The fact that certain people have behaved deplorably does not affect the fine reputation of Daytona State College. DSC has been named among the top 10% of the 1,200 community colleges across America.
Forty-two candidates have applied for the president’s job; the list will be winnowed down to the final four or five who will be interviewed by the Board of Trustees in mid-June.
Daytona Beach has a wonderful small town atmosphere in many respects. However, those in positions of power often cross-pollinate and serve on many different boards throughout the area. For this reason alone, I would hope the trustees choose a new president from among the many qualified candidates outside our area.
Certainly, no friends of disgraced former President Kent Sharples should be considered. After all, his close friend and former DSC Chief Financial Officer Rand Spiwak stabbed DSC in the back by sending 1,000 pages of documents to the State of Florida SACS commission which determines the accreditation of scholastic institutions.
This was after former College employee Rand Spiwak “donated” a bunch of DSC computers to a small college in Idaho without bothering the ask the Board of Trustees.
The SACS Commissioners will be in Daytona at the end of this week to interview relevant parties and present their findings. Mr. Spiwak left town for Idaho where he now resides so they won’t be talking to him. Interim President Dr. Frank Lombardo has done a yeoman’s job of reviewing procedures, setting higher standards and getting the College back on track.
Senior Executive Director Donna Sue Sanders of the DSC Foundation was another water-carrier for Dr. Sharples. She took pledges directed solely to the London Symphony Orchestra, dumped them into the DSC Foundation and used them to get matching money from the state.
Personally, I would quit before I’d commit a felony for anyone and I hope the State Attorney prosecutes this fraud.
Then, after saying nothing for months, Sanders suddenly tossed former President Sharples under the bus by describing her efforts to get his legal fees paid during the negotiations to terminate him. Most people think she did this to save her job.
Apparently $1.2 million of separation loot, car, health care, etc. couldn’t stop the poor-mouthing by Dr. Sharples. Fortunately for taxpayers, the DSC Foundation Board members stood together and said a resounding “NO” to the additional squeeze for dollars.
Then there is the matter of the over-the-top retirement party for Dr. Sharples held at Oceanside County Club. Who paid for that?
Sanders was on the Marc Bernier radio show on WNDB in January and told Mr. Bernier that “Sharples' retirement party was paid for out of the money he and (Sharples’ wife) Linda donated.”
So they wanted to take back money donated for scholarships and use it for a party? I don’t believe this happened.
Another note about Sanders; she is featured as “one of the most powerful and influential women in the area” in the slick new local magazine published by one Manuel Bornia, architect of the failed music concerts of last summer which have cost taxpayers $1.4 million so far.
You will recall that Mr. Bornia worked for the Community Cultural Foundation. He and his staff were paid upward of $370,000 by DSC when they became the go-to slush fund for the concerts.
Nice write up to pay back your former boss for her sponsorship. There are faculty members and others on campus who feel strongly that all the people directly involved in Sharples’ games should be let go or else the College will suffer the consequences for years to come.
That includes former Economic Development Director Bob Williams who is now running the TV station which no longer broadcasts Board of Trustee meetings live. He squired Manny Bornia all over town last summer. It is my understanding that some vendors still have not been paid for goods and/or services from the failed music festival.
Daytona Mayor Glenn Ritchey has floated the idea of the London Symphony Orchestra’s return in a series of concerts which would pay off the above-mentioned debt over a number of years.
Three people who helmed the LSO events for a total of 13 years, Monya Gilbert of DeLand, David Newman of Durham, NC and Dewey Anderson of Orlando completely disagree.
I’m with them; I think it would be more like a number of decades as these concerts do not generate profits. Profit is the name of the game for the News-Journal, too. They are walking a very fine line between advertising revenue and this story, which involves so many of the so-called “movers and shakers” in our area.
All news organizations attempt to do this to give themselves editorial freedom.
The stories about DSC and CCF written by Deborah Circelli and other staff in the News-Journal have done a pretty good job of getting the facts out without rocking the boat that floats due to advertising revenue.
For example, if I owned the News-Journal, I wouldn’t want to capsize Mayor Glenn Ritchie’s ship and watch those thousands of ad dollars disappear. But rather than push too hard for the movers and shakers who ran the CCF or were on the DSC board to step up to the plate and make some serious donations to reduce the burden to taxpayers, the News-Journal has editorialized that members of the CCF board “do something” about the repayment of the taxpayers’ $1.4 million.
I’m afraid we’re six months past the “pretty please” stage and much stronger measures are needed. One could be the DSC’s Board of Trustees insisting that the CCF board do its fiduciary duty, even if it means suing CCF board members.
The other could be resolution by the State Attorney and some jail time for those complicit in using taxpayer dollars from our local College to fund their grandiose ideas.
The money may be gone, but I’m not forgetting. I want it back.
© Sally Gillies 2011 / NSB News LLC