Editorial
The progressive, Biden-voting founder of SaveNIC identifies herself as a “Lifelong North Idaho Republican” on social media. Christa Hazel has proudly promoted Democratic candidates and ideals for many years, using her personal social media accounts as well as those under the SaveNIC banner. Additionally, she uses the opinion pages of the Coeur d’Alene Press to regularly lambast conservative-leaning North Idaho College trustees with whom she disagrees politically. This is standard operating procedure for Democratic voters in North Idaho, register as a Republican, call yourself conservative, and trash platform Republicans with glee.
So why would Republican voters buy anything Hazel and her SaveNIC crowd is selling? Do voters like being lied to?
Under Hazel’s direction, SaveNIC has been driving the narrative that conservative-leaning NIC trustees are the sole reason why the Northwest Commission Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) has placed the college under a Show Cause status. This narrative is simply not true. Board governance is certainly the focus of the NWCCU concerns; however, it applies to the full board and its relationship with the college president. This includes the actions taken by both the appointed trustees and the elected trustees who have been graced with SaveNIC’s stamp of approval.
Do voters recall how trustees Tarie Zimmerman and Brad Corkill refused to enter into executive session to address an employee’s grievance, leaving the college exposed to a hefty lawsuit for deprivation of rights? How about how former NIC trustees Christie Wood and Ken Howard abandoned the college, leaving the board without a quorum after Wood’s non-profit started the entire accreditation saga by filing a bogus human right’s complaint with NWCCU? Perhaps voters remember that under Wood’s 17-year tenure, the college’s policies were not reviewed, nor did the previous board establish a review policy. NWCCU noted this poor governance as a key concern, and the current board should be commended for completing the work to update the policies which resolved the issue.
Do voters remember the unilateral actions taken in 2022 by the three trustees appointed by the Idaho State Board of Education that placed the college in an unfavorable contract and enriched the former mayor of Coeur d’Alene with a questionable real estate transaction? Perhaps voters recall how President Swayne’s secretary failed to record critical information, including legally mandated items, in official board of trustee meeting minutes? Or maybe President’s Swayne’s blatant refusal to uphold NIC policy during board meetings is part of the board governance concerns raised by NWCCU?
Could it be that SaveNIC has perpetuated a false narrative of the accreditation review process at NIC for political gain at the expense of the well-being of the college itself and the community at large? Let’s not forget how Marc Lyons, the former NIC counsel who “served” the college for over 20 years, abruptly resigned without notice immediately after the November 2022 election. According to sources inside NIC, Lyons proceeded to obstruct all efforts by the college to obtain its legal records which caused unnecessary harm to the institution.
So when you see campaign flyers or ads paid for by SaveNIC, Inc. or Save NIC Now, the new unincorporated entity with a $22,500 slush fund promoting certain NIC trustee candidates, just know that those marketing materials are backed by Biden-voting progressives like Christa Hazel who blame everyone except themselves for NIC’s ongoing accreditation review.
It certainly doesn’t help matters that two NIC trustee candidates backed by SaveNIC and Save NIC Now are either intentionally misconstruing the accreditation process or they are wholly ignorant of how accreditation works. At the recent NIC forum hosted by the Joint Chamber Public Policy Committee, both Eve Knudtsen and Mary Havercroft said they want to “return NIC to full accreditation.” Well, ladies, we have good news – NIC is already accredited. Implying the college is only partial accreditation is dishonest, there’s no such designation. Furthermore, it is the position of this publication that NWCCU accreditation will not be withdrawn, and it would benefit both the college and the community for SaveNIC to stop its political gamesmanship.
Afterall, the easiest way to end the drama at NIC is to stop using NWCCU accreditation as a political weapon – the students deserve better.
