Faculty PAC finds leader in Dana Saar
Joseph Starkloff
Dana Saar has picked up more support for his Nov. 2 challenge to Jerry Walker’s District 2 governing board seat.Maricopa Community College’s Faculty Political Action Committee (PAC) has created a Web site focused on Jerry Walker’s contentious actions during his tenure as a board member. It can be found at http://mccdfacpac.org/home.html.
Walker stated he has little concern about the PAC.
“They can say anything they want to. If I win, I win. If I don’t, I don’t,” Walker said.
He suggested that the PAC is backing Dana Saar because they both are in favor of raising taxes and tuition.
“I think Dana Saar has a reputation for raising taxes in the Fountain Hill’s school board. They (the PAC) want somebody who will raise taxes and do whatever they tell them to do. I’m not that person,” Walker said.
Sandy Zetlan, president of the PAC and a teacher at Estrella Mountain Community College, would not give a definitive answer on if the PAC did support a tax or tuition hike, but did state that, “the job of the PAC is to support candidates that will support the mission of the district.”
She stated that Walker’s actions have not demonstrated an understanding of the district’s mission for an adequate and diverse education.
“He abuses the public’s trust by undermining the process of higher education that he was elected to defend,” Zetlan said.
She used the adverse media attention Walker has received as proof of his incompetence.
“If Mr. Walker was the upstanding citizen and the defender of tax payers he claims to be, he wouldn’t be being investigated on so many different occasions. This is not one or two people with a grudge against him. These are different people, from different walks of life, who have all been attacked by Mr. Walker,” Zetlan said.
Walker has iterated several times that he has done nothing wrong.
He stated that the $37,000 the district spent on investigating the remarks made by him could have been easily circumvented by just questioning him and the individuals involved.
Walker also maintained that several of the media reports about him have been misleading and untrue.
Zetlan summarized Walkers constant denial of the incidents as an issue.
“To him it’s not his fault. It’s never his fault. It’s like a drunk driver who runs over a pedestrian and blames them for being in his way,” she said.
Walker labeled the information on the PAC’s Web site as a scare tactic and inaccurate.
Zetlan defended what has been posted.
“All the information on the site is public record. The record stands on the Web site without the faculty PAC needing to comment on it,” she said.
