In a community forum down in Stockton Tuesday, College of the Redwoods President Jeff Marsee (right) sought to convince the public that he should be hired as the next president of San Joaquin Delta College, and his pitch included a dig at the North Coast Journal.
Marsee suggested that last year’s cover story on the turmoil at CR, College in Revolt, was unfair.
Today’s Stockton Record quotes Marsee as saying, “They [the NCJ] like to assassinate community leaders on a regular basis. That’s why people pick it up.”
We’re not sure which part of the story qualifies as assassination. Might it be the quotes taken verbatim from an employee satisfaction survey, saying things like, “Many of us sincerely believe that the President will destroy this institution”? Those weren’t our words.
Could it be that we reported on the Public Employee Relations Board ruling that CR administrators “failed and refused to bargain in good faith” with faculty? [PERB agreed to hear this matter in March 2010 but issued no ruling. The case was settled last month.] Nah, that’s silly. We had nothing to do with that decision.
Maybe he objected to the fact-checking we did to reveal that while he was provost/vice president of operations at the Katharine Gibbs School in New York the college was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, and 60 Minutes for allegedly defrauding students, investors and the federal government. (The DOJ declined to prosecute; the school closed in 2009.)
Or perhaps Marsee didn’t like that we called him out for his, er, misleading account of being given his “walking papers” (his words!) from the Ventura Community College District in 1996.
We’d look into it further, but we’re awfully busy plotting our next sales-boosting journalistic manslaughter.
This article appears in The Little Casino That Could?.
Mercy me, Marsee!
The Board can’t find someone qualified at the pay they’re offering? And I guess it would be asking much too much to find someone qualified who, in addition, would like to stay here.
Of course, you would never publish the positive comments or the other side of the story as well because that would be actual journalism…
What, Dante, like this?
It’s in there. BTW, I admire your poetry from the Middle Ages.
Just wondering why the awful photoshopped photo. What’s up with that?
That was one of the graphics that accompanied the original story, Mel-Z.
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” – Dante Alighieri (from Inferno)
Thanks Ryan, he won’t get that job now. LOL 🙂
Ryan, keep up the good work, really. You should stop by CR sometime, give us an update how things are going, yes just ask a few folks. I know there are lots of happenings out there. Maybe a report on how CR will manage the upcoming budget cuts, he might give you an interview. If not ask any of the other administration big money makers out there, or heck ask the Board of Trustee, there are a couple bright ones there I think. Egypt has figured it out. Lets take back CR from the CARPETBAGGERS.
Check out the pic, Marsee has a nice smile, and he is bigger than life too. I think his carpetbag is hidden behind the trees or LRC. Life is good.
Hey Photo Guy, your right nice smile. You can see the power this man has, big tie and holding down the CR buildings so they don’t blow away. Why does he waist his time as a community college president, he should be VP of the United States, he makes the same amount?
When I click on the first link in this article, it takes me to, (College in Revolt) April 1st, 2010. On my computer Marsee’s head is missing? If you click right below the headless photo, on the Galley button, (WARNING) you get that big grin.
North Coast Journal is the best publication by far, as being fair and reporting without bias. NCJ was never out to assassinate Marsee or anyone else. CR’s President Marsee is just who he is, it’s all about Marsee. Facts are facts!
Marsee is not a community leader, as he states. He is a community employee. His not knowing the difference would make me think twice before hiring him.
I like the part in the Stockton article when Marsee describes working at CR as a “living nightmare.” Why burn your bridges when you can blow your bridges up?
You think that publishing quotes from highly paid public employees engaged in a war to preserve their gravy train is real reporting? Does “verbatim” remove the bias and politically self serving nature of the comments? Why don’t we just elect our public executives directly insterad of relying on the Boards to act on our behalf. Then the press could really control everything.
The problem with your defense to the “assassination” charge is that you support your “tabloid journalism” with the same stuff that you used in the original article, including quotes from a employee satifaction survey that was overwhelmingly dominated by the comments from a few disgruntled employees who have had their empires justifiably shaken up since his arrival. You use this quote…”many believe this President will destroy the College”. It could have just as easily been said that many think he is the salvation of thie District because “many” could mean 10 (insignificant) or 210 (significant).
You reported that the PERB ruled that the District had “bargained in bad faith”. What ruling are you refering to, and when was it rendered by PERB? At no time has the Public Employee Relations Board made a “ruling” in any of the actions brought against the District by the Union during President Marsee’s time at the College (unlike his two most recent predecessors). Either you printed someone’s opinion without checking the facts (shoddy journalism) or you published knowingly false information for the purpose of causing harm to Jeff Marsee’s reputation as a community leader. Either way, the article was a one sided slam against the President of CR intended to bolster the position of the Faculty Union. No wonder the NCJ is found in the supermarket checkout line along with the other tabloids.
@Concerned Citizen: First, regarding the PERB complaint, you’re correct. In late March of last year, PERB found that CRFO had alleged sufficient facts that if true would demonstrate that a violation had occurred. The board never ruled on the matter, and the case was ultimately withdrawn. I’ll update this post — and the original story — to reflect that fact. I regret the error.
That said, I take issue with your assertion that the story was “intended to bolster the position of the Faculty Union.” The Journal has no stake in CR’s contract negotiations.
If you read the qualitative responses in the Noel-Levitz employee satisfaction survey you’ll see that the quote I pulled out is a representative example. You may choose to discredit the opinions — all 272 of them — but to imply that “[Marsee] is the salvation of the District” is an equally valid characterization is simply untenable.
Further, if our research had revealed that Marsee’s employment history was exactly as he represented it, the story would have reflected that fact. But that was not the case. Do you dispute our findings on his tenure at Katherine Gibbs or the Ventura Community College District?
Read this article and “College in Revolt” by Mr. Burns, the latter being factually in depth and fairly done.
No, the NCJ nor Mr. Burns does assassination. They can, however, offer edginess while insinuating opinion or a point of view. It’s up to the reader to discern their own. Fair enough.
I’d be happy to take that job and I know how I could immediately save the district about … oh … 150 grand a year.
“Concerned Citizen” sounds exactly like Marsee himself. Seriously. How tacky. You blew it, dude. Your time at CR wasn’t good for you (you said just the other day it’s been a “living nightmare”); it wasn’t good for the employees (do I really need to list the dozens and dozens of documented times this case has been made?); it wasn’t good for the students (just ask the dozens who spoke for 45 minutes at the December board meeting about how they are not able to get their degrees or graduate because of your lousy management); and it wasn’t good for this community (our college is once again facing sanction from the ACCJC, and this time it really is, as the latest ACCJC report makes clear, all your fault). While PERB didn’t rule “against” you, they did assert that the faculty union’s claims that you did not bargain in good faith were “valid”–in other words, the union was right: you didn’t follow the law, and your claims that you had were found “invalid.” For once be smart, be humble. Quite stirring the pot and creating ill will and just walk away–quietly. Nothing you say at this point is going to convince anyone of anything. Anyone who wants to know what kind of “leader” you are can watch the video of the February board meeting where you 1. bullied Mark Winter 2. lied openly about the faculty prioritization process 3. insulted trustee Dorn because he dared to ask you about the non-existent basis for creating a new $125,000 irrelevant position at the same time you are talking about layoffs (and you perpetuate the absolute lie that this new position is an old one–dude, go back and look at CR’s history). You’ve shown us who you are. We can all see, and everytime you speak, we see you more clearly. Just move on and let us get to work cleaning up your mess. Serioulsy. It’s over. We’ve made clear that we’re done with you, and you’ve made clear that you’re done with us. We’re going to move on. You should too.
He lives on Sunny Lane. We should organize a protest on his street.
I’ve worked at CR a long time and know most of the staff, faculty, and administrators. I’m not very involved in this tussle, but I can assure any reader that there is NO ONE who considers Marsee the “savior of the college. ” Upper administrators roll their eyes at his decisions, mid-level employees will only talk in whispers about his poor management, and the rest expressed their opinions on the survey.
Marsee is the POOREST leader I have ever witnessed. A good leader can explain his/her ideas and build a consensus. Marsee can only bully and fire, and even then he can’t gain respect or lead the college without protest. He was fortunate that Tom Harris had the college back on track with accreditation, that enrollment nationwide was rising, and some of Crabil’s bond money remained. Otherwise, the place would be in even more trouble than it is.
I guess I shouldn’t worry too much about “Concerned Citizen” as it is probably meant to fool a Stockton reader. Anyone in Humboldt County, as especially at CR, knows better.
there’s quite a bit of disagreement among employees as to how to deal with this. Some say we should only say positive things in hopes that Marsee will get the job, or any job, and thus, go quietly away. That’s apparently what El Camino did with us. Faculty there outright said, “we lied” when confronted by CR faculty. Others think that’s unethical- that he shouldn’t be allowed to cause any more harm. I’m of the latter group. I think Marsee needs to face the music, and fix what he broke. He claims to be smart, energetic, visionary. So, prove it. Second, the college president job market needs to hear this message loud and clear- “don’t mess with CR” and the board needs to hear it too. Candidates for college presidents should know that CR is not going to be their little feifdom full of willing slaves to build their castles in the sky. We want our vision for this college and the community’s vision to be realized. Not the vision of one person. Marsee would never have caused as much damage if the TRUSTEES HAD LISTENED TO EMPLOYEES INSTEAD OF INSULTING THEM and rubbing salt in the wound by UNANIMOUS PUBLIC VOTE IN SUPPORT OF MARSEE and EXPUNGING from the public record all of the evidence, when they brought forward their concerns. District taxpayers and voters, please note that several trustee posts are up for re-election in November 2011. If current trustees run unopposed, it doens’t even go on the ballot. Do you really want another revolving door for this incompetence, dishonesty, and arrogance?
One of my favorite Mark Twain quotes:
“First God made idiots. That was for practice. Then He made school boards.”
Same thing holds for higher education boards of trustees: they listen to administrators and no one else, nodding their heads.
Golly, those are simply horrible things that the NCJ has written about Marsee. It’s good he has such thick skin.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110222/A_NEWS/110229988&emailAFriend=1
Amazing.
This guy just keeps getting kicked up.
I hope they only give him a 1 yr contract, They’ll figure it out by then.
Meanwhile, the CR board will hire some “qualified” candidate on a two-year contract who has no interest whatsoever in Humboldt County.
Dr. Marsee was just hired as the new President at San Joaquin Delta College.
The Delta College claims the controversy which came about with Marsee’s recent ruling and running over (and perhaps down) the College of the Redwoods was considered before they hired him. Good Luck, folks! And, thank you for taking him off our hands! We’ll be watching over the next year or so as Delta discovers just what they’ve gotten themselves into.
Did the search committee ask any of those who were held in sway by the controlling, tormenting, contentious man who is now –thankfully- a person in CR’s past? One thing is evident; he had the ability to draw all people together, on one side – albeit against him!!
He leaves the campus staff well aware of the need to look into a potential person being considered for hire. There is a newfound awareness not to accept potential President/Superintendents at face value.
Truly one can see from one conversation with Marsee that he is very taken by himself, and his abilities (?), and seems to go to great lengths to uphold his personal opinion of himself, despite the new areas he moves into. He is an actor and a very good salesperson – regarding himself and his personal opinion of same. He seemed to think he could change the climate of Humboldt County. Clearly he suffered from a “little big man” syndrome.
Don’t get me wrong — he is an educator, for sure! The campus is well aware, well versed, and more enlightened about what to look for in a leader, and perhaps wiser about taking people on their own personal “spiel” rather than looking into his background as a result of Marsee’s stint on the CR campus. Hopefully this cantankerous individual educated the BOT at CR. One word of advice for the upcoming search committee when seeking CR’s new leader: GOOGLE!!
I almost–almost–feel sorry for Delta. They clearly have no idea what they just got themselves into. But they clearly didn’t want to know. They bought Marsee’s fabrications about his role in CR’s accreditation history (note to Delta: in the months before Marsee arrived, the ACCJC had begun holding up CR as a model to other colleges for the progress we’d made; in just two years after arriving, we had new sanctions we’d never had before that focused specifically on Marsee’s inability to work with others in anything but an autocratic manner). But all this was in the accjc reports, and Delta chose instead to believe Marsee’s ridiculous claim that he “saved” CR. The facts just don’t support that. The facts also don’t support his claim that he turned enrollment around and eliminated a deficit. Before he arrived, enrollment was growing and the budget was balanced. And again, those facts are out there, and Delta apparently chose to ignore them and to embrace Marsee’s version where he is the messiah (get used to that style, by the way: when things are good, he takes credit even when its not due; when things are bad, he blames others). Anyway, what a blunder Delta made. But I am so, so, so, so glad they made it. Thank you, Delta, You excised our cancer.
Can someone please point to a vote ever having been taken by the board that publicly and unanimously supported Jeff Marsee? I don’t recall one.
Can someone please point to a vote ever having been taken by the board that publicly and unanimously supported Jeff Marsee? I don’t recall one.