Acting director of campus police and safety service Steven Matchan inside his office in the B building on Wednesday, December 3, 2014. Matchan been recently appointed the title until the school finds a permanent police chief. (Daniel Nerio/Courier)
The Board of Trustees has begun an official process for finding an interim chief of police after it fired Don Yoder at its Nov. 17 meeting.
There is no timeline for getting a permanent person for the job, according to Superintendent Robert Miller.
“In speaking for the administration,” Miller said, “there is not a timeline for filling the permanent position. A process had begun to fill the position with an interim director of campus police and safety services (police chief).”
Miller said that in the meantime, Steven Matchan would remain as the acting director of campus police and safety services.
Even though the position that has seen four chiefs in four years, Miller said that the administration did not foresee any difficulties in attracting potential candidates for the position.
Details as to why Yoder was fired have yet to be released and Yoder did not return calls requesting comment on this story. The board said only that he was terminated “with cause.”
“The reasons for the decision are confidential,” Board President Anthony Fellow had said. “The District respects the right of privacy of its employees and former employees and will not comment further on this matter.”
The Board’s vote was 4-2, with Trustees Linda Wah and John Martin voting against firing Yoder. Both Trustees declined to comment, citing Board policy. Wah said that the Board had been “asked to respect Yoder’s privacy.”
Yoder is the fourth police chief that PCC has had since 2011. He replaced Stanton Perez as chief of police in January 2013 after Perez resigned due to issues about the eligibility of his pension from his former job with the California Highway Patrol.
Before that, Frank Scialdone served as interim chief while the school searched for a new chief after Peter Michaels mysteriously went on leave and then retired.
Miller said that the administration would bring forth a recommendation regarding the chief’s position in relation to the campus police and safety services’ needs.
“The Board will then review this information as they consider qualifications for the position,” he said.
Associated Students President Jordyn Orozco said that the Board had to look more closely at candidates for certain positions moving forward.
“I think the school is so used to rushing someone into the position,” Orozco said. “We have some really good people who can hold the fort down, while we prolong the hiring and screening process.”
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I am a very close personal friend of Mr. Matchan. He desperately wants to be the next PCC chief of police and I support him. He has established both personal and professional goals; which I admire. According to Matchan, he intends to lose 100 pounds right after completing his high school education. Once he is elected, I suggest he be assigned to a long narrow office space; as his nose frequently elongates when he speaks.
Hey, BOT: why not pick someone seemingly at random, ignoring all outside information and opinions? That’s worked out well for the past two college presidents, hasn’t it?