Catanzaro's priorities problem

photo Jim Catanzaro

Even if Jim Catanzaro's supporters don't think two no-confidence faculty votes and his controversial hiring of a senior executive assistant to extend Chattanooga State Community College's partnership with a college in Barbados (where he loves to vacation) are enough to get him sacked, then perhaps his own sloppiness with a calendar will seal the deal.

After all, what does it say for his management skills that Chatt State on Aug. 8 partnered with the University of West Indies (in Barbados) for a student and faculty exchange program, then on Aug. 21 handled paperwork to get a visa for a woman he met on vacation there -- Lisa Haynes -- to manage that program, even before she and two other finalists interviewed for the position on Aug. 23?

Then you might note that with miraculous speed, Catanzaro sent Haynes a formal letter six days later offering her the job for $90,000. (She later was promoted to chief innovations officer and raised to $108,000.)

But, seriously, forget his sloppiness with covering his tracks on a calendar (and his own tailoring of a narrowly written job description for Haynes' position requiring a person with knowledge of the educational systems of the Caribbean and British Commonwealth nations).

Forget the fact that Haynes didn't even have a college degree or a complete and validated transcript when she was hired.

And forget, too, the faculty accusation that her appointment represents a "pattern" of abusive or questionable hiring practices.

Now, let's forgive the fact that he has cost the college -- and its students, as well as taxpayers -- thousands of dollars on his travels (and on all but one of his seven out-of-state trips in fiscal 2014 he was accompanied by Haynes on college tab as well).

But here's what's not to forgive or forget -- though clearly Catanzaro forgot it: Since when should Chattanooga State put a priority on the West Indies? Since when should our community college put a premium partnership in place in Barbados -- a country smaller in size and population than Hamilton County -- just because a man in his 70s who's long overstayed his fiefdom at an overlooked city asset like Chatt State likes to vacation there?

Finally, after 25 years at a community college that he has helped grow but where he also has pitched countless ideas that went nowhere -- such as the cathedral chapel in the bog -- state officials are looking into his hiring practices. They're also examining the college's morale and culture. They're asking about Catanzaro's ethics, and asking if the administration has ever forced employees to act inappropriately.

Hopefully, too, one or both of the state inquiries from the Tennessee Board of Regents and the Tennessee Comptroller's Office also will examine his travel -- especially to that favorite vacation spot. A TBR committee was reviewing at least one aspect of the college's fiascoes on Tuesday, but the meeting was closed to the press.

Catanzaro, who earns about $190,000 annually and receives a college car, a housing allowance and a cellphone allowance, racked up $23,376 in travel expenses in the 2013-14 fiscal year -- more than double what other presidents of the state's biggest community colleges spent. He also charged the biggest tab on business meals at $10,000, all on the college's dime.

If one or both of the state agencies that have launched investigations into Catanzaro's hiring practices and ethics can't forced him to resign, then let's have a groundswell of public pressure to build him a spa/vacation getaway in East Chattanooga -- perhaps the emptied Tennessee Temple campus?

There he could work on a truly needed priority -- a high school trades and vocation school for the youths who can't or won't negotiate Hamilton County's only high school graduation track -- one for college-bound students.

Chattanooga -- not Barbados -- needs to be Chatt State's mission.

And if Catanzaro can't or won't envision that, then we need someone who can.

Upcoming Events