College of Eastern Idaho needs your help with an upcoming trustee election on the November ballot. CEI has had outstanding success given it only received its funding from a bond election in 2017 to transform EITC into a full-fledged community college serving Bonneville and surrounding counties. Although the bond passed with strong bipartisan support (71.4% approval), including Gov. Otter, the ultra-right wing Bonneville County Republican Central Committee opposed the bond with their standard arguments like a tax increase of $13/year is going to do serious economic damage.

As soon as the funding was in place, the board of trustees, together with business and community leaders, went to work setting academic priorities, hiring more instructors, repurposing some infrastructure and offering new programs of study. Nursing had an immediate need for more trained staff, businesses needed more information technology staff and INL had a continuing need for people with STEM education. Programs that allowed high school students to graduate and enter college early helped employers and students alike. CEI has partnered with Brigham Young University-Idaho in the Rexburg Outreach Center, which features classes and credits that transfer to BYU-Idaho and other regional colleges.

CEI also has advanced technology opportunities, such as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education, recognized by the National Security Agency.

So, why does CEI need help in the upcoming election? The BCRCC is following the GOP anti-education strategy of northern Idaho, where the extreme right-wing Kootenai County Republican Central Committee got three of its candidates onto the northern Idaho college trustee board. They fired the college president without cause and then hired the school wrestling coach as the interim president. They disrupted the college so badly it was forced to undergo an accreditation review. Indeed, the State Board of Education had to step in and appoint three new trustees. The KCRCC Chair Brent Regan is also chair of the Idaho Freedom Foundation. He is closely aligned with locals Doyle Beck and Bryan Smith, both of whom serve on the Freedom Foundation board. Let’s not give the right-wing extremists a foothold at CEI.

Last spring, one of CEI’s trustees, Stephanie Mickelsen, had to resign her seat due to a win in the primary election. The trustees solicited applications for the vacant seat, then received several and selected Amy Gardels, who has a background in health care. She has been an excellent addition to the trustees and has their full support.

Gardels is opposed by Barbara Miller, the BCRCC candidate. Miller has authored several commentary articles in the Post Register with the BCRCC stamp of approval graphic. Her articles are hard to read because there is no evidence of cohesive thought. Miller’s rambling complaint at the Aug. 11 Idaho Falls City Council meeting is a disturbing example of her cognitive deficiencies and her tendency to micromanage issues she knows nothing about. One example, “Nationwide searches for city employees in key positions.”

She was disturbed about a school board originally selecting a candidate outside of Idaho. Maybe the applicant’s resume fit the job description best. Here’s a new possibility: How could anyone that was not born, bred and indoctrinated in Idaho possibly make a valuable addition to our educational workforce?

Amy Gardels has been an integral part of leading this success for the last six months and hopes to continue. She is a team player. The GOP candidate, Barbara Miller, did not even apply for the interim position and is not remotely qualified. I have served as a large foundation trustee, and it is serious business — not political. Please Google the definition of a trustee and vote accordingly.