Bucks County’s Democratic Commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie recently appointed five new members to the Bucks County Community College Board of Trustees, replacing members whose terms are expiring.
Marseglia said she sees this changing of the guard as a good move because the college has faced some “financial dilemmas” in the past few years and with new college President Patrick Jones taking office this summer, the commissioner said during a July 10 commissioners’ meeting.
“I’m kind of excited to give the new president, who starts this month, more new people to start a new board to keep a closer eye on things.”
But Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo voted against the appointments, saying he believed the members being replaced wanted to stay on the board. He mentioned particularly state Sen. Frank Farry, R-6, of Langhorne, who he called “an invaluable member of the board,” who advocated for the college in the state legislature.
“We’re losing that voice up in Harrisburg. I can’t believe but that’s not good for the community college,” DiGirolamo said. Farry could not be reached for comment.
Besides Farry, the three other members whose terms are expiring are Elizabeth Fineburg, Linda Mannherz and Carol A. Shelly. A fifth board member whose term is expiring, James H. Dancy Jr. was appointed to fill the remaining term of William D. Maeglin, who is resigning. His term ends in June 2026.
Dancy’s own seat and the four other open seats will be filled by Tabitha Dell’Angelo, Adrienne King, Vincent Magyar Jr., John P. Murray Sr. and Edward Tokmajian.
Tokmajian, who is chairman of the Bucks County Planning Commission, received the President’s Cup Award and was commencement speaker when he graduated from BCCC in 1997. He later graduated from Rider University, received his master’s of business administration degree from Holy Family University and works in pharmaceutical finance.
He previously served as a Bensalem councilman. He said he has both corporate and executive experience and wants to get involved in helping the college.
“It provided a great opportunity for graduating high school students across the county,” he said.
Dell’Angelo, who is interim Dean of the School of Education at the College of New Jersey, is a former member of the Central Bucks School Board. She opted not to seek re-election in 2023.
King is the founder and president of The PairUP Society, an anti-bullying organization that supports underrepresented students, and an executive member at large at NAACP Bucks County.
Magyar is an attorney at Lower Makefield-based Heraeus Inc.
BCCC has faced some financial challenges in the past few years, according to an auditing firm that the trustees brought in last year and that found “material weakness” in the college’s account keeping. “The audit triggered the need for the community college to file a corrective action plan with the Pennsylvania Department of Education,” the Herald reported in March 2023.
A spokesperson for the college did not return a call for comment Thursday or Friday.
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