LBCC Leader Fired

Judy Seal

Words cannot describe my immense disappointment in the board of trustees for dragging down Long Beach City College, a community college that many people in Long Beach spent decades improving. I reserve the right to leave Trustee [Virginia] Baxter out of this entire thing because I know her heart. She is the only trustee who has given everything she has to LBCC.

Recently I described what a good Board of Education is and isn’t. What I sounded my alarm about is bringing egos and drama that overshadows students, faculty and employees. That is exactly what this LBCC board of trustees has managed to do.

How dare you do this to LBCC and to Long Beach. How dare you hurt Mayor O’Neill while she lives and breathes. I am not just disappointed; I’m not so happy. You have failed in your duties as elected officials to keep yourselves out of the way, protect students and faculty, and demonstrate the ability to lead as a cohesive team. Many have proven themselves unworthy of these offices by letting this situation get to the point of an embarrassing media headline of this and many other articles.

You have had virtually nothing to do with the LBCC renaissance, but you manage to strut around like you can do anything to LBCC and we will just stand here sucker-punched, flat-footed in silence. Silent no more. Hurting LBCC like this – scandalous behavior. Everyone is talking about you. Everyone is sad and embarrassed. Yes, they are. We stand on the side of students and faculty, not you. You have humiliated your supporters and this city.

A couple of the trustees have been impolite to me in recent months – almost like you knew what I was thinking – and I have managed to not say anything in public. At home, yes. Oh yes.

You have humiliated Long Beach with these headlines and your incompetence to lead effectively. When has there ever been such embarrassing headlines about our education institutions? Never. But some of you with your high and mighty attitudes/egos may push back any way they want to. Please. Do. Leaders cannot publicly ruin another leader and then be quoted as saying you want to stay out of it. What? Really? On the playground that is called chicken. You are all the way in it. The spotlight is on you. All eyes are on you. And we are disappointed in what we see.

How dare you take our focus away from deserving students and demonstrate self-serving leadership. You failed. Do not do anything to LBUSD or CSULB that brings our community down again. It is no longer your time to shine. Either step it up considerably or step it out all the way. We need good leadership, modern leadership, younger leadership. No one “deserves” to be an elected official. A leader serves its constituents. You are a servant so stop acting like you aren’t.

These headlines – “firing” an education leader that you all hired – makes you look exactly like who you are. Unfit for your positions. I’m taking it personally because three generations of my family have given their entire adult lives to improving LBCC for LBUSD students. You have hurt Mayor O’Neill; my parents and grandfather are twirling in their graves. For hurting them with your behavior, I am angry.

 

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