Half of Americans would bend down to pick up a penny, so it’s safe to assume that no one wants to leave a billion dollars running unattended. But that’s exactly what the taxpayers of Washtenaw County are doing with WCC.
The following table shows the revenues flowing through WCC from 2012 to 2019, based on the school’s audited financial statements. (The FY20 audited financial statement won’t be published until at least December.)
| FY | Revenues |
|---|---|
| 2012 | $145,852,434.00 |
| 2013 | $148,378,973.00 |
| 2014 | $150,969,889.00 |
| 2015 | $155,604,745.00 |
| 2016 | $157,169,745.00 |
| 2017 | $163,469,745.00 |
| 2018 | $162,150,745.00 |
| 2019 | $157,023,745.00 |
| Total | $1,240,620,021.00 |
This represents the $1.25B dollars that hit WCC’s books between 2012-2019. It’s not being overseen by anyone except those who are in charge of spending it.
“The board is by law required to scrutinize [financial] requests. The president explains them to us. There is no subterfuge,” he continued. “It’s our job to spend the money of the community college and we take that very seriously.”
– Richard Landau, 2014
“Trustee McKnight-Morton spoke about the presidential search committee that had diverse people on it. She noted that the current board is an advisory board and a policy board, not a micro-managing board. President Bellanca is being a change agent as the Board has directed her.”
We need oversight more than the WCC president needs advice
The people we elected to oversee the money have determined among themselves that it is in everyone’s better interest if they just sign off on everything and provide “advice” to the President instead.
So we now have two Trustees who have never cast a single “no” vote on any items brought before the Board by the Administration. And, if you take the time to look at any of the Board Meetings, you’ll see that the Trustees are not exactly lining up to spew pithy advice, either.
No one is watching the money at WCC. And we’re talking about one-and-a-quarter BILLION over eight years.
As a voter (and the source of most of WCC’s money), is that really how you want WCC to operate?
We need Trustees who believe that their one and only duty of loyalty is to the TAXPAYERS, and not to the President of the college.
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WCCWatch: Martin Thomas | WCCWatch: David DeVarti | WCCWatch: Christina Fleming | WCCWatch: Ruth Hatcher
Photo Credit: Keith Cooper
