FORMER ANN ARBOR City Council member Tony Derezinski (D-Ward 2) is launching a bid for a spot on the Washtenaw Community College Board of Trustees. Derezinki, who once batted around the idea of running for mayor, was defeated in the 2012 Democratic primary election by Sally Hart Petersen (D-Ward 2). Petersen recently ran for mayor in the 2014 Democratic primary and captured 15.9 percent of the vote (2,364 votes) in a four-way race.
When Derezinski last ran for elected office in the 2012 Democratic primary election, he captured 44.6 percent of the vote (938 votes) against Petersen. As a Council member Derezinski had a mediocre attendance record and got embroiled in a Open Meetings Act scandal. This was particularly embarrassing for Derezinski as he is a former Michigan state representative. In the 70s, when he served in the state senate in Lansing, he helped pass the Michigan Open Meetings Act law, as well as the Michigan Freedom of Information Act law.
Derezinski’s willing participation in actions that resulted in an Open Meetings Act lawsuit being filed against the City of Ann Arbor which City Attorney Postema settled, could find his candidacy for the WCC Board under fire from the faculty union.
WCC president Dr. Rose Bellanca has been at odds with her faculty and the faculty union over issues including an alleged lack of transparency. Thus far, the Board of Trustees has stood behind Dr. Bellanca, recently awarding her a raise in pay.
The Washtenaw Voice, the community college’s student newspaper, has reported extensively on the tensions between the school’s administration, the faculty and the faculty union.
Derezinski served on the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents for 13 years. He was appointed by former Gov. James Blanchard in 1983 and served on that board until 1996. He then went to work as a lobbyist for the Michigan Association of School Boards.
He was first elected to Ann Arbor City Council in 2008.
In his bid to serve on the WCC Board of Trustees, Tony Derezinski will face seven other candidates who have filed to run for the three openings on that board. William Campbell, Eric Borregard, Ruth Hatcher, Alex Milshteyn, Christina Fleming, David DeVarti and Mark Freeman are the candidates whom Derezinski faces in the November general election.
Mark Freeman is the only incumbent who has filed to run. Board Chair Anne Williams and Patrick McLean decided not to run for re-election.
McLean told The Washtenaw Voice: “I’m not interested in serving just for the sake of serving,” said. “If I’m going to serve well, I need to be able to give my all to the college … and I’ve made a decision that I simply don’t have that ability for the next couple years.”
Among the eight candidates running, possibly the largest field of candidates ever to seek seats on the WCC Board of Trustees, there is a former WCC faculty union president (Ruth Hatcher) and WCC student Christina Fleming. Fleming is a resident of Dexter and a web developer.
The seven-member WCC Board of Trustees is expected to face continued struggles between the college’s administration and its faculty. At the suggestion of a Trustee and at the request of faculty, the college’s accrediting agency is due on campus this Fall.
More than 20 faculty members signed a letter to the Higher Learning Commission. The group alleged that the college’s administration and Board of Trustees have violated the HLC’s criteria for accreditation, as well as the college’s stated mission and the board’s own policies.
WCC’s millage is up for renewal by county voters in 2015.
Tony Derezinski doesn’t have a campaign website up yet. He filed his campaign formation disclosure form on August 4. Derezinski requested a reporting waiver which means he does not anticipate raising more than $1,000. He is listed as his own campaign treasurer.