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The Board of Trustees at Niagara County Community College in New York voted last week to keep its president, who is allegedly at the center of a bid-rigging scandal and a federal investigation. Faculty members are shocked by the board's decision, according to WKBW News in Buffalo.
The college is currently conducting an internal investigation to determine if its president, James Klyczek, attempted to influence the bidding process for contracted work -- valued at $25 million -- on a culinary institute in nearby Niagara Falls. Potentially incriminating emails obtained by The Buffalo News suggest Klyczek might have broken the law by manipulating the bidding process.
Klyczek has declined to comment on the allegations to local reporters.
“Like everyone else, I was pretty stunned,” said Lori Townsend, president of the college’s Faculty Senate, about the board's decision to keep Klyczek. Townsend said she expected the board to vote to put him on administrative leave while the investigation continues, because “it's just good for the president and good for the investigation to have him basically out of the building.”
The vote to keep Klyczek in his position was not unanimous, according to a statement from the college, but they did not achieve the necessary six votes to put Klyczek on paid leave, either. The final tally was 5 to 4.
“The decision leaves the administration in place, maintaining consistency at the college and helping ensure students receive the same strong education they have come to expect from NCCC,” the statement said.
Townsend said the faculty support the Board of Trustees, but there will always be a lingering question about whether Klyczek interfered with the internal investigation. Instead, they are hoping for a fair and independent federal investigation.
