Brian Massie, Citizen Journalist
We have written many articles about Lakeland Community College. To see and read prior articles, just type “Lakeland Community College” in the search box at the top right-hand side of the home page.
The controversy between the Lakeland Community College Board of Trustees and
Dr. Morris Beverage, College President, is heating up because Dr. Beverage’s current contract expires on December 31, 2022.
https://www.lakelandcc.edu/web/about/board-of-trustees-departments
https://www.lakelandcc.edu/web/about/presidents-biography
What is complicating the issue is the fact that two Trustees need to be appointed by Governor DeWine. Mr. Duane Frager’s term has expired, and there is a vacant spot formerly held by Mr. Mark Tyler, who replaced Commissioner Ron Young when he retired. Tyler is keeping the County Commissioner’s seat warm for newly elected John Plecnik, who wanted the 4 year Commissioner’s seat.
If you can follow the bouncing ball, Plecnik is currently a Commissioner and replaced Jason Wuliger, who retired before attending his first Commissioners’ meeting. Plecnik’s current seat was won by Mr. Rich Regovich, Mayor of Willowick. It is only a 2 year seat because that is the term remaining on the Wuliger seat.
Ms. Beverly Vitaz is currently a LCC Trustee, and is expected to be reappointed by Governor Mike DeWine.
Jerry Cirino, State Senator from Kirtland, enters the fray with two names that he will present to Governor DeWine for consideration to replace the vacancies. We have been told that Senator Cirino has selected two “yes” votes for Dr. Morris Beverage.
We were sent the following document from concerned citizens. The document is a summary of the Trustees’ discussion about renewing Dr. Beverage’s contract for 2023.
Note that the last line of page 2 states: “Understand everything discussed at this meeting along with the proposed new contract is confidential and should not be communicated to anyone except the board.”
However, Dr. Beverage deals with that issue in his following response to Ms. Vitaz.
Dr. Morris Beverage’s Comments:
“Given that this proposal is now a public record, it is not clear to me that it can be treated as confidential.”
“I would also point out, while not at all meant to be confrontational in any way, that even though the request for confidentiality was made, at this point I have not agreed to such.”
“By the way, Heinen’s sirloin hot dogs are amazing.” [LFC Comment: Hmmm, can anyone afford sirloin hot dogs anymore?]
Now here is where the public can get involved if you are for or against renewing Mr. Beverage’s contract effective January 1, 2023. The Governor can still appoint someone who has not applied for a position. (such as, John Eklund’s appointment to the 11th District Court of Appeals).
You can contact State Senator Jerry Cirino, and state your opinion on the two open positions for Lakeland Community College Board of Trustees.
https://ohiosenate.gov/senators/cirino/contact
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Congratulations to Roger and Alyson Sustar for receiving their reward today from the Lake County Commissioners for AWT role in providing needed technical training in Lake County.
It is unfortunate that Lakeland Community College lost sight of its original mission of providing a low cost education that fills the needs of businesses in Lake County. The private sector had to step up to fill the void in training for the skills needed by manufacturers.
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Categories: Lakeland Community College, Uncategorized