Chancellor’s pay boost is inappropriate

In gauging public reaction to the big pay raise granted to Nicki Harrington, the Yuba Community College District chancellor, it’s difficult not to recall the exhortation from the fictional character Howard Beale in the movie “Network”:

“… I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’”

OK, perhaps life isn’t quite imitating art in this case. But people are genuinely angry, disappointed and mystified that college district trustees would think it’s appropriate to award Harrington a $29,000 pay raise, bumping her annual salary to $249,000.

Faculty and students at the Yuba College campus in Linda are understandably upset at the action, given the job cuts, furloughs, pay reductions and other concessions instituted over the past year. But the hue and cry about Harrington’s salary bump is not limited to the usual suspects: Community leaders and fellow educators are sounding off as well.

In an impassioned letter to the editor published in the Appeal-Democrat, local radio personality and community organizations stalwart Bob Harlan called for the pay hike to be rescinded. “It was wrong of the board to make that decision and it was wrong for Harrington to accept it,” wrote Harlan. “I hope Harrington and the board she works under will hearken to the voice of reason and logic and reverse a decision that was made at a very wrong time. ”

Gay Todd, who knows something about operating a school district during tough financial times, affirmed a trustee’s criticism of the salary boost at last week’s board meeting of the Marysville Joint Unified School District.

“I too found it unconscionable that folks would take a pay raise when others are facing job loss,” the superintendent said. “But then, everyone has their reasons. I don’t know what those are.”

“Certainly that would not be something I would ever entertain,” Todd said.

In defense of Harrington, it must be noted that she joined with other college managers last November in accepting a 3 percent pay concession. Also, her salary ranked at the bottom of the scale for community college district chancellors in California. And Harrington — who has rejected recent pay raises — says she didn’t request a salary increase.

“The board is concerned I hadn’t had a raise,” the chancellor said.

What should concern the board of trustees is how dangerously out of touch with reality they appear to be. Harrington may indeed be doing a “magnificent job in trying times,” as claimed by Jim Buchan, president of the board of trustees, but the current economic climate most certainly does not support a 13 percent pay hike.

There’s also the matter of the salary boost as it relates to Harrington’s eventual retirement and the search for her replacement. The chancellor says she expects to retire in the next few years; accusations of salary spiking to boost Harrington’s pension are a natural outgrowth of the pay raise.

Trustees also contend the higher salary will attract capable candidates to succeed Harrington when she retires. It’s worthwhile to prepare for the future, but the focus should be on dealing with the uncertainty of the here and now, and how to best fulfill the college district’s education mission.

Trustees need also to concern themselves with a possible violation of the Brown Act — the state’s open-meeting law — for how they authorized the raise. The board delivered Harrington’s performance evaluation in closed session, then announced the pay raise based on that evaluation afterward.

Under the Brown Act, closed sessions can’t include discussion or action on proposed compensation except for a reduction based on disciplinary action taken.

Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association in Sacramento, questions if the college district followed the Brown Act. The planned Feb. 10 formal vote by trustees “strongly suggests a backpedaling” by the district, Ewert told the Appeal-Democrat last week.

Hoping to bring pressure on the trustees and Harrington, a petition being circulated calls on the board to rescind and apologize for the pay raise. Also, a rally is planned for Tuesday morning at the Linda campus.

Should the trustees not reverse course on their action next month, Harrington should do the right thing and reject this pay raise. The chancellor would be offering a powerful lesson in common sense and leadership.

If you build it, they will come — and that’s the fear in Marysville.

Flush with about $75,000 in Proposition 40 recreation funds from the state, city leaders considered spending the money on a skatepark.

Not so fast. Seems that a skatepark just wouldn’t work in Marysville, according to city officials quoted in an Appeal-Democrat article last week.

Why not?

Building a skatepark “can be controversial,” said City Manager Steve Casey.

“It’s going to attract kids to the area,” said Mayor Bill Harris, who is also a member of the Parks and Recreation Committee.

And the liability issues would be daunting, he and fellow committee member Jim Kitchen concluded.

“I have a problem with the idea of a skatepark,” Kitchen said.

No, we wouldn’t want to attract kids to the area. We wouldn’t want skateboarders to hit the local shops to get a slice of pizza, a cheeseburger, buy energy drinks and snacks. And the city surely doesn’t want some entrepreneurial spirit like a Zak King to consider setting up shop to sell skateboard gear and wear. And gosh, a local teen grabbing some air or performing an ollie in Marysville couldn’t possibly end up participating in the “X Games” some day.

Time and time again we hear the lament “there’s nothing for kids to do here in the area.” Frankly, that sometimes comes across as just a convenient excuse to trot out when a teen runs afoul of the law or gets into some kind of trouble. But there is a great deal of truth to that complaint, and Marysville is choosing to ignore an opportunity to address it to the benefit of local youth and the city itself.

Successful skateparks have sprouted up across the nation as well as in the area — they encourage physical activity and offer alternatives to the use of streets and sidewalks for skating, which can result in costly damage. Gridley’s skatepark is popular and Yuba County officials are looking into funding sources to build a skatepark in Linda.

Then there’s Yuba City’s Sam Brannan Park, featuring one of the first public skateparks in the country. How successful is that site? Consider this A-D Web site comment from a reader:

“If any of you have been to the skatepark at Sam Brannan Park while it’s in use, you would know that there are not just ‘kids’ there, but also their parents and other adults. The kids were joyous and exuberant and quite frankly were having a blast. In a very small footprint of land, the skatepark provides a low-maintenance and low-cost way of children in our area to be active and gain life-long lessons like taking turns and socializing with other children from other schools they have never met.”

Kids and their parents and other adults? Ooh, what a scary thought — crowds in Marysville. However will the city handle such success?

Instead of further exploring the idea of a skatepark, city officials are leaning toward spending the Prop 40 funds on a new clubhouse at All Seasons RV Stadium, home to the newly renamed Marysville Gold Sox. The reasoning: with the ballpark hosting more nonbaseball events, people could benefit from a place to change clothes and hold meetings.

Sounds like a high-end dressing room to us.

This isn’t a knock against the Gold Sox: Tom and Karyn Lininger run a first-class organization that generates jobs, goodwill and revenue for the city of Marysville, and we support efforts to strengthen the bonds between the city and the Gold Sox. And we’re already looking forward to the Gold Sox home opener on May 27.

We’re just not convinced a clubhouse is the best use of these funds at this time.

Understandably, it’s not just a matter of spending $75,000 to build a skatepark — there are ongoing responsibilities the city would take on related to security, maintenance and liability.

Marysville should not be afraid of success because of the responsibility it carries.