College of the Desert's decision to appoint new trustee a disservice to the public

The College of the Desert board did a disservice to the community Friday when they unanimously decided to appoint a new trustee rather than hold a public election.

This kind of decision-making further shows the board’s disregard of public input and further alienates itself from its faculty and students.

A special election, not a trustee appointment, could have ensured the COD board a smooth path forward.

With this decision, College of the Desert must establish their future board seats with careful measure.

The College of the Desert board must find stability in their new board member and future president with the departure of Trustee Fred Jandt – who resigned at the end of March due to his health – and Superintendent/President Martha Garcia, who has been appointed as the next president of Mt. San Antonio College starting July 1.

Earlier this week, the College of the Desert adjunct instructors called for a vote of no confidence against the school’s four trustees: Bea Gonzalez, Joel Kinnamon, Ruben Perez and Bonnie Stefan.

COD full-time faculty and administration should also get behind this symbolic vote.

The five future members of the COD Board of Trustees, who are entrusted to provide oversight of this vital institution and its huge budget, must reinstill competency, trustworthiness and transparency.

While it would’ve been expensive to hold a special election, COD has got the budget for it.

Coachella Valley voters have stepped up time and time again to tax themselves to fund COD. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been sitting at the college’s disposal for years to build new facilities that will serve students throughout the valley.

A special election would have been taxpayer money well-spent, which hasn’t always been COD’s fiduciary track record over the past few years.

The pocketbook was open when it came to hiring both Kinnamon and Garcia: At COD, Garcia has a base salary of over $397,000; former COD Superintendent/President Joel Kinnamon earned over $410,000, according to his contract before he retired in 2021.

As Desert Sun Jonathan Horwitz recently reported, Garcia will be taking a 15% pay cut when she starts her new job at Mt. San Antonio College. It’s fair to say COD might be overpaying its leaders – so an excuse that special elections are expensive doesn’t cut it.

Next steps should have included the whole community’s input – a special election vote would’ve helped ensure necessary change centered around teaching and learning.

Now that the board has taken matters into their own hands, they’re left with the unintended consequences of their brusque decision making – yet again.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: College of the Desert's decision to appoint new trustee a disservice to the public