Sierra trustees to decide Simmons' fate

Sierra College trustees meet today to discuss whether Jerry Simmons should be replaced as board president.
By: Loryll Nicolaisen, Auburn Journal Staff Writer
Monday, June 12, 2006 11:22 PM PDT

Removal of Simmons as board president and the election of his potential replacement are subjects up for discussion and action at today's Sierra Joint Community College District board of trustees meeting, which convenes in open session at 4:45 p.m. at the Rocklin campus.

Trustee David Creek asked at a May 9 board meeting that an item be added to the next meeting's agenda that would open the discussion leading to the Simmons' possible removal as board president. If voted down from the presidency, Simmons would retain his trustee seat on the board.

"Abuse of power, intimidation, attempt to stifle free speech - those things are sort of the shell of the matter," Creek told the Journal in May. "If I was trying to get what the idea of this is into a few words, that's it."

A vote to remove a board member must be approved by five "yes" votes. There are seven trustees and Simmons, along with trustees Aaron Klein, Nancy Palmer and Scott Leslie, have voted as a four-trustee block on past board decisions.

Simmons, who could not be reached for comment Monday, told the Journal in May that criticism from Creek and Sierra staff was politically motivated by the June 6 primary election.

Former Auburn mayor Cheryl Maki is one in a group of 10 people who recently signed a notice of intention to recall both Simmons and trustee Aaron Klein. Maki said Monday that results from the June 6 primary election are proof of Placer County's distaste for Simmons. Garnering less than 14 percent of the vote in the race for Republican Central Committee, Simmons also failed to take the Placer County supervisor seat from incumbent Robert Weygandt.

"I think the election results spoke loud and clear that people don't want Jerry Simmons in any position of power," Maki said. "I think it was a pretty loud, strong voice of the county saying, 'Jerry, goodbye.'"

Trustee Scott Leslie said Monday afternoon that the board and the college should direct the focus attention away from Simmons.

"Now is the time to be focused on the important business of Sierra College for the students and the community," he said. "It's not the time to be making personal attacks. That distracts us from the business at hand."

Trustee Creek told the Journal in May that the breaking point came when he and other trustees received a letter from Dr. Morgan Lynn, Sierra College interim president, stating allegations of Simmons' attempts to silence Sierra staff members who have openly criticized the board.

Lynn's e-mail accused Simmons of attempting to "micromanage" staff, and caused a flurry of further e-mails throughout the campus community.

Lynn mentioned in her memo to trustees that Johnnie Terry, academic senate president, told her he'd been advised by Simmons through a third party to "back off." Lynn also noted in her letter that Simmons asked her to discipline Anthony Maki Gill, Sierra classified senate president, for distributing a campaign flier via campus e-mail.

Lynn also mentioned in her memo to trustees that Simmons asked that Kent Pollock, a part-time faculty member and adviser to The Outlook student newspaper, be disciplined after an editorial Pollock wrote was published in the Auburn Journal.

Elizabeth Hubbs, 20, is a Sierra College student and former Outlook editor who spoke against Simmons and his comments during the May 9 trustees meeting.

"I think he should just be banned from the board of trustees altogether," Hubbs said Monday, "but taking his presidency away is a good first step."

Trustee Nancy Palmer disagrees. She thinks Simmons' background as an attorney makes him the trustee most qualified to act as board president.

"Since he's been president we've had a lot of different problems clear up," she said Monday. "...It seems like, when you're a trustee, no matter what you do, you can never make everyone happy."

Palmer said this isn't the first time Creek has tried to have a trustee step down from presidency.

"Trustees shouldn't let politics enter into it," she said. "We're here for one reason - we're here to do the college business."

Although Palmer doesn't know how today's meeting will turn out, "It will be an interesting meeting," she said.

The Journal's Loryll Nicolaisen can be reached at lorylln@goldcountrymedia.com.