I’ll have more details tomorrow (or when I get around to it). I’ll just report the big issue tonight: the hire of a consulting firm to help with the Chancellor hire.
VC Bugay contacted 32 consulting firms, got ten responses, and, in the end, five could show for tonight’s board meeting with a presentation.
Board President Don Wagner brought the item (dead last on the agenda) to the front, and so, first thing, we all sat through five—count ‘em, five!—presentations, each taking about twenty minutes, including Q & A.
First at bat was Community College Search Services (CCSS), represented by a fellow named Don (John?) Romo. He sounded like he knew what he was doing. CCSS evidently helped with the hire of the State Chancellor. Sounds like CCSS does the first interviews. They do all the reference checking. They usually help with a “public forum.”
Trustee Fuentes wanted to know if CCSS would be able to find candidates in the private sector and at four-year colleges. Well, said Don, we’ll advertise in the Chronicle, and, dang, everybody reads that. Yeah, said Fuentes, but are we rushing things? Well, no, said Don, there are always great candidates out there. This thing is “doable.”
Fuentes snorted.
Next up was McNaughton and Associates. Mr. Sperry McNaughton (aka Sharp McSlick) was sharp. And slick. After Riverside CCD went out a couple of times and got nowhere, Sharp swooped in and got the job done. He’s into the new technology—two-way live, long-distance interviews. No need to fly everybody around and waste money. Plus streaming video. Would have this thing done by September.
Fuentes asked again about soliciting candidates from the “private sector.” “That is a challenge,” said McSlick. More Fuentean snortage. McSlick seemed to imply that the search committee would work up the brochure/website, and that got Don Wagner worried. This guy was toast, despite his fine suit, expensive shoes, and smooth ways.
Next up was PPL. The only thing I remember about the name is that the “L” is for “leasing.” Mr. Don Averill (aka Mr. Bland Rumple) was as slick as rusty barbed wire, and not nearly as charming. I bet Fuentes brought ‘im in. He opined that quality candidates are not willing to leave their jobs in mid-term, so you’ve pretty much got to aim for a hire for August (maybe no-can-do) or for January. Fuentes purred. [UPDATE: a friend assures me that Mr. Averill, though unslick, has a considerable reputation for integrity. A really good guy, she says.]
Dr. Gary Owens of Academic Search was kinda slick, kinda not. His firm has 32 consultants, and they’re all ready to put in their 2 cents, which adds up to about 64 cents, and I don’t think anybody liked this guy. He reminded me of that guy who played "dirt" on those commercials twenty years ago.
At long last the ACCT gal got up there--I think her name was Judith Breadwine--and presented what that organization does. Gosh, did I hear her say that, usually, you’ve got two trustees on the search committee? Yep. “We’ve got the biggest ‘black book,’” she said. There’re ways of getting around the calendar problem, she said. Gosh, said Don, according to your schedule, we’re not even rushed to hire somebody by August!
I heard yet another snort.
I’ve gotta go, so let’s just say that Fuentes, Lang, and Williams did their predictable “slow down, you move to fast” routine while Padberg, Jay, and Milchiker did a pretty good, “Gosh, let’s get moving!”
Nancy liked CCSS. They’re a California firm. They hired the State Chancellor. Tom didn't like 'em. What else do you need to know!
Bill noted that, quite possibly, by the Fall, we’ll have three new trustees. So let's get moving!
“I call the question!” barked Nancy.
Boom! They hired CCSS.
Fuentes didn’t even bother to snort.
* * * * *
Tonight, a friend sent this:
Underdog candidate for county office takes on OC political machine (Orange County Local News Network)
Colleen Callahan is not a professional politician. By her account, she’s barely even a novice at the game.
But as a candidate for the obscure county office of public administrator, she finds herself taking on an incumbent who Callahan says is part of Orange County’s fabled political machine.
. . .
Callahan and two others – deputy public guardian Kevin Vann and former Orange school board member Steve Rocco – are running in the June 8 primary against incumbent John Williams, a former cop and longtime public official who has connections to many of OC’s top politicians.
. . .
Callahan worked her way up in the agency, eventually being promoted to oversee a clerical unit that handles the legal paperwork necessary to administer estates.
But she said the department took a turn for the worse when Williams was elected and took over in 2003. Williams, who also serves as a board member of the South Orange County Community College District, was often absent from the office and handed off day-to-day management to his deputy, Callahan said.
“I watched the agency deteriorate,” she said. “The way he reorganized the agency and doubled the management, which wasn’t needed … trickled down to where it started affecting the (staff). They had higher caseloads (so) they couldn’t go out into the field and see the mentally ill.”….
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Here was Williams' response to Ms. Callahan's comments: “When I filed to run for re-election to this office,” he said, “I signed the Code of Fair Campaign Practices, which states in part, ‘I shall not use or permit the use of character defamation, whispering campaigns, libel, slander, or scurrilous attacks on any candidate or his or her personal family life.’” I find it odd that Williams all of a sudden is claiming to have ethics! What a joke!
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