Only hours after President-elect Michels had sent out his December 8 valentine (see previous post to this blog) to Sue Shattuck, the once-and-future CCC United Faculty VP Fritz Pointer made HIS statement:
“I too must sincerely thank Sue Shattuck, Irene Menegas, Mike Anker, Kathleen Costa, Steve Padover, Emauel Akanyirige, Flectcher Oaks, the Negotiating team, for protecting our contract, relentlessly fighting for faculty.”
It was a striking contrast from his words two weeks before, when he told us, “Mike Anker, Sue Shattuck and Irene Menegus [sic] have also done their fare [sic] share of alienating faculty, district managers and are determined, it seems, to alienate the new chancellor, as well. Have we forgotten so soon that Barry Goldstein and Dave Zimney [sic] (LMC) as well as Lie [sic] Brelie (CCC) terminated their representation on the Executive Board precisely because of the treatment and attitudes of Mike, Sue, Irene, Steve Padover and Judy Myers?”
How are we to think that VP Pointer, so negative toward his fellow board members, will now be able to work with Mike, Steve and Judy?
And should we believe that Pointer can provide the leadership a VP is asked to, when he is so dismissive of the membership from one of the three colleges represented by the United Faculty? He wrote, after all, that Mike Anker’s expression of racial tokenism came from his having “succumb[ed] to the DVC model of tokenism and conspicuous non-white “window dressing” that characterizes that institution’s faculty hiring practices as well; anything but a genuine commitment to diversity.”
Fritz couldn’t slam his CCC colleague Mike Anker; he had to reinvent Mike as a DVC tool! Fritz had attacked the very notion of a DVC faculty member serving as UF president when he wrote, on November 16, that electing one would “perpetuate the mythic illusion that only DVC faculty have the necessary, requisite qualities to lead our union.” Actually, the only person perpetuating such an idea was Fritz Pointer.
The next day he apologized for this personal attack on this writer, but, unable to take personal responsibility for his behavior, blamed it on the milieu of the UF Executive Board, writing, “Evironment [sic] can be very strong determinant of attitude and behavior; one reason I have terminated my tenure on the the E-Board and N-team. In the twenty plus years I've een [sic] here, I have never felt or thought of the district or district managers in the ways that I was privy to in the past few months. In fact, I have had a wonderful career with CCCCD. I have enjoyed my colleagues and relationship with managers. And, I am not going to end this great experience with bitterness and disdain for those responsible. I was not hired by the U.F.”
Actually, Fritz has been working for the U.F. ever since he accepted the .5 reassignment he gets as a VP. As far as his never having “felt or thought of the district or district managers” in such negative ways, and having “enjoyed [his] colleagues,” it sure didn’t sound that way when he apologized for CCC faculty’s apathy in the spring of 2005, when he wrote,
“If the 15 out of 109 faculty who showed up for yesterday's UF meeting is any indication, CCC faculty are not interested in CCC faculty. Come out for what? Certainly, not at our college. In fact, I think sometimes that each CCC faculty member has his or her own solution to our crisis and will solve it in his or her own way - along with contemplating their navels. Several faculty have told me ‘We should take the cut because we got a raise four years ago.’ Another argument I've heard is: ‘When the UF accepted the raise, four years ago, they knew there was a possibility that “down the road” we may run short of money, and failed to warn the faculty about this." Therefore, the UF is to blame and we should accept a cut. Then there are the really bright ones who say, ‘Let's wait and see what the District does.’
“I appreciate the hard, dedicated work of Sue Shattuck, Irene Menegas and Mike Anker and they deserve better support and certainly less apathy and indifference than they seem to be getting. If CCC faculty maintains its present posture of illogic they deserve whatever cuts they get and then some. Again, an African Proverb is relevant here: ‘Those who are being carried cannot know the distance.’ CCC complacency, in particular, is one reason the District believes it can steamroll its policies over us. I'm getting tired of these rediculous attitudes and arguments already and I've only been a rep for a couple of months. It's amazing that Sue and Irene and Mike have stayed with it so long. Like the rest of the whiners ‘I just want to teach my classes.’ Boo, hoo hoo. ‘Why can't this just go away.’ Boo hoo hoo. Again, Sue and Irene my apologies for the indifference and suspeciousness of CCC faculty. No, I will not give up.”
Why, given the inconsistencies, and the negativity, particularly toward the faculty of the college where the majority of OUR UF members work, did Jeffrey Michels appoint Fritz Pointer to the CCC vice-presidency? Here's what Jeffrey told us at the time of the appointment:
"I am sticking with my friend Fritz Pointer.
Fritz may have rubbed some folks the wrong way
recently..."
MAY have? how on earth--by trashing DVC faculty as a group, saying that not one of us could be UF president, by disavowing his relationship with the UF and stating his identification with the district? Dr. Michels must have some idea that SOME folks may have been "rubbed" the wrong way. But he couldn't say so, so he hedged. So--not only is Fritz unwilling to take personal responsibility for his peculiar, offensive behavior--neither is Jeffrey Michels.
"But nobody who knows [Fritz] could doubt his integrity, his commitment to
faculty, his passion or his style."
Integrity? Fritz was bashing the CCC faculty for their apathy and indifference and apologizing to the UF leadership in March 2005; a year later he was bashing the leadership, walking off the negotiating team and the Executive Board, and proclaiming his deep attachment to the district and disavowing his relationship with the union.
Dr. (Professor, Mr.--take your pick) Michels went on about Fritz:
" And he is popular
at CCC; most folks feel that he represents CCC well
as the union VP."
Popularity is a good thing, we know; we've just been screening _Carrie_ in the RP small screening room. If most folks feel that Fritz represents CCC well, we are either learning things we'd rather not know about CCC "folks" or Jeffrey is really out of touch.
Let's take Fritz at his word (take your pick there too)--that he "was not hired by the UF." Until he was, first, and now again. And in terms of that _again_, what does this tell us about Jeffrey Michels? In terms of building solidarity among the three colleges, among the faculty that take the UF seriously, that take each other seriously even when we disagree, the kindest spin we can put on Jeffrey's "sticking" with Fritz Pointer is that he has extremely bad judgment. But as Jeffrey himself wrote last August,
"Sigh. Hope everybody's sememster gets off to a good start."
