With the votes counted, Pima Community College Board of Governors District 5 candidate Richard Fridena sent this to his supporters:
Dear Friends and Supporters,
With the delay in counting votes in Pima County and the low public profile regarding the Pima Community College Board of Governors District 5 race, I bet you are wondering about the outcome. Yesterday afternoon, the final election results were released:
Cortez 17,131
Fridena 14,846
Saitta 7,344
Sadly, Ms. Mary Cortez retained her seat by a 2,285 vote margin. There are many things to say about why the election turned out as it did. I want you to know and understand my respect for your attention to and care for the Tucson community expressed through your support of our campaign to secure a voice on the Pima College Board.
I have additional two thoughts about this outcome. First, we all need to continue watching her and the Governing Board’s performance. We must continue to insist that she, and the other trustees, represent our best interests and that Pima Community College better serves the residents of Pima County. This vote has shown that the Governing Board needs to wake up and again focus on serving students and not a misguided, bloated Administration. They are accountable.
Second, I was aware of the historical pattern that two opposition candidates frequently split the vote thereby allowing the incumbent to retain their office. I thought the continued embarrassment wrought by the sitting board and the compelling need for change in College leadership would have been enough to overcome the predictable splitting of the vote. While close, this simply did not happen. Ms. Cortez cannot truly claim she won this race. She must realize that 57% of District 5 voted to replace her.
Therefore, it falls on all of us to continue holding her and the Governing Board publically accountable. As has been made clear in the last week, the current Board holds public accountability in distain. (See http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/public-comments-belong-at-start-of-pcc-s-meetings/article_a8e79279-80a6-5d1b-9002-3d364eb61e7f.html#.UKOQQ30AVsM.email)
I am touched deeply by all of the support and encouragement given me. My heartfelt thanks to you. All of you symbolize citizenship and community to me.
Sincerely,
Richard Fridena
P.S. As you, know from my previous letters, my campaign mailed out 20,000 postcards at a cost of about $7,000. I was able to raise about half of this amount. For the duration of the campaign, I incurred a debt of $3,200. Any amount you may spare would help me to retire this debt. You can use PayPal at my website: www.fridenaforabetterpimacollege.com. The website will no longer exist after November 30. Mail your contributions to Fridena for a Better Pima College, P.O. Box 86135, Tucson, Arizona 85754.
This article appears in Nov 22-28, 2012.
I would like to thank the 7.344 voters in the 5th District that supported my Candidacy for the 5th District Seat on the PCC BOG; without a PAC and without the solitication of money. Marty Cortez is well aware that this election indicated the desire for change at PCC.
Since I was not elected by the voters, she, alternatively, represents the best choice. She is a good person with a good heart and will move PCC in the direction of positive change.
Good luck Marty!! Let me know if I can help in your efforts in moving PCC in the direction of a Community College serving the Educational needs of the Citizens of Pima County; whatever form these needs may take…….Francis Saitta
Richard Fridena ran a strong campaign against the current Board member at PCC, but with a second lesser contender peeling off enough votes to muddy the waters, was unsuccessful in winning the seat. Still Ms. Cortez, and the other incumbents who remain, must serve with the knowledge that 25,000 people did not want her to continue on the board and were dissatisfied with the performance of the board in the last several years at least.
It is not a case of the news media highlighting only a few troubles and stirring things up. It is a case of 5 good human beings who allowed themselves to become complacent and to not focus on the true mission of the community college. They have behaved with an arrogance towards input and a willingness to be lead by the chancellor rather than to be leaders themselves and to keep an educational vision clearly in their mind. There is a real syndrome that develops when incumbents are not challenged periodically to believe that what they are doing must be okay since no one is publicly opposing it.
The iron fist that has been displayed at PCC during the last decade has kept down public opposition. Administrators who left may have kept quiet to preserve their employability in future institutions, but those who retired and stayed in the area have spoken clearly, and will continue to speak.
Marty Cortez is not a bad person, and is an intelligent woman who clearly knows now by the force of numbers that things must change at Pima Community College.
Richard Fridena was a status quo candidate who represented NO change at PCC; as evidenced by his complacency when he was a part of the PCC System.
The Voters of the 5th District saw through this duplicity and simply rejected his candidacy notwithstanding the money used by the Fridena PAC to run a “strong campaign”. The “lesser contender” went directly to the voters of the 5th District with his agenda for change at PCC. The response was positive as indicated by the final vote count.
This election was about change at PCC for sure. I am confident that Marty Cortez will attempt to initiate the changes at PCC that were articulated during the campaign…..Francis Saitta
My property taxes are wasted at PCC. Why do I have to pay for a lobbyist? Why did I have to pay the salary of the last president long after he “checked out”? Why did the last president hire his childhood buddy, at a very high salary, to provide “seminars”.
FRAUD WASTE AND ABUSE OF TAXPAYER FUNDS. AKA PCC.
Francis Saitta’s gushing admiration for the 18 year incumbent is a sight to behold. Makes one wonder why he wanted to replace her. Or did he? He appears to have run against Richard Fridena rather than against the incubent or the status quo. He didn’t show up for interviews with the Weekly or the Star. He didn’t really want to win, me thinks, only to keep Fridena from winning. Was Francis Saitta, a part-time faculty and the Downtown Campus, a mole? Clearly, he was, at the least, a spoiler.
In the future, college employees should not be allowed to be on the ballot for the PCC Governing Board. And, when there are three or more on the ballot for one position, voters should be allowed to vote for their second choice.
OH..SOUR GRAPES!!!!…
Such a disappointment for the Fridena-ites that they, fortunately, will not have a “mouth-piece” on the PCC BOG to manipulate. They simply DO NOT understand the nature of our Democracy and its’ inherent diversity of opinion. When such people loose an Election…they cry foul and conspiracy. Their reaction to this Election is predictable and laughable. To this I will add:
Pon sus cabezas donde no esta brillando el sol.
If history continues to repeat itself at PCC, the trustees will only serve their interets, and give lip service to everyone else. But good luck anyway.
This was the first election in years that the incumbents had opposition to their efforts to retain their seat on the BOG. There is no doubt that the voters in the 3rd and 5th Districts voted for change in Policy and Direction at PCC.
Two of the Candidates in the last election were former PCC Administrators. We need alternative Candidates that represent the potential for real change at PCC; “outsiders”, if you will, with a strong backgroung and commitment to Education.
Let’s pull together and give tentative/qualified support to the partially reconstituted PCC BOG. However, if this desire for change, as reflected in the results of this Election, is ignored by the BOG, the Citizens of Pima County have an alternation…the re-call Petition.
Only a leach would use the back of someone elses thank you letter to write his thanks to his supporters – supporters who appear to be nonexistent on this blog.