BANDUCCI, McKENZIE: Wrongdoing is obvious

A recent letter accused critics of the NIC Trustees Todd Banducci and Greg McKenzie of character assassination “without ever giving specific examples of wrongdoing.” Actually, their wrongdoing to the college is public and obvious.

Chief among these actions was the decision these trustees (along with Trustee Barnes who held his seat illegally) to fire NIC President MacLennan without cause. This action was not based on job performance, but upon some other basis.

The action cost the taxpayers more than $200,000, to pay out the remainder of President MacLennan’s contract. Secondly, this action created the grounds for a lawsuit, which was settled for $250,000. This resulted in NIC losing its liability insurance.

Secondly, the continuing actions of these three trustees caused NIC to fall out of compliance with accreditation standards, by overstepping their authority and then by hiring an unqualified person as interim president. Their actions put NIC’s accreditation in danger.

To fix this, the accrediting body provided a road map of actions to demonstrate compliance, but this was ignored by Trustees Banducci and McKenzie. They were to hire a permanent president as quickly as possible. They attempted to delay this action until November, and when they could not, they slowed the process, using unprofessional and childish behavior in an attempt to invalidate the hiring process itself, as is evident on YouTube.

All this behavior is wrongdoing. It has needlessly damaged the college and the community. This is no guarantee that this is a complete list, but the nature of this behavior obvious.

PAT LIPPERT

Post Falls