No action taken
Trustee Ken Howard, left, and board chair Trustee Todd Banducci gather their belongings after a short board meeting Wednesday night in which action to renew President Rick MacLennan's contract was tabled until September. HANNAH NEFF/Press
Renewal of the North Idaho College president’s contract was tabled in a short board meeting Wednesday night.
In a 4-1 vote, a motion by Trustee Christie Wood passed to take no action on the presidential contract until September, Trustee Ken Howard being the only opposer.
“That is simply because we didn’t have sufficient time to fully go through his evaluation and have a good board discussion,” Wood said. “We weren’t prepared to make a decision tonight.”
The NIC president is hired by the board of trustees with a three-year contract that is reviewed annually. The renewal may be executed by the president and board chair with the approval and authorization of the board.
On Jan. 20, tension between board chair Todd Banducci and NIC President Rick MacLennan came to light in emails from MacLennan to the board.
The president wrote he understood Banducci was threatening his employment after MacLennan pointed out as president it was his responsibility to make COVID-19 operational decisions when the two had a disagreement over the college’s protocols.
“(Banducci) responded by saying, ‘that’s right, the board only has one employee - I guess we can go down that road,’” MacLennan wrote. “I understand this to mean that he would seek to terminate my employment if I did not cooperate with him.”