I am beholden to you, my constituents, because Colorado Mountain College is your college, so I am going to continue to reach out to you with issues that come before me as your elected trustee. There are a couple of important votes that I will be making this week that impact how your tax dollars are spent at the college.

The board will be deciding if we should extend our president’s contract and give her a raise with a bonus. All of our faculty and staff are receiving an across-the-board raise of 2.5 percent and have been receiving a bonus at the end of the year for the outstanding work that they have been doing fulfilling the dreams of our students and communities.

The president is also going to enjoy the benefits of this same increase and bonus. My belief is that a president should not receive any more than the faculty and staff who keep our college great. Also, I believe that a board should not saddle prospective boards with long-term contracts for personnel that may not align with future visions. Therefore, I will neither be voting for extending our president’s contract nor for additional compensation beyond what the faculty and staff is receiving.

The board is also voting on the budget for this coming year. I am voting against the proposed budget. The budget contains too many items that I cannot agree with, such as raising tuition on some of our most-deserving students and increasing spending for projects that do not directly enhance the education of our students. It is our duty as a board to use the money that our taxpayers have given us with the utmost care, and I am striving to do just that. I am hoping that my colleagues on the board espouse the same fiduciary responsibility.

Mary Ellen Denomy

Battlement Mesa, Colorado Mountain College trustee