PCC board's last supporter of ex-chancellor not running for re-election

Pima Community College’s longest-serving board member, who oversaw a troubled era that put the school’s accreditation in jeopardy, is not running for re-election this year.

District 4 representative Scott Stewart, a staunch defender of former PCC chancellor Roy Flores, failed to file final paperwork to run for another term by the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline.

Stewart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Although PCC board seats are supposed to be nonpartisan, Stewart identifies himself as a Libertarian candidate and has represented District 4 on the PCC board since 1999.

He was the subject of an unsuccessful recall effort in 2014 after PCC’s accreditor found serious shortcomings with the school’s administration and governance.

The college has a new chancellor but continues to struggle with problems that developed under Flores.

Stewart and most of the board’s other members were deemed “dysfunctional” when PCC’s accreditor placed the college on probation in 2013.

He’s the only one remaining in office, and he filed initial paperwork in April to run for re-election this year.

With Stewart out, only one candidate remains for the District 4 seat: former UA provost Meredith Hay.

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Hay would win by acclamation if there are no write-in candidates by the Aug. 24 deadline, a county election official said.

Three PCC board seats are up for grabs in November.

Two others were vacated by other Flores-era board members who resigned in recent months.

In District 2, former state Rep. Demion Clinco will face competition from Paul S. Diaz, a former mayor of the city of South Tucson.

Clinco was temporarily appointed to the board in December after the resignation of David Longoria.

In District 5, Martha Durkin, a retired deputy manager for the city of Tucson, faces two challengers: Luis A. Gonzales, a former state senator and South Tucson city manager, and Francis P. Saitta, a former adjunct instructor in math and biology at PCC.

Durkin was temporarily appointed to the District 5 seat following the resignation last year of longtime former board member Marty Cortez.

PCC board seats have a term of six years. Board members do not receive any pay for their service.