Philip’s favor of removal. colleges have also There is no initiated a petiWong specified numtion for the recall ber of signatures of District 7 trustee Yvonne necessary. Katz. None of the five Alamo Inside Higher Ed, an Colleges are in District 7. online national education There are no set policies publication, and the Alamo in place to remove a student Community College District trustee from their position. Faculty Legal Association However, according to say they have copies of an board policy B.11 a student email conversation between trustee must maintain a Chancellor Bruce Leslie and high grade-point average, Katz about the 2012 retireenrollment at an Alamo ment incentive. College and a commitment In the email, Katz allegto the district. edly called tenured faculty Wong said he doesn’t “old farts.” know why there is not According to ACCD a set policy, but to his board policy, trustees can understanding, he can be be removed from office removed the same way he bpatterson13@alamo.edu
Foul play Our Lady of the Lake foward LaVictor McKnight fouls Ranger Andrew Butler Nov. 5 in Candler. Butler made 1 of 2 free-throw shots to win the game 77-76. See story online. R.T. Gonzalez
was appointed. Wong was selected by the board as a nonvoting member in the spring semester after student governments received self-nomination letters and conducted an election. The finalists were presented to the board, which made the final decision. “Only the board voting me out, or if I don’t maintain six (credit) hours or a GPA of 2.5 could I be replaced before the end of my term,” he said. Nothing in the policy addresses student input into removing a student trustee, and students do not have the authority to recall or replace a student representative to the board. Wong’s term will end April 10, and the next student trustee is expected to be appointed May 8. The board faced a similar situation in February 2003 when District 3 trustee Vincent Lázaro stopped attending meetings. At that time, district policy did not address the situation so board members were helpless to do anything about removing him in favor of active representation. Lázaro eventually resigned, allowing the board to accept self-nominations before appointing someone to Lázaro’s unfinished term. In 2009 the board approved the updated policy allowing removal.
PAC SPC faculty petition demands District 7 trustee recall Faculty members circulate a petition saying Yvonne Katz is “anti-faculty.” By Bleah B. Patterson bpatterson13@alamo.edu
A petition has been circulating through the five Alamo Colleges for three weeks demanding the recall of District 7 trustee Yvonne Katz. Inside Higher Ed, a national education publication, cited an email from Katz to Chancellor Bruce Leslie that offended some faculty members. In the email, she wrote, “We truly need the early retirement plan to pass so we can get some of the old farts out and let the younger, excited, enthused ones take the new teaching and leadership positions.” The story can be found by visiting: www.insidehighered.com/ news/2014/09/25/faculty-membersalamo-colleges-say-theyre-not-consulted-curricular-decisions.
The Texas Workforce Commission will circulate for two more weeks. specifies, “The Age Discrimination “Around Thanksgiving, we’ll bring in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids them back in and count.” discrimination against people who According to the ACCD board are age 40 or older. of trustees policy The sections below “a public officer … We truly need the address related situmay be removed early retirement ations.” from office if a court “Since she’s pretty plan to pass so we agrees with a written aged herself, it’s kind petition for removcan get some of of ironic,” said Lang al filed in a district the old farts out ... Coleman of the St. Yvonne Katz, court of the county Philip’s College chapin which the officer District 7 trustee ter of the American resides.” in Inside Higher Ed Association of UniThis means for versity Professors, or Katz to be effectively AAUP. recalled, all signatures on the petition Coleman said the petitions have must come from her constituents, been distributed to all of the Alamo residents of District 7. Colleges though not everyone agrees. A trustee can also be recalled if Librarian Celita DeArmond, presi- convicted of a felony, found guilty of dent of this college’s chapter of AAUP, incompetency, misconduct or intoxisaid while she has seen the petition, cation. “I know I’m not circulating it here.” Another reason for the removal Coleman said the petitions of a trustee is for nonattendance at
board meetings. lected so far. Also joining the effort to recall “Once we collect the signaKatz is Communities Organized for tures, if there are enough, we’ll take Public Service Metro Alliance, a city them to the board. Specifically, community “orgawe’ll take them to nized for public Chairperson (Anna) We believe she is a service in schools, Bustamante,” he problem because it congregations and said. shows a cognitive unions on behalf of “But because families,” accordthe board has a inability to be ing to the website, history of not lisflexible and make copsmetro.wordimportant decisions tening, we’ll find a press.com. state representawithout bias. “We believe Lang Coleman tive to take this to,” she is a problem Coleman said. SPC AAUP because it shows a He said he’s not cognitive inability sure which repreto be flexible and make important sentative they will approach yet. decisions without bias,” Coleman The Ranger has asked Leslie and said. “I mean, gosh, this email was Katz for confirmation the email was cited by a national publication.” sent but has had no response. Katz is blatantly anti-faculty, he The Ranger has also requested said. from the ACCD public relations office Coleman said he does not know emails between trustees and Leslie but how many signatures have been colthey did not provide them by deadline.
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