A Bucks County state senator has said politics are behind a decision not to reappoint him to the Bucks County Community College Board of Trustees.
State Sen. Frank Farry, a Republican from Langhorne Borough, has stated that political motivations were behind the decision not to reappoint him to the Bucks County Community College Board of Trustees.
Farry, who was not reappointed last month by Bucks County commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie, both Democrats, expressed disappointment over the decision.
Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo did not support the move and cited Farry’s advocacy for community college funding in Harrisburg.
“I’m disappointed,” Farry said in an interview.
The lawmaker said he believes he was removed “simply because I’m Republican.”
“They campaigned on bipartisanship, right? This doesn’t match the campaign rhetoric they used,” Farry added, referencing the Democratic commissioners.
Farry’s term on the board, along with those of Elizabeth Fineburg, Linda Mannherz, and Carol Shelly, expired recently. They were not reappointed.
Instead, the commissioners appointed Tabitha Dell’Angelo, John P. Murray Sr., Adrienne King, Vincent Magyar Jr., and Edward Tokmajian to the board.
Farry said those who were not reappointed were Republicans and those appointed were Democrats.
During the state budget process, Farry worked to secure a 6 percent increase in funding for community colleges, he said.
Farry noted that the commissioners did not reach out to him before deciding not to reappoint him.
In a comment this week, Harvie stated he did reach out to Farry via a call and text message to thank him for his work as a trustee and advise him of the decision ahead of the public meeting.
“I never heard back, so I dispute the claim that he wasn’t given advance notice,” he said.
Farry noted he had a miss call from Harvie the Monday before the meeting while he was working in Harrisburg and received a text that read: “Just wanted to give you a call to thank you for your work on the BCCC Trustees.”
However, the senator said he already knew he wasn’t being reappointed by the commissioners by the time Harvie reached out. DiGirolamo and a fellow trustee had already broken the news to Farry before the commissioner reached out.
“At that point, I already knew and I was in Harrisburg working,” Farry said.
At a public meeting last month, Ellis-Marseglia, the commissioners’ chairperson, justified the decision by pointing to recent financial difficulties faced by Bucks County Community College, which included the filing of a corrective action plan with the state, according to a 2023 Bucks County Herald article.
Farry said that the financial issues were being addressed by the board, which included both Democratic and Republican appointees. He also noted that many trustees who were involved in handling those issues have served longer than he has and remain on the trustees.
“I’ve got to be honest, I don’t get it,” Farry said, speculating that politics played a role in the decision.
DiGirolamo, speaking at the July public meeting, said the loss of “good people” like Farry from the board is a shame.
Citing his time as a state representative in Harrisburg, DiGirolamo praised Farry’s advocacy for the community college and warned that the Democratic majority should consider the consequences of their actions when they are no longer in power.
“While I appreciate Sen. Farry’s service as a trustee, we have made many new appointments over the past four years on every board under our purview as terms expire, and this is the first instance I’ve heard him complain about. I have personally known Sen. Farry for decades and know he is dedicated to his community, especially with his work as a state legislator and chief of the fire department, but no one is entitled to a lifetime appointment on the Board of Trustees. I am confident that Sen. Farry accomplished what he set out to when I first voted for his appointment as trustee two terms and 12 years ago,” said Ellis-Marseglia in a statement.
In the wake of the controversy, Ellis-Marseglia stated she was “allowed zero appointments and was consulted on very little over the course of twelve years” when Republicans had the commissioners’ majority.
“Now sitting in the majority as the chair, we operate from a different philosophy, where input is valued and compromises are made. This administration owning the most bipartisan voting record in Bucks County history speaks for itself,” she said.
Harvie said he is proud of the new trustees, which includes a former head of the a teachers’ union, an attorney, a former Bucks County Community college student body president, and a dean/professor from another institution who was also a former school board member.
“To those accusing us of playing politics, the boards we inherited in 2020 weren’t exactly a political cross-section of Bucks County … The voters of Bucks County elected this administration, then reelected us by historic margins, not to keep things as they were, but to continue to make changes. And we will,” Harvie said.
Farry said he was surprised no state lawmaker of either party was appointed to the trustees to fill his spot and to advocate for the community college in Harrisburg.
The Republican added that he will continue to support the community college.
The change in trustees comes during the same summer as the arrival of new Bucks County Community College President Patrick Jones, who recently assumed leadership of the institution.
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