The Battle For NIC’s Soul: A Humans of NIC Feature

As an NIC trustee for the past 12 years, Todd Banducci has been a controversial figure who advocated for avoiding a mask mandate during COVID as well as the construction of the Parker Technical Center, and the expansion of both the Meyer Health and Sciences building and the nursing program. Banducci doesn’t plan to run again in the 2024 trustee election in which his seat is up for re-election. In a Sentinel exclusive, Banducci sat down to reflect on his time on the Board and the ongoing accreditation crisis.

“My voice has certainly been heard, but have I been successful? I would say probably more less than more so. It’s ebbed and flowed, it’s been two steps forward and three steps back. A step forward, a step back. Two steps forward, one step back. It’s really been an interesting thing to be a part of.

“I spent the first 8 years on this board as a distinct minority. So I couldn’t affect much change but I was able to help some students. I built some relationships with people like Lita Burns and Graydon Stanley. My first 8 years were really about the little victories and just trying to help students.

“It really is about the students, very few of the trustees remember that or even interact with the students at any real level or have any real association with them… I’ve been involved with the veterans group, with athletics, with a lot of different aspects of the college and with the students. I’ve had a lot of one on ones.

“That’s the good part; the successes and helping folks overcome some challenges. Some of these truly have been life altering, life changing. Some things that have been overcome, some problems we’ve been able to resolve have made a huge difference in the trajectory of their lives. It changed dramatically and for the better.

“Despite the noise that you hear, it’s never been about money, power, and control for me.  It is for some, even in these positions as trustee, but it never was for me. It’s been quite the ride.

“Trustees are responsible for hiring, retaining or firing the president. He’s our ‘one employee.’ We set policy for the college and we set the budget. And, as kind of a subset to that, one of the things we have the authority to do is to purchase real property, which can be significant.

“One of our primary functions is we hire, fire, and retain the president, the president of our choice. That’s a huge thing. Of all of them, probably that’s the most important, because the leadership sets the tone, directs and dictates – people follow that. Tone is set by the leadership. People know, and it doesn’t take long for them to figure out what’s acceptable and what’s not.

“The budget’s one way that we have a modicum of influence. We develop and approve policy and we set the budget. Anything we do with the budget impacts programs and what we’re supporting and what we’re not. So we can influence things by that: how the dollars are spent.

“That’s why there’s such a battle over this, because it’s all about money, power, and control. The established, entrenched elites in this town want money, power, and control. They’re used to it. They want your support, but they don’t want oversight or to be transparent. We’re deplorables to them, and they hate it when they’re not in charge, it drives them crazy.

“They’re apoplectic if we actually want to exercise the duties and rights of the position as given to us by statute, as enumerated by law. They don’t want us to do what we’re supposed to do if they don’t like it, and they only want the rules if they can take advantage of them or use them as a weapon or as leverage.

“It’s just been this tug of war of who happened to have power for that moment. Many of the gains that were achieved have been reversed. It’s been very challenging.

“They’ve worked very hard to tie our hands and use accreditation as the ultimate weapon and hold it over our heads. ‘Don’t do anything, don’t rock the boat, don’t create waves, don’t take any action or do anything that they don’t like or they’ll take accreditation.’

“The whole accreditation issue has been quite the orchestrated and planned ordeal. It has been used as a political weapon. I think accreditation will probably look awfully shiny the minute that they get a majority on the board.

“And, incredibly, it appears some of those making the most noise about accreditation actually seem to want NIC to lose it. This whole University District scheme seems like an attempt to steal NIC from the public like the hospital was with appointed trustees vs elected trustees.  It would remove accountability and oversight by the public.

“I don’t think [the Board as a whole] is ever going to sing kumbaya around the campfire… It’s not always bad when everyone doesn’t just agree. In fact I would suggest, and Greg [Mckenzie] has said this publicly many times, that many of the prior boards were derelict in their duty. They just signed off on everything, and they were just a rubber stamp.

“In the public forum debate is a good thing. To be able to disagree is a good thing. There’s the difference, disagree with me on the budget number or a vote but don’t get into the politics of personal destruction.  The attacks on me, my family, my friends, and my business have been quite unsavory and beyond the limit of decency.

“It’s shocking and sad that this behavior has become accepted, encouraged, and even celebrated by some in this area where I grew up and live. Politics is not supposed to be a full-time blood sport.

“I’m in their heads an awful lot and they’re awfully concerned about me and think about me way more than I’m ever concerned or think about them. They spend more time on this than I do because I have a full life and business to run.

“That’s what I’ve told them. I’ve said, ‘you need a better life or at least a better hobby. If this is what you do and you’re doing this all the time, then maybe you need to rethink it.’

“I do know that I have a lot more support in the community than some would think. You’ve got to peel back the onion a little. It’s a very vocal minority that would have you believe otherwise.

“So I do appreciate the kind words and feedback I get, and the guidance and strength I get from their prayers. So many in the faith community have asked questions, held me accountable and prayed for and over me…good, Godly people who have been such a blessing.

“A number of the good professors and teachers that were here have left. There’s very few left. I have very few relationships left on the campus, very few in leadership. Before, even with disagreements with some there were still people I could call friend, and we could at least work on behalf of the students, but that doesn’t exist anymore. I will not miss working with the leadership of the college, but I will miss helping the students.

“So I’m ready to move on. It’s a bit of a sacrifice to do this to be quite frank. It’s taken quite a toll, there’s a cost to it.

We’ll see how the election goes. A lot is going to happen here in a little while. There’s a battle for the soul of the college. It is an extension of Coeur d’Alene, and there’s a battle for the soul of Coeur d’Alene, too.

“I have served my community faithfully as I thought best. I always said that I wasn’t going to be a career trustee. I’m feeling that 12 years of service at NIC is more than enough. I’m ready to move on and serve the community in other ways.

Banducci speaks as a private citizen. His statements do not represent official statements of NIC or its Board of Trustees.