Eric Borregard: “The school’s got no money and the people at the top are feeding their face just like the rest of the political system, just like the governor. No one’s looking out for the kids, for bettering these kids’ lives. Half of the kids are unemployed when they graduate, so obviously something is broken.”—Washtenaw Voice (Borregard has no campaign website)
William Campbell: “You have two jobs – education and money and they’re only watching the money. Power in the school is not balanced as it should be. The president works for the board. They don’t work for her. The board works for the people. It’s like the tail is wagging the dog. They have the relationship skewed, and they also have, as incumbents, they have an incredible power to maintain the status quo and run things however they want.”—Washtenaw Voice (Campbell has no campaign website)
Tony Derezinski: “I can add some uniquely relevant professional training and experience to the Board of WCC. As a Regent for 13 years at EMU, I dealt with many of the same issues and relationships facing WCC, both as to substantive academic questions and the duties of governance and processes, and next door to WCC. I am well experienced in the need for collaboration with all groups involved, especially for service to all our students.” (Derezinski has no campaign website)
David DeVarti: “The Trustees must lead to address the breakdown in communications between administration and staff. I will start by being readily accessible to all the stakeholders of WCC- students, staff, taxpayers, community leaders. WCC is a public institution generously supported by County taxpayers. The administration must be transparent. I will insist that ALL Board committee meetings operate per The Mich Open Meetings Act. Budgets and administrative documents should be open to the public and the press. The award winning student paper, The Washtenaw Voice should be guaranteed its editorial freedom and resources to maintain its staff support.” From his WCCEA endorsement: “As a Board of Trustee member, he would also work to craft a resolution to put an end to the current conflict within the college. He further states that it may be necessary to consider the termination of those individuals that are at the core of these unresolved issues that are compromising the health and integrity of our college. Mr. DeVarti also voiced a concern over the currently bloated upper administration and the costs associated with such an institutional model. He is very opposed to any initiative by the administration, the president, or the Board of Trustees that does not involve complete transparency to the stakeholders, including recent efforts of the board to bypass the Open Meetings Act.” https://www.facebook.com/DaveDeVartiforWCC
Ruth Hatcher: “I have a profound respect and support for the community college movement. I have been associated with Washtenaw Community College for over 30 years as an instructor, a faculty leader, and an administrator. I have worked with many of the founders of WCC whose spirit of innovation, commitment to equal opportunity and quality education has inspired me. My mentor, Dr. Richard Bailey, served on the WCC Board of Trustees for many,many years and taught us all the importance of collaboration and transparency. My work at the college, my colleagues and the leadership of Dr. Bailey have led me to offer my services to the school I love.” From her WCCEA endorsement: “Given Ruth’s expansive knowledge of our college’s history and its inner workings, she possesses the institutional knowledge necessary to recognize the issues most important to faculty, as well as those of the administration, and the wisdom to provide guidance and insight during these tumultuous times. In her recent retirement, Ruth has continued to be a strong supporter of faculty and has helped provide guidance and insight as we’ve faced several difficult decisions in recent years under President Bellanca’s leadership.” (Hatcher has no campaign website)
Alex Milshteyn: “I would urge the Trustees to address the conflict between the faculty, staff, and the President by taking a proactive role in solving the problem. The first step in addressing this conflict is bringing in a professional mediator to meet with all parties to the conflict, including the faculty, staff, the President, and the Board of Trustees. My hope is that the mediation will assist all parties in resolving this conflict and will set the tone of how future issues can be resolved without escalating to the current state. After mediation, the Board must take an active role in keeping channels of communication open.” http://alexforwcc.com/ ; https://www.facebook.com/alexmilshteynforwcc
Christina Fleming: “As a student myself I can help bring the voice of the student to the Board on a regular basis. As the mother of an Autistic child I am very concerned with how we will plan for 1 in 68 people who become college students and enter the workforce. How will we provide services for special needs adults? How will we transition them into work? I think as a community we need to think about these issues now and prepare for the future. I also think it’s important for more technology professionals to step up into representative government. We could really use well-educated people who understand the vocabulary of computer science in decision-making roles.” http://christinafleming.net/trustee/
Mark Freeman: “The dedication I see in the teachers and students across this campus reminds me everyday how important this school is to our community, and why it was created in the first place. I feel that being a trustee is my way of giving back to this institution that has done so much for the people of Washtenaw County.” From his WCCEA endorsement: Mark Freeman has served on the WCC Board of Trustees since 2009 and is currently the board secretary. He has taken several classes at WCC, worked successfully with the WCC Foundation, and continues to be a constant presence as a trustee on campus. During his interview, Mark expressed that the current board dynamics need to change and that he strongly supports the addition of more teachers to the BOT. He views faculty as the key to student success at the college and values how their efforts result in what he refers to as the final product, that is, educated, graduated students. When asked about outsourcing and consultants, he stated that he values the college’s internal resources and would prefer to capitalize on faculty and staff expertise whenever possible. Mr. Freeman is the only current member of the BOT who has shown any public concern for the issues that faculty have been raising and who had not publicly denigrated those concerns. He encouraged faculty to continue reaching out to board members and invited us to contact him personally. We are hopeful that he will continue to be a rational voice on the BOT in a new term.” (Freeman has no campaign website)