MCC Trustee candidates jockey for positions

The League of Women Voters (McHenry County Chapter) hosted a forum at McHenry County College (MCC) tonight for the candidates for trustee of MCC. I would have missed it, except for a small mention in this morning's Northwest Herald.

Two candidates will vie for one seat for a two-year term; they are Dennis Adams and David Bolger.

Eight candidates will scramble for two six-year terms. They are Bob DeWitt, Darren Fortun, Robert S. Jackson, Cynthia Kisser, Linda Liddell, George Lowe, Erik Sivertsen, and Gordon Tebo. Fortun didn't make it tonight.

I must admit that I arrived with expectations that I'd hear cost-cutting steps and common-sense plans to maintain affordable tuition levels. To that end I was more than disappointed. Without those our college is unsustainable and doomed.

One candidate was clearly opposed to the change in MCC's campus security methods. Recently, the new president of the College bought into a rolling avalanche of intention to convert the campus security department into a full-fledged police department. She got sucker-punched and went for it. After all, the College had already approved spending $68,000 for two squad cars (Ford Interceptors; you know, with the big engines for those high-speed chases that might go as far as the Mississippi River?)

Who was that one candidate? A college student. An MCC college student. The one who would be affected first by an safety risk on campus! Who is he? Erik Sivertsen.

Erik also opposed tuition increases. Imagine that.

Other candidates were clearly for tuition increases, including one who said tuition ought to go up considerably, with surplus being used to fund tuition for those who can't afford the tuition.

What's the job of the Board of Trustees? Is it to "forward the plans" of the President of the College? Or is the Board of Trustees' job to direct the path of the College and then President's job is to forward the plan of the Trustees? Who works for whom?

There were only about 35 in the audience tonight; was it a good TV night? Where was everybody?

One of my questions was, "What steps would you take to reduce teacher compensation and benefits, so that tuition can be lowered to an affordable level?"

The answers, across the board (except from Erik Sivertsen), were - 1) don't cut salaries and benefits; 2) don't change the system: 3) teachers should be paid well; 4) "collective bargaining is not the reason that costs are increasing"; 5) don't touch staff pay. Whew!

I wondered whether anyone, either among the candidates or on the Board already, has made a spreadsheet of the financial picture for the next 25-30 years, in order to see just when MCC will go under.

I also asked, "Would you restore The Promise?" I added in something like "and run it right this time". Answers included "some (students) didn't take their obligations seriously"; "students did not understand what was expected": "there were a lot of administrative problems".

So, why didn't MCC staff, so smart and earning $80,-100,000/year, figure out that graduating high school students hadn't learned to handle responsibilities? Why didn't they set up checklists with short deadlines, so that Promise students would have time to make the turn-around?

Many tonight talked about wanting the best teachers. Maybe what they ought to do is figure out how big the pot is for payroll, and then buy the best teachers they can afford. Those teachers will be good enough. You don't have to hire PhDs to teach remedial math and remedial English that freshman should have learned in high school. And, if existing teachers want to get advanced degrees and hope for big pay increases, let them try to find jobs elsewhere. Don't pay for them to get their advanced degrees and then pay them more for having them!

They were all nice people. By the end of the evening I had made my voting choices. I'm glad I went, because I knew only one of the candidates before the meeting. Too bad there weren't 200-300 more people in the audience to gather information with which to make informed decisions.