An Open Letter to the Elected Members of the Lane Community College Board of Education

Posted on November 4, 2025 by LCCEA

LCC faculty colleagues,

Please find below and attached a memo that I have sent to our LCC Board of Education with accompanying documentation. It is with a heavy heart that I bear witness to current conditions at LCC and call for the Board to take action to restore their own authority and stabilize our institution.  

I encourage you to read the open letter to the Board in full.

It is more important than ever that we continue to advocate for the restoration of democracy to our publicly elected Board of Education and that we stand together for a better future for our students, our community, and our beloved LCC.

The open letter to the LCC Board of Education pertains to:

1. Program suspension and class cuts not approved by the Board of Education and the negative impacts on students and the budget;

2. Closed meetings about budget reductions held in August despite Board members’ concerns about the need to comply with open meeting law;

3. President Bulger’s blocking of multiple Board members’ requests to add a motion to their own agenda affirming their own rights consistent with Board policy and state statute to vote on program and service reductions;

4. With a lifetime of experience in public office, Board Vice Chair Rust’s expression of not feeling respected as an elected official by President Bulger; 

5. What many may characterize as corruption at the highest levels of our institution, including (a) in a message to President Bulger from Board member Alltucker threatening to file a complaint against Board Chair Folnagy simply for fulfilling his basic function as the elected Chair (e.g., trying to add an item to the agenda); (b) Board member Weisman’s disclosure of a confidential attorney message to President Bulger; (c) President Bulger’s coaching of Board members Weisman and Mital on steps to release more confidential legal information to her and to the public; (d) Board member Weisman’s sharing of a draft to that effect with President Bulger based on President Bulger’s coaching; and (e) Board member Weisman and Mital’s written fulfillment of the steps based on President Bulger’s coaching; and

6. Impacts on campus community members, including faculty and managers, of the conditions on campus.I am confident that with our resolve and the overwhelming support of the community, we will help guide our institution back to stability. 
If you have not done so already, please sign our petition to restore democracy at LCC: https://bit.ly/LCCDemocracy In just eight days time, hundreds of community members and organizations have done so, including former State Senator Pete Sorensen, former State Representative Paul Holvey, Lane County Commissioners Heather Buch and Laurie Trieger, and many more.
Please also attend the rally and Board meeting tomorrow (food outside cafeteria at 4:30, rally at 5, Board meeting at 6 in19/102).

In solidarity,

Adrienne

An Open Letter to the Elected Members of the Lane Community College Board of Education 

To: Lane Community College Board of Education 

From: Adrienne Mitchell, LCCEA President 

Date: November 4, 2025 

Attachments: Documentation 

Esteemed LCC Board of Education Members, 

I am writing to share deep concerns for the state of our beloved Lane Community College. 

Our community’s college and the people of Lane County deserve course and program offerings they can rely upon. 

The sudden suspension of the LPN program for the 25-26 year left student applicants without a place to turn in the region to become LPNs, a critical workforce for long-term care facilities and a living wage job for our students and their families. Students had spent significant time and money on prerequisites only to learn at the last minute that the program would not be offered. 37 applicants for 16 slots in a program with a 100% success rate were turned away. There was no Board vote or public meeting prior to this decision, leaving no avenue for students, community members, or the Board itself to provide any input. This did not save money. Instead, it only increased cost per student for the other Nursing programs. At the same time, the Administration did not advertise the BSN program until mid-June, which resulted in only 11 students rather than the 60 students promised to the Board. This is not “strategic.” It’s the mark of hasty decision making. 

In addition, the Administration cut 100 class sections from the offerings for students this year, which amounts to 3.7% of all course offerings. This could result in a loss of net revenue up to $1M based on tuition alone after excluding all salary and OPE costs. While we are still waiting for the Administration to provide a list of all the cuts as they “research” which classes they just cancelled, we have learned from faculty and deans that the cuts do affect students in math and science taking prerequisites for Health Professions, music, dance, literature, social science, and even “Writing for Scholarships.” Students had registered for many of these classes, and registration for Winter and Spring terms is ongoing with several months of open registration to go when students are expected to register. Cuts of this magnitude are not aligned with the Board’s approved budget, nor the information presented to the Board regarding a minimal reduction of the part-time budget on September 3. 

Our community’s college and the people of Lane County deserve transparency and compliance with open meeting law. 

First, recent emails between the LCC President Bulger and Board of Education members reveal that President Bulger called meetings in August to discuss plans for budget reductions. These meetings were not publicly announced, and despite the express concerns from Board members, including both the Chair and Vice Chair, that the meetings would not conform to open meeting law, President Bulger proceeded to hold the meetings anyway. In addition, President Bulger declined requests from the Board Chair to contact the Oregon Governmental Ethics Commission together and dismissed the concerns of highly experienced public officials including Vice Chair Jerry Rust, claiming that the concerns were an “unnecessary distraction.” After the closed meetings, President Bulger informed the Board members by email that she had changed plans for the budget

presentation (i.e., budget reductions) based on the closed meetings with Board members. Furthermore, statements by Board members and Administrators at the September 3, 2025 Board meeting reveal that the Administration had discussed closing the low-income dental clinic with Board members at the closed meetings but reversed course after the meetings, demonstrating that the meetings resulted in changes that were not purely informational. Compliance with open meeting law should be the bare minimum. And program and service reductions deserve the light of day, community input, and public notice. 

Our community’s college and the people of Lane County deserve an LCC Board of Education that is allowed to function as the governing body of LCC, as they were elected to do. 

Second, another set of public records reveal that the LCC President Bulger has blocked Board of Education members from adding items to their own agenda. Several Board members (Rust, Mulholland, Maldonando, and Folnagy) sought to add an agenda item for action to the September 3 Board meeting to confirm the Board’s existing, long-standing authority to make decisions on program and service cuts, reductions, and suspensions in accordance with the Board’s own policy (BP4350) and decades-long, well-documented precedent. Instead of adding the agenda item motion that was requested by three Board members and summarized by a fourth (the Board Chair) President Bulger added only a memo written by a fifth Board member in support of President Bulger’s opinion that she and the Administration should make decisions about cuts without a vote of the Board. These actions are not consistent with Board policy nor operating agreements and raise serious questions about compliance with Oregon Revised Statutes concerning the powers of community college boards of education. 

Our community’s college and the people of Lane County deserve an LCC Board of Education whose members feel they are treated with respect. 

A third set of public records demonstrate a pattern of disrespect toward Board members who may occasionally disagree with LCC President Bulger. For instance, the most experienced in public service of all Board members, the highly esteemed Vice Chair Jerry Rust, who has two decades of experience as a Lane County Commissioner, reports feeling that President Bulger is “not treating me as an elected board member worthy of respect” and shares concerns about being subjected to a “hostile workplace situation” by the president. 

Our community’s college and the people of Lane County deserve legal compliance, transparency, and a healthy environment where Board members do not operate with fear of retaliation for upholding their duties as elected Board members. 

Finally, it is disturbing that a fourth set of records raise concerns that a minority of Board members are interfering with the ability of the Board Chair to add agenda items and threatening complaints against the Board Chair for fulfilling their basic duties as an elected leader (e.g., adding items to agendas and advocating for following open meeting law). In addition, the records raise questions about one Board member’s release of a legal record marked “confidential” to the President and subsequent coaching of Board members by the LCC President on steps to waive attorney-client privilege, followed by shared drafts and submission of waivers based on that coaching.

Concerns about Retaliation 

I’m concerned I will face retaliation for writing this message even though I know that whistleblowers are protected. I have witnessed retaliation by the current LCC Administration against numerous faculty who have been targeted for speaking up or for expressing criticism of the LCC Administration and who have resigned under pressure, yet this is not an issue that only impacts faculty. I have witnessed retaliation against several high-ranking administrators who dared to speak up and, likewise, experienced retaliation by the current LCC Administration and have been compelled to resign or “retire” and sign non-disclosure agreements. And managers at the dean level and above have reported fear of losing their jobs for advocating against the current class cuts the upper administration is conducting for Winter and Spring terms. I have personally faced retaliation directly by the current LCC Administration, having been targeted for layoff (shortly after LCC President Bulger stated to me directly, “I don’t know how long you will be around here.”) 

I write this because I understand that others may not speak up due to their own fear of retaliation, because I have dedicated a lifetime of service to Lane Community College, because I care so deeply about the services we provide to students and the community, and because I do believe the future of LCC is at stake. 

Call to Action 

Democracy at our national level is increasingly fragile, and it is more critical than ever to buttress higher education, which stands as a bulwark against authoritarianism. Not only in our classrooms, labs, shops, library, and halls – it must begin here in the LCC Boardroom. Without functioning democracy on the Board, LCC cannot effectively serve the people or our region. Board members, please take action to reclaim your authority and to stabilize our community’s college. 

Most sincerely and with appreciation for your service in these challenging times, Adrienne

Adrienne Mitchell, M.A., M.Ed.

Faculty Member, Academic Learning Skills Department

President, Lane Community College Education Association

Vice President, Oregon Education Association Community College Council

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Deep crisis affecting the Board at our beloved LCC

Posted on October 27, 2025 by LCCEA

LCC Faculty Colleagues,

I’m writing to share some public information impacting our beloved LCC.

The crisis of democracy at LCC’s Board of Education is more serious than previously known. 

Public record emails show Board members, who are elected by voters to represent the people of Lane County and provide public oversight to our community’s college, have been unable to add action items to their own September 3 agenda after LCC President Bulger blocked their efforts to do so. President Bulger also did not follow the will of the Board to bring forward an item on October 15 based on a vote they did pass at their September 30 meeting when they voted to remove reference to $3M in cuts each year for the next three years with a request for a full review of budget assumptions at their next meeting.

In addition, Vice Chair Jerry Rust — the most experienced in public office of all Board members as a former Lane County Commissioner with two decades of experience and who is most highly regarded across our region — reported feeling “disrespected,” citing a “hostile workplace situation” created by President Bulger. 

These public records reveal a deeply concerning dynamic at the level of the Board of Education whose authority has been effectively sidelined by the LCC Administration. While this information may be alarming, it is important for faculty and our broader community to take heart and take action to join the call to restore democracy at our community’s LCC Board of Education.

Here’s what you can do:

  1. Click here to sign our petition to restore democracy to the Board of Education: https://bit.ly/LCCDemocracy 
  2. Join together at our rally on Wednesday November 5 at 4:30pm! RSVP here: https://bit.ly/Nov5RallyMeeting

More background information:

New public record emails show publicly elected Lane Community College Board of Education members advocating with the LCC President to allow them to return to performing the most basic functions of their roles – including voting on budget cuts and putting together their own agendas for meetings. 

LCC Board of Education Vice Chair Jerry Rust is an elder public official and experienced LCC Board of Education member, with a lifetime of public service, including 20 years as Lane County Commissioner. 

On October 9, Vice Chair Rust wrote to LCC’s President: “As you know, the last time we attempted to meet, I felt totally disrespected and surprised at your insistence that another board member accompany you… I don’t know how to explain it to you except to say it was a very hostile workplace situation and I’m still feeling hurt by your not treating me as an elected board member worthy of respect.”

Boards of Education in Oregon are responsible for creating their own agenda: setting that agenda is a core function of the independent governing body which cannot be handed away to the same college Administration that the Board is elected to oversee. Voting on budget cuts is consistent with existing Board policy at LCC, as well as past practice at LCC. 

Despite this, emails show LCC Board of Education Chair Austin Folnagy repeatedly asked the LCC President to add an agenda item requested by three Board members — Jesse Maldonado, Zach Mulholland, and Vice Chair Rust — that would reaffirm the right of the Board to vote on program cuts. Voting on cuts is a core tenet of their oversight role, done by every previous LCC Board, and critical for allowing a forum for community input during public comment at open meetings. Discussion around the need for this agenda item included the suspension of the highly successful LPN program, done with neither notice to students and community, nor public comment, nor Board vote.

The LCC Board of Education has always had a policy and authority to vote on program and service cuts, reductions, and suspensions and has done so for decades . However, after the LPN program was suspended suddenly without a Board vote or notice to the public, a number of Board members have been calling for their right to vote on cuts be recognized per normal operating procedure of the board – and their own elected responsibilities and duty to the people and voters of Lane County. 

The emails reveal that LCC’s current President has defied the majority of the Board. This effectively silences their voices, and the public’s. 

In one instance, Pres. Bulger refused  to add the motion item to the September 3 agenda to reaffirm the Board’s voting rights on cuts consistent with their own policy. Instead of adding the item at the Chair’s request, per operating agreements, Pres. Bulger instead added all 7 board members to the email chain and engaged in extensive back and forths attempting to get them to drop the agenda item. After pushback from Pres. Bulger and Board member Kevin Alltucker, Board members arrived at the meeting with their motion to restore voting rights still not added. Instead, President Bulger posted only a memo written by Kevin Alltucker in support of her own position to usurp authority from the publicly elected Board. Kevin Alltucker has stated publicly in Board meetings that he does not believe it is his job to represent the people who elected him. The voices of the majority of the Board were effectively silenced when their action item motion was not added to their own agenda.

On October 20, Vice Chair Rust wrote to LCC’s President: “… The board passed a Motion (‘President‘s goals 2025–2026 Request for Approval’) mandating you to come back to the board with a discussion on the assumptions used in the budget preparation which has led your preliminary findings to conclude that we have a $3.1 million deficit. You were to come back with that discussion item on October 15. I was very disappointed to find that you had neither put it on the agenda for discussion, nor did you raise the issue or speak to that issue on October 15. Was there a reason that you did not follow up with this item as requested by the LCC board? I believe the board in its oversight capacity and doing its fiduciary due diligence should review the assumptions made about the budget at the beginning phase, which is now. Could you tell me when and if you plan to discuss this with the board?”

Last week, news broke about multiple LCC Board of Education open meeting violations at the behest of President Bulger, when she called two meetings in late August to privately discuss budget cuts with Board members despite the concerns raised by multiple Board members – including the Chair and Vice Chair – that the meetings would violate open meeting law. 

It is time for our community to call to restore democracy at the LCC Board of Education.

In solidarity,

Adrienne

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Important Update for All Faculty — LCCEA President’s Update October 20, 2025

Posted on October 20, 2025 by LCCEA

LCC Faculty Colleagues,

I hope this email finds you well as we begin week 4 of the term.

I’m writing with updates regarding the ongoing dilemma of democracy on the LCC Board of Education.

Based upon new information in emails provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, it is clear that the dilemma has risen to the level of a real crisis of democracy where the publicly-elected Board of Education members who represent the people of Lane County and the public at-large have been sidelined.

This summer, LCC President Bulger called two meetings of the Board of Education at the end of August without notice to the public. Oregon open meetings law requires public notice among numerous requirements that local governing bodies like our Board of Education must follow in order to ensure transparency and public oversight – critical for our democracy.

Several Board members, including Chair Folnagy and Vice Chair Rust expressed their concerns that the meetings would violate open meetings law, yet the LCC President chose to hold the meetings anyway. President Bulger later referred to Chair Folnagy’s messages encouraging her to follow the law as an “unnecessary distraction.”

According to the emails provided, the meetings pertained to budget cuts and did lead to changes in what Administration members took action on, further underscoring the open meeting law violation – all when there was a public meeting scheduled just a few days later on September 3.

These emails lay bare the underlying crisis of democracy at the level of our Board of Education. 

As faculty we absolutely love the work that we do with students at LCC — LCC is a most precious gem in our community. While we are deeply concerned about the crisis of democracy in our Board room and look forward to a future where decisions again are made in public in accordance with Oregon’s sunshine law, and importantly, with opportunities for students and community members to be informed and to have a chance to share their views through public comment at open meetings, it is more critical than ever for faculty to remain engaged in our faculty communications and participation in organizing activities, including attending Board meetings in support of democracy on our campus for the common good.

The future of our beloved LCC is at stake. Together, we can help preserve it.

In solidarity and with appreciation,

Adrienne

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Faculty Pay More for Insurance – Bargaining Update

Posted on October 17, 2025 by LCCEA

LCC Faculty Colleagues –

Our faculty bargaining team further analyzed the College Administration’s current proposal, and it would still cut millions of dollars from investments in faculty through benefit reductions, workload and class size increases, and cuts to part-time faculty jobs.

For example, the College proposal would dramatically increase faculty contributions for insurance next year even though faculty already pay the most among employee groups for insurance at LCC.

Contracted faculty would pay this much more out of our paychecks each year for Moda Plan 1.

Employee only: $1,089.80

Employee, plus spouse/partner: $1,190.65

Employee, plus child/ children: $1,022.31

Full family: $1,163.38

Part-time faculty would pay this much more out of our paychecks each year for Moda Plan 1.

Employee only: $1,213.16

Employee, plus spouse/partner: $240.15

Employee, plus child/ children: $238.71

Full family: $351.50

In addition, our Bargaining Team will be sending out a new survey for all faculty soon to gather more feedback on faculty goals.

Please find below two separate charts that are updated to show current side-by-side comparisons of faculty and Administration proposals.

The Action Team and department reps will also provide updates soon.

Your LCCEA Bargaining Team Leads,

Gerry Meenaghan

Adrienne Mitchell

April Myler

Peggy Oberstaller

Ryan Olds

Russell Shitabata

Comparison Chart Mid-Level Detail Oct 14 2025

Comparison Chart Oct 14 2025

Complete Folder of Proposals

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Memo to LCC Board of Education

Posted on October 15, 2025 by LCCEA

Esteemed Board of Education members,

I am writing with a few critical updates for your consideration. I ask that you uphold your roles and duties as publicly elected Board of Education members in voting per your own policies and in ensuring that the LCC Administration follows your direction and takes action consistent with your votes. The people of Lane County are counting on you to fulfill your democratic function as elected Board members governing our beloved LCC.

  1. The LCC Administration continues to present the idea in multiple meetings across campus that the LCC Board has approved or accepted cuts of $3M each year for the next three years. As you may be aware, the budget development process for next year has not yet begun, and this action appearsinconsistent with Oregon Public Budget law according to a legal memo and your own votes as the Board of Education. In addition, the Board voted on September 30, 2025 to explicitly exclude the $3M reference from the President’s goals.

See examples of direct quotes from management to faculty this week. In addition, I personally attended the College Council meeting last week where the Administration again presented to the full Council and numerous deans in attendance that the Board had accepted a plan to make $3M in cuts each year for the next three years.

Direct quotes from deans by email to faculty in their areas over the past few days:

“the planned $3 million in cuts starting in FY27 through FY29, which have been discussed at multiple board meetings and our Fall In-Service.”

“As part of the ____ Division’s 7% reduction to the part-time faculty budget…”

“As you may already know from various forums and sources, the college is projecting deficits for the current year and the subsequent two years. In order to begin to close these deficits and to begin to raise the ending fund balance to 10% per the Board of Education’s policy we are having to reduce the current year’s part time assignments for winter and spring terms. These adjustments are occurring across Academic Affairs. “

  1. The LCC Administration is directing deans to cut 7% from part-time faculty budgets across the college this year. Deans are cutting classes that students have already begun registering for from the Winter and Spring term schedules.  This year’s budget does not have 7% cuts in the part-time budget – this has not been presented nor approved by the Board of Education.  According to the Budget and Finance office, the amount built into this year’s budget for part-time faculty is $8,614,774, not including OPE. OPE adds an additional $2.M, bringing the total part-time budget to $11,543,797. Cutting this budget by 7% amounts to $808,066. This figure far exceeds the $675,000 in budget reductions that the Board approved and far exceeds the $262,500 figure presented by the Administration as a proposed plan at the September 3 Board of Education meeting, which the Board has also not voted to approve.

  2. Cutting lecture classes, which generate substantial net revenue on tuition alone without any state reimbursement, will not only remove opportunities for students, it hurts the bottom line. LCC will lose money and close the door to students. See below for details. A lecture class with only 15 students taught by a top-paid part-time faculty member generates net revenue. A single lecture class with 30 students generates nearly $10,000 in net revenue (after subtracting full salary and full OPE overhead costs). 100 sections generate nearly $1,000,000. A similar course taught by a full-time instructor at the top of the salary schedule generates $2700 in net revenue and $269,360 for 100 sections. Please note: these revenues are generated based on tuition alone, so state funding is excluded from these calculations, and the growth cap in the CCSF does not apply.
  1. LCCEA has demanded to bargain over the sudden cuts to part-time faculty, for which LCCEA has received no notice from the Administration. LCC is legally obligated to refrain from cutting these classes and negotiate with LCC. The LCC Administration has not responded to LCCEA’s demand to bargain. If the Administration continues cutting these classes from the Winter and Spring schedules prior to negotiating with the faculty, that action constitutes another unfair labor practice under Oregon state law.
  1. Finally, regarding the important goal of maintaining a 10% ending fund balance. Please note that BP 6230 requires, “When the Ending Fund Balance falls to 9% or less, the college shall adopt a plan to replenish the Ending Fund Balance to 10% within three years.” The FY24 Ending Fund balance according to the most recent official audit statement is $8,332,887, and LCC Administration estimates that the FY25 ending fund balance is $8,570,000. This ending fund balance has grown by $1M over two years. This means that the restoration which should occur over the next three years should amount to about $800,000 per year, not $3M per year. The policy requires restoration of the actual ending fund balance, not future projections that build in unrealistic assumptions such as 7.5% salary increases and 19% OPE increases.

Thank you for your service on the LCC Board of Education.

Your role is vitally important for our democracy, including responsibility and accountability to the people of Lane County.

Most sincerely,

Adrienne

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