CC Regents take new vote on president

The Clarendon College Board of Regents this week rescinded a November 21 vote to end the contract of Dr. Robert Riza as president and voted to put him on administrative leave instead.

During a called meeting Monday, December 9, the board without discussion approved a motion reversing their action on November 21, which would have ended the president’s contract by December 31. That was followed by a new motion from Regent Carey Wann to place Riza on administrative leave effective immediately “due to some things that have been brought to light recently.” That motion was also approved with no discussion.

Last week, the regents met in another called session and met behind closed doors for more than an hour with the college’s attorney for an agenda item labeled as “Report from attorney concerning personnel.” Earlier in the week, Board Chairman Tommy Waldrop had told the Enterprise the board would receive a report from the attorney concerning Riza’s contract. In which case, that agenda item should have been more specific, according to court rulings under the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Don R. Richards, a Lubbock attorney serving as an Advisory Director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, told the Enterprise the wording of last Thursday’s agenda item should have specified that regents were going to talk about the president.

“The simple use of ‘personnel’ in the [November 27] agenda clearly appears to me to violate the ‘Cox Enterprises’ court opinion requiring such specificity with a high-level employee such as college president/superintendent, etc.,” Richards said.

Waldrop said at last week’s meeting that the board was going into closed session to discuss legal liability matters facing the college and did not mention personnel as indicated on the agenda.

In other board action last week, regents approved giving full time employees a $500 stipend.

“We’re in a state of flux and turmoil, and if they don’t get their annual stipend, they may worry,” Waldrop said.

On Monday, the regents also revisited the position of interim president. At a called meeting on November 27, the regents had named Vice President Tex Buckhaults as the “part time interim president.” This week the regents named Buckhaults as the “full time interim president” with compensation of $17,000 and rights to a vehicle leased by the college.

The board also approved updated bank resolutions Monday in a 6-0-2 vote with Jerry Woodard and Ruth Robinson abstaining.