At a listening session at Clatsop Community College, faculty and staff described a fearful environment on campus, criticized the college board for overstepping its role and called for greater transparency.

Following a separation agreement reached with Chris Breitmeyer, the college president, and the resignations of three board members, Trudy Van Dusen Čitović, the board chairwoman, hosted a listening session with college employees on May 16. Jody Stahancyk, a board member, and Breitmeyer, who will leave the college in July, also participated.

A number of faculty, staff and members of the college foundation board spoke over the course of the hourlong session, with some reading anonymous statements from other employees who said they feared retaliation for their comments.

Many cited anxiety and low morale on campus stemming from distrust of the board and a lack of communication around Breitmeyer’s separation. Other comments were critical of the behavior of board members.

“Instead of dealing with issues in healthy, constructive ways, you, the board, have become divided, bullying has become the norm at monthly meetings and the gossip mill is running rampant on campus,” Desiree Noah, the executive director of people, safety and compliance at the college, read in a statement from an anonymous employee.

The role of the board was broached May 16 and has been raised several times since Sara Meyer and Karen Burke, two of the resigning board members, called out other board members in their resignation letters for damaging the board’s responsibilities and acting in bad faith.

Van Dusen Čitović and Tim Lyman, a board member, have pointed to a difference of opinion over interpretation of the board’s role.

“Over time, past boards abdicated much of their responsibilities to the college president, resulting in a loss of transparency and a loss of oversight that so many have commented on,” Lyman said in an email. “The conflict on the board was between those who felt the board had a duty to be more open and transparent, and to exercise its legislatively mandated oversight role, and those that viewed this proper exercise as ‘interfering with college employees.’”

One point of contention has been the discussion of personnel matters during public board meetings.

“When you openly talk about employees at board meetings, where they cannot defend themselves, it feels disheartening and makes us not trust you as board members,” Hazel Martinez, a student account specialist, read in a statement from classified staff. “ … Please realize how this feels to us. When you pick on one of us, you pick on all of us.”

At a special board meeting on May 18, Van Dusen Čitović laid out the concerns heard from the listening session and identified objectives moving forward. Among them were avoiding discussion of personnel in public meetings, communicating regularly with the college community and creating opportunities for feedback.

“All of the constituents were respectful and forthright, which I appreciate more than anything. The reality is that people are scared due to uncertainty … It’s not a good place to be individually or as a greater college community,” Van Dusen Čitović said in a text to The Astorian. “ … We also took their comments to heart and will work in good faith to address their concerns. Trust must be earned. It’s a long road ahead, but we are committed to working together to get there.”

The board on May 18 also appointed newly-elected board members Ed Johnson and Lloyd Mueller to their positions immediately. Nicole Williams, a board member, stepped down and was reappointed to the vacancy left by Meyer, and will serve through June, when her term was set to end. One board vacancy remains.

Subcommittees were formed to fill the vacancy and pursue an interim president, who will be brought on to work with Breitmeyer to help transition duties. The board hopes to bring on an interim president before the board retreat near the end of June.