Our company had our annual “Dodger Night” last Friday. I’m sorry I missed it because something uniquely special happened in baseball during that game vs. the Rays.
Ninth inning, game tied, Dodgers up, bases loaded, and their latest superstar, Shohei Ohtani, comes to the plate. First pitch, Ohtani whacks the ball deep into center for a walk-off grand-slam homer, cinching the game, and vaulting Ohtani into the elite club of players in the 40/40 club: 40 home runs and 40 steals in a single year … and for Shohei Ohtani, there’s still plenty of time to further top this outstanding achievement.
In short, Shohei Ohtani is delivering for the Dodgers and their fans, thrilling everyone as he uniquely plays and defines baseball.
In sports as in business, “It’s the people that make us great.” The Dodgers have spent fortunes building their current bench: Pitcher Shohei Ohtani, catcher Will Smith, outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, shortstop Mookie Betts, first baseman Freddie Freeman, right-hander Tyler Glasnow … and these are just the players who were selected for the All-Star game. There’s more …
Dodger fans understand the time, investment and commitment management has made to building one of baseball’s foremost teams. As it goes with the Dodgers, so too with most all successful sports teams, successful businesses … and even successful colleges.
It’s the people who make all these organizations great.
There would be no Apple Computer without a Steve Jobs. But as important, Apple never would have succeeded without the tremendous stable of talent Jobs carefully curated to lead the company’s world-changing innovations.
There’s no Tesla, no SpaceX, without an Elon Musk. But as important, neither Tesla nor SpaceX would exist without Musk’s insane focus on attracting top managerial and technical talent. No carefully curated talent, no innovation, success, or Tesla or SpaceX.
Much has been written about College of the Canyons’ hyper-innovative Chancellor, Dr. Dianne Van Hook. We know she began her career here 36 years ago when COC was just four lonely tilt-ups on a dirt lot, disparagingly referred to as College of the Crayons.
With innovating planning empowered by strategic hiring and leadership development, Van Hook engineered COC to become the “Apple” of community colleges: Groundbreaking, “different,” and extremely successful by all measures. Van Hook’s incredibly gifted and committed team built COC into the gem it is today.
But we now know the COC board of trustees staged a “cause yet unknown” coup d’état, unceremoniously and recklessly pushing Van Hook out the door. Apple Computer fired Steve Jobs once, and subsequently rudderless, short years later Apple very narrowly escaped bankruptcy and irrelevancy. And then Apple rehired their prodigy Jobs, and well, we all know what happened with Steve’s return …
Van Hook was also unwisely pushed out, the chips are already falling, and the college already suffers as this ill-considered board of trustees manipulates other key players out the door and off the team roster. Not unlike what would happen should the Dodgers fire Mookie, Ohtani, Hernandez, and the rest … COC is quickly suffering the loss of their talent bench. In addition to Van Hook, now gone or going:
• Dr. Diane Fiero, deputy chancellor and chief DEIA officer.
• Ms. Sharlene Coleal, vice president/assistant superintendent of business services.
• Dr. Ryan Theule, vice president/assistant superintendent of Canyon Country campus and institutional research, planning and grants.
• Dr. Patty Robinson, the award-winning director of civic engagement initiatives, now retiring in December.
• Mr. Gary Peterson, most winning coach in the California Community College system for men’s and women’s golf, retiring in December.
And this is the tip of the fast-melting COC leadership talent iceberg. Others at all levels are heading for the doors and COC management is left with temporary place-holders swimming way over their heads. This avoidable loss of “tribal knowledge,” experience, and connections lost as top talent leaves the college is immeasurable. How does an institution replace the connections, know-how, and influence of highly capable leaders so willy-nilly cast aside? Damage is being felt immediately.
Already, the contract to build the Advanced Technology Center has been unexpectedly cancelled. And, while the COC board says they yet intend to build the center, the terminated contractor knows of no plans to restart the contract. The COC board will almost certainly pay millions more of your money and mine to build the ATC as they rebid the project with new contractors and today’s higher construction costs.
These unforced errors of the existing regressive-agenda COC board is already reverting nationally acclaimed College of the Canyons back to “teaching grades 13-14.”
The COC board must be defeated in our upcoming election. Trustees Edel Alonso and Jerry Danielsen must go. They, and all open seats must be replaced with sound, forward-thinking leadership focused on restoring and rebuilding the damage this board has wrought.
The college’s upward trajectory has been assailed. That said, democracy works, and concerned community members have rallied around a slate of new candidates who will restore sanity to our beloved COC institution.
And these committed community candidates deserve more than a short mention. More to come …
Gary Horton’s “Full Speed to Port!” has appeared in The Signal since 2006. The opinions expressed in his column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Signal or its editorial board.
