MDC trustees ignore community, continue tainted president search

It was a bit chaotic at the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, where a “surprise” interim president was named and members continued to press for a politically-motivated do-over of a selection process to permanently replace the retiring Eduardo Padrón, whose last day is Friday.

“A shitshow,” said one faculty observer. “A circus,” said another.

First, they tried to cut off any public commentary, saying that it wasn’t on the agenda. Guess what? Neither was anything else. Like the appointment of an interim president, which former State Rep. Michael Bileca wanted to name before the public comment thinking it would placate the protesters. A crumb to calm the crowd. Because everyone likes and respects former MDC Provost and Trustee Rolando Montoya (photo), who — surprise, surprise — happened to be in the audience to accept the job. Some observers think Montoya knew he would be appointed — and that some of the board members knew, too.

Ladra thinks perhaps Sunshine laws were ignored as much as the public. And she is not the only one.

“It was a symphony of a prearranged appointment,” said former United Teachers of Miami Dade College president Mark Richard (photo). “And the song title is ‘We’re breaking the stakeholders hearts again.’

“They picked a very competent guy in a very incompetent way.”

Those who eventually spoke on behalf of restoring the established process — which the board abruptly suspended in July amid rumors of a political fix — included Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, Louis Wolfson (whose family the downtown campus is named for) and selection committee member Jose Mas. They can thank Chairman Bernie Navarro for allowing the opportunity to comment.

“Even to consider replacing Dr. Padrón with a political influencer, someone that does not understand the complexities of Miami Dade College or higher education… will absolutely erode our hometown reputation and trust,” Wolfson said. “You can already see it and hear it and feel it from our community.”

But it all fell on deaf ears as the board continued on its track to start a new search, which many think is meant to end with the selection of an unqualified, political lackey, like former State Rep. and lobbyist Jose Felix “Pepi” Diaz or another former GOP lawmaker. After all, the loss of trust from the community is no match for the shiny object the presidency is.

The prestigious job doesn’t only come with a $500,000 salary and benefit package, but also control of millions of dollars in contracts, thousands of jobs and multiple programs and partnerships. A party loyalist would be perfect!

After naming Montoya — who, by all accounts, is a perfectly qualified interim who may have been hoodwinked into a political hurricane — the board decided to hire a new headhunting firm to start a brand new search from scratch. They won’t consider the firm the college already paid $167,000 to for this search they scrapped. Could one of the board members already have a headhunter in mind? (Note to self: Watch for a connection).

They also voted to form a new selection committee — though they may be hard pressed to find many qualified people to volunteer. Who would do that after the disrespect shown the first selection committee of highly respected community leaders like Mas, former U.S. Attorney Bob Martinez, Miami Foundation CEO Javier Soto. They feel used and abused.

And anyone placed on a second selection committee will immediately be suspected of being part of this, oh, let’s go with circus.

Several faculty members are suing to stop this reboot, arguing that the board violated its own established rules and demanding that a judge order they resume the interrupted process. The selection committee had recommended four finalists to the board, with MDC Vice President and Provost Lenore Rodicio (photo) leading the pack. Weeks after they failed to change the criteria and extend the deadline to allow for less qualified candidates to apply, the board scrapped the whole process to start anew.

Attorney Marcell Felipe, who seems to be the leader of the hijackers, said the process was manipulated to favor Rodicio. So is he calling Martinez, Mas and all the selection committee members — which includes faculty and students — puppets? Morons? What, exactly? This process was put in place by other GOP-appointed board members, by the way. So what’s the problem?

Felipe (photo) has already proven to be either (A) delusional or (B) a propagandist fearmonger who has gone on Cuban radio to call Rodicio a communist because part of her job is to oversee the Confucius Institute, a program that teaches Chinese language and culture. Navarro called it “McCarthyism.”

But not only is Rodicio a Republican Cuban exile and unlikely a communist, but the Institute also has board members like Helen Aguirre Ferre, a conservative longtime GOP adviser and mouthpiece who now works for Gov. DeSantis, and former Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado.

Oooooh, it’s a virtual hotbed of communists!

Let’s wait a minute while Felipe removes his foot from his mouth. But how can we trust him to move forward with any kind of integrity?

Ironically, Rodicio is the only candidate of the four finalists who was left in the running when the process was scrapped. How? Why? It’s obvious the board doesn’t want her. Was it just so that Felipe could malign her — or is the Institute his real target? Or is it because she was the top candidate all along? Is she a safety net? An insurance policy?

And where is Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez? Being a Miami Dade legislator, she is likely the one who vetted and recommended these new board member to DeSantis. Is she regretting some of her decisions? Or did she and the governor intend to blow up the process?

Be sure that Ladra and others will remind voters about this come next year.

Jose Felix Diaz, Miami Dade College, Michael Bileca

MDC trustees ignore community, continue tainted president search added by Ladra on August 30, 2019
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