🚂 Riding the Trane: When Millions Get Lost in the Fast Track | PIMA CC
How vital community funds were allocated in the blink of an eye without thorough understanding.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
😲 The people who run Pima Community College just spent almost $3 million of taxpayer money 💰 in a meeting that lasted about as long as watching TV 📺, and they did it even though they admitted they didn’t really understand what they were buying.
A few years ago, the guy who was in charge of the college’s buildings 🏢 tried to warn everyone that the college was making corrupt deals with a big corporation called Trane 🏢🤝, but instead of listening to him, they basically fired him 🛑👨💼 and kept making the same deals. Now they’re using money that was supposed to help people recover from COVID 😷💵 to buy expensive equipment that will train students to work in factories 🏭 that pollute the environment 🌍, especially in communities where Indigenous and Latino families live 🏘️.
🗝️ Takeaways
⚡ PCC Board approved $2.7 million in corporate contracts in under 30 minutes on June 23, 2025, with zero meaningful public discussion
🔍 Board member spent "two hours" researching mysterious "NC3 turnkey control" systems but couldn't find documentation—voted to approve anyway
💸 Federal pandemic recovery funds (ARPA) redirected to purchase $1.65 million in semiconductor industry equipment
🏢 Trane Corporation secured another $382,749 monopoly contract despite former facilities chief's HLC complaint about "unlawful contracting practices"
📋 William Ward, former Vice Chancellor for Facilities, risked his career in 2021 to expose Trane corruption—administration retaliated and doubled down
⚖️ HLC investigation triggered by Ward's complaint found "rift in governance putting college's mission at risk"—board ignored findings
A blow-by-blow account of the June 23, 2025, PCC special meeting.
On June 23, 2025, in less time than it takes to watch a sitcom episode, five board members unanimously approved nearly $2.7 million in expenditures that expose the troubling corporatization of public education—all while the ghost of a fired whistleblower's warnings echoed through their calculated silence.
The Theater of Manufactured Consent
Chair Greg Taylor opened the special meeting with practiced efficiency, moving through preliminary business with the kind of bureaucratic precision designed to discourage public engagement.
The agenda revealed three substantial expenditures dressed up as routine administrative actions:
$1.65 million for semiconductor equipment,
$491,907 for construction services, and
$382,749 for HVAC systems from Trane U.S. Inc.
That last item should have sent alarm bells ringing through anyone familiar with PCC's recent history, but we'll address that corporate corruption scandal shortly.
The most revealing moment came when Board Member Theresa Riel expressed genuine confusion about agenda item 2.3, specifically questioning the mysterious "NC3 turnkey control" systems that kept appearing in documents.
"I just have a quick question. Yes. So that NC3 turnkey control, those words were like ringing a bell. I'd heard them before," Riel began, before delivering a confession that should terrify every taxpayer in Pima County.
"So I looked through lots of former documents for two hours today, believe it or not, trying to see where I could find it, and I couldn't find it anywhere."
Board members are operating in an information vacuum, expected to rubber-stamp complex technical contracts worth millions while administrators provide minimal explanation and zero meaningful documentation.
Riel's questioning reveals what genuine board oversight should look like:
Due Diligence: She spent two hours researching agenda items before the meeting—the kind of preparation taxpayers have every right to expect from elected officials.
Intellectual Honesty: She admitted when she didn't understand something rather than pretending to comprehend complex technical contracts.
Persistent Inquiry: When she didn't know what ROI meant, she asked "eight or nine times" until she got an answer.
Institutional Memory: She recognized that "NC3 turnkey control" had appeared before, but couldn't find documentation, exposing the administration's poor record-keeping.
The Corporate Buzzword Smokescreen
Dean Greg Wilson's response to the board member's confusion reveals the sophisticated machinery of corporate capture in action. Rather than providing clear explanations, Wilson deployed a barrage of industry buzzwords designed to obscure rather than illuminate.
"Faculty reviewed the list and determined what pieces of equipment they actually wanted," Wilson began, before quickly pivoting to corporate-speak: "And it's important to note when you talk about the ROI that this equipment will allow us to offer HVAC competencies not just in the existing BCT program, but for the ongoing development of non-credit options for construction and HVAC building automation systems."
Notice the linguistic sleight of hand: "faculty reviewed" quickly transforms into "HVAC competencies" and "building automation systems." It's educational alchemy—turning genuine learning into workforce development for corporate America.
Riel's follow-up question about ROI (Return on Investment) is particularly significant given her background: "I never knew what that meant until I asked like eight or nine times." Here's a board member with enough integrity to admit when she doesn't understand financial terminology and persistent enough to keep asking until she gets answers, yet still finds herself operating in an information vacuum created by administrative opacity.
Riel's diligence in spending two hours researching what she was voting on contrasts sharply with the rubber-stamp culture that has dominated PCC's board since Ward's whistleblowing exposed institutional corruption.
The Trane Trap: Corporate Monopoly Disguised as Education
The $382,749 Trane contract represents the most insidious form of corporate capture—one that creates permanent institutional dependency while masquerading as educational innovation.
However, to understand why this contract is so problematic, we need to examine the explosive backstory that board members conveniently overlooked (granted, three board members are new this year, and the other two were elected just two years ago; the Chancellor is also new to PCC).
The Whistleblower They Want You to Forget
In 2021, William Ward—PCC's former Vice Chancellor for Facilities—filed a formal complaint with the Higher Learning Commission alleging that PCC engaged in "unlawful contracting practices with Trane, an HVAC company, regarding an energy management project at the college," according to the Arizona Daily Star.
This wasn't just any administrator—Ward was the facilities chief who intimately understood PCC's infrastructure contracts and initially promoted the Trane partnership.
Ward's transformation from corporate collaborator to whistleblower is particularly revealing. According to Tucson Local Media, Ward initially embraced the Trane relationship, stating: "Pima Community College is honored to host the Trane 'Acceleration Now' Tour and partner with industry for the benefit of our students, the college and the community."
Yet something Ward discovered in his role overseeing facilities contracts was serious enough that he risked his career to expose it. His HLC complaint triggered a comprehensive investigation that found "a rift in governance that's putting the college's mission at risk" and placed PCC under continued monitoring for governance failures.
Chancellor Lee Lambert's response to Ward's whistleblowing reveals the administration's contempt for accountability. "There is no information in the complaint that supports the allegations or that has not already been reviewed and addressed," Lambert told the board, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
"While it is unfortunate that we have to devote our time to addressing allegations that have been refuted multiple times, we welcome the opportunity to fully address the complaint with HLC."
Translation: How dare a facilities administrator question our corporate partnerships? Don't these employees understand their place?
Doubling Down on Corporate Dependency
Knowing this history makes the June 23, 2025 Trane contract approval even more outrageous.
Despite Ward's warnings about "unlawful contracting practices," despite the HLC placing PCC under monitoring for governance failures, despite faculty complaints about institutional retaliation against critics, the board unanimously approved another Trane contract worth nearly $400,000.
The contract breakdown reveals how corporate monopolies function in practice:
Building Automated Controls, Labor, and Materials
NC3 Turnkey Controls: $148,201.06
Trane Equipment Package: $169,817.00
Residential Units (2 units): $29,936.00
Total VL3 Equipment: $347,954.06
PCC 10% Contingency: $34,795.40
Final Total: $382,749.46
Notice how the "contingency" adds another $35,000—because when you're locked into proprietary systems, cost overruns become inevitable.
The board documents reveal Trane's stranglehold:
"Trane Technologies is the sole-source provider for the proprietary HVAC equipment, controls, and integration systems used in the VL3. This specialized system is unique to Trane and is essential for meeting the technical requirements and instructional framework of the College's Building Construction Technology (BCT) program."
This circular logic—we need Trane because we chose a system that only Trane provides—exemplifies how corporations capture public institutions. It's the educational equivalent of Company Towns, where workers could only shop at company stores using company scrip.
The Federal Funds Corporate Welfare Scheme
The $1.65 million semiconductor equipment purchase reveals how pandemic recovery funds are systematically redirected to private profit. Using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds—money intended to help communities recover from COVID-19—PCC is purchasing equipment for "careers in the advanced manufacturing sector."
Chair Taylor's casual dismissal of this massive expenditure was breathtaking: "All right, moving right along. So 2.3, the contract for TRANE for the virtual living learning lab equipment, is there a motion on 2.3? So moved."
The breakdown reveals corporate priorities disguised as educational needs:
Advanced Industrial Technology (AIT): $608,116
Machining (MAC): $639,071
Computer-Aided Design (CAD): $237,198
Contingency (corporate padding): $150,000
For Indigenous and Chicano students, who comprise significant portions of PCC's enrollment, this shift toward semiconductor manufacturing training is particularly insidious. Traditional Ecological Knowledge, cultural preservation, and community-centered learning take a backseat to training programs designed to feed workers into extractive industries that have historically devastated our communities.
Speaking of extractive industries, just last week, PCC sent a letter in support of Project Blue, which was described as follows after the county approved the vote: “June 17, 2025 - A day that will live in infamy for water justice in the Sonoran Desert.”
⚡ The Great Betrayal: Pima County Chair Rex Scott's Own Words Damn His Anti-Democratic Vote for Project Blue
From Desert Resilience to Corporate Greed: How Pima County Just Sold Your Water to Wall Street
June 17, 2025 - A day that will live in infamy for water justice in the Sonoran Desert
It’s the new Manifest Destiny, outsiders taking from the desert endlessly, all for money as if the seventh generation from now doesn’t matter. Will humanity even last that long in the Sonoran Desert without water?
The Chasse Construction Connection
The nearly half-million-dollar Chasse Building Team contract operates through cooperative purchasing agreements that create an illusion of competitive procurement while actually representing a cartelization of public contracts.
The financial breakdown exposes how these arrangements work:
Chasse Building Team General Contractor Fee: $38,011
Project Requirements: $1,613
General Conditions: $28,164
Liability Insurance: $5,366
Payment & Performance Bond: $5,366
Gross Receipts Tax: $25,311
Subtotal: $103,831
Direct Construction Costs: $343,357
Project Total: $447,188
PCC Contingency: $44,719
Final Total: $491,907
Notice the layers of fees, insurance, and contingencies that inflate costs while providing minimal public benefit.
The Executive Session Escape Hatch
The meeting's most telling moment came with the abrupt transition to executive session. "I'll make a motion for executive session if there's a second?" Chair Taylor announced, effectively ending public access to board deliberations.
"We're not going to reconvene here. So we'll adjourn the meeting from there in executive session," Taylor concluded, ensuring that whatever real discussion might occur would happen away from public scrutiny.
The Broader Pattern of Retaliation
Ward's case wasn't isolated. According to the Arizona Daily Star reporting, faculty groups later filed additional HLC complaints alleging "harassment, intimidation, and retaliation against employees who have expressed criticism of the college."
The KOLD News 13 investigation revealed a "pervasive 'we versus them attitude' between the other board members and senior administrators that created institutional dysfunction severe enough to trigger federal monitoring.
When your facilities administrator's complaint about corporate contracts leads to accreditation monitoring, you know the corruption runs deep.
The pattern is clear: administrators who question corporate partnerships, faculty who raise concerns about institutional governance, and board members who ask tough questions all face systematic marginalization and retaliation during the previous Lee Lambert Administration.
Hopefully, that changes under Dr. Nasse and his new board members.
Environmental Justice and Corporate Extraction
For communities fighting environmental racism, the Trane monopoly and semiconductor equipment purchases carry particular significance. Trane Technologies has a documented history of environmental violations and operates manufacturing facilities.
Semiconductor manufacturing involves toxic chemicals (PFAS), massive water consumption, and energy-intensive processes that contribute to climate change. They will fit right in with our Superfund site on the predominantly Latino south side and Project Blue.
Yet PCC's curriculum will now center these corporate technologies, training students to perpetuate environmental harms without developing critical consciousness about alternatives. Where is the training on geothermal systems, passive cooling techniques, or Indigenous building practices that worked sustainably for millennia?
When corporations write the curriculum, environmental justice becomes an externality.
The semiconductor industry, in particular, has a devastating environmental record in Indigenous communities throughout the Southwest. Training workers for these industries without simultaneously developing critical consciousness about environmental justice perpetuates cycles of extraction and exploitation.
Democratic Deficit and Community Response
This meeting exemplifies the democratic deficit plaguing public education governance. Complex technical contracts worth millions are processed in under 30 minutes, with minimal public input and limited board member understanding of the details.
The manufactured urgency—equipment must arrive by December 31, 2025—serves corporate interests by preventing communities from organizing opposition or proposing alternatives. When everything is an "emergency," democratic deliberation becomes impossible.
Community organizers and education advocates must demand:
Extended public comment periods for all contracts exceeding $100,000
Plain-language summaries of all technical agreements with clear explanations of alternatives
Community representation on curriculum committees to ensure public rather than corporate priorities
Regular audits of cooperative purchasing agreements to assess the local economic impact
Transparency requirements that limit executive session usage and require public justification
Whistleblower protections for employees who expose corporate corruption
Taking Action: Your Community Needs You
The stakes couldn't be higher for working families, renters, and historically marginalized communities who depend on public education as a pathway to economic mobility and critical consciousness.
Immediate Actions You Can Take:
Attend the Next Board Meeting: PCC Governing Board meetings are held monthly at the District Office, 4905 E. Broadway Blvd. Check pima.edu for schedules and bring neighbors.
Contact Board Members: Demand explanations for these contracts and accountability for the Ward retaliation. Board member contact information is available on the PCC website.
Organize with Students and Faculty: Connect with student groups, faculty unions, and community organizations that are already fighting against the corporate capture of education.
Monitor Budget Processes: Every PCC budget meeting is an opportunity to challenge corporate priorities and advocate for community-controlled alternatives.
Support Whistleblowers: When PCC employees raise concerns about institutional governance, community support can mean the difference between retaliation and accountability.
Build Coalitions: Connect education justice work to broader movements for Indigenous sovereignty, immigrant rights, environmental justice, and worker organizing.
A Note of Hope: The Power of Organized Communities
Despite the challenges revealed in this meeting, hope lies in the growing recognition that education is a site of struggle where communities can organize for justice. From the teachers' strikes that swept the nation to Indigenous education sovereignty movements, people are fighting back against the corporate capture of learning.
William Ward's courage in filing the HLC complaint, despite the professional risks, provides a model for institutional insiders who recognize problems but fear speaking out. His story demonstrates both the importance of whistleblowing and the fierce retaliation that awaits those who challenge corporate capture.
The question isn't whether corporate capture will continue—it's whether we'll organize effectively enough to support the next William Ward before they're silenced.
Community colleges remain crucial sites of resistance precisely because they serve diverse, working-class populations who understand the contradictions of the current system. These institutions can provide education that builds critical consciousness rather than just technical skills, but only if communities organize to reclaim democratic control.
Every dollar spent on proprietary corporate training systems is a dollar not spent on culturally responsive pedagogy, critical thinking development, or community-controlled educational alternatives.
Every executive session that excludes public participation is a step toward fully privatized governance of public institutions. Every whistleblower silenced is another victory for corporate interests over community needs.
The fight for educational justice requires understanding that budget meetings, procurement decisions, and curriculum choices are profoundly political acts that shape whose knowledge is valued, whose communities are served, and whose futures are prioritized.
Stay Informed and Take Action: Subscribe to Three Sonorans Substack to receive ongoing analysis of local government meetings and education policy developments that mainstream media ignores. Our investigative journalism depends on community support to continue exposing corporate capture and holding public institutions accountable.
Support Independent Journalism: Your subscription helps fund the research, meeting attendance, and document analysis that make investigations like this possible. Corporate media won't tell these stories—that's why independent voices are essential.
The future of public education—and the communities it serves—depends on our willingness to engage in the patient work of democratic organizing. Every meeting attended, every question asked, every connection made builds the foundation for educational systems that serve justice rather than profit.
The choice is ours: accept corporate education or fight for something better. The time for organizing is now.
What Do You Think?
How have you experienced corporate influence in local educational institutions? What strategies can communities use to reclaim democratic control over public colleges and universities?
Share your thoughts, experiences, and ideas for resistance in the comments below. Together, we can build the analysis and organization necessary to transform public education from corporate training centers back into sites of critical learning and community empowerment.
P.S. Mexican American Studies, banned by a state law that was ruled unconstitutional, still has not been reinstated in TUSD. Republicans ban critical studies, and Democrats continue to keep them banned through inaction.
Have a scoop or a story you want us to follow up on? Send us a message!
Are PCC meetings live streamed? Is it possible to submit written calls to the audience or is it necessary to be present to do a call to the audience?
It's very helpful to the Board, if members of the public, students & faculty members look at the agenda in advance and email input and advice to Board members abt agenda items before the meeting.
No member of the Board can be an expert or even knowledgeable about every item they vote on. It's extremely helpful, if knowledgeable people identify themselves, email & talk to the Board members!