Kyle Iverson Voted Against Increased Transparency at NVC

During this election, there has been much talk in relation to the Napa Valley College Board about the importance of Board members being able to “build consensus.” Personally, I feel that there is nothing wrong with Board members respectfully disagreeing with each other and voting in the minority. Board members must vote their conscience on issues of importance, taking a stand when necessary. The real question, for me, is this: When a board member votes in the minority, what message are they sending about what they value or don’t value? When one reviews NVC Trustee Kyle Iverson’s voting record and the times he has voted in the minority, I can only assume that he does not value transparency.

In October 2016, Iverson voted against the revision to the minutes policy that instituted the videotaping of monthly Board meetings. In July 2018, he voted against another revision to the minutes policy that implemented the taking and posting of minutes at the Board’s standing committee meetings.

On a similar note, the NVC Board’s Real Property committee that was created in January 2017 was made a temporary committee not subject to open meetings law (the Brown Act) over the request of trustees Martenson and Baker who wanted to make it a standing committee that would be open to the public. It remained “temporary” until April 2018, meeting behind closed doors for a year and four months.

The Real Property committee has been discussing important land use issues, such as campus housing and the Wine Train moving its operations onto the main campus; still, Iverson expressed no concern about its lack transparency when it was raised at its inception and several other times by trustees Martenson and Baker, and he did not support efforts to open it up to the community. In fact, it took intervention on the part of the District Attorney’s office to open it up to the public.

NVC Trustee candidate, Xulio Soriano, on the other hand, has made transparency part of his platform and spoke about it in both the League of Women Voters forum and the forum hosted by NVC student government. He stated that while he is glad the Real Property committee is now open to the public, he has advocated for even more transparency through videotaping of its meetings in the same way the regular monthly Board meetings are videotaped. In addition, Xulio has proposed greater transparency by bringing Board meetings to the people by trustees hosting them in their respective trustee areas to help bridge the gap between the college and the community.

Please see Xulio’s website for his full platform at xuliosoriano.com, and vote for him on or before November 6th. He is a “breath of fresh air” that the Napa Valley College Board sorely needs!

Shirley Knight

Napa