The board sets a record; Wagner continues as Prez; plus car chases

For the official story, see Tracy's Board Meeting Highlights

1. THE BOARD. A friend wrote me about tonight’s board meeting:

• [CORRECTION re administrative contracts: My source clarifies that all administrators (up for review) were granted 1-year contracts--shorter than expected. Here are the administrators listed on the agenda: Vice Chancellor, Technology and Learning Services ; Vice Chancellor, Human Resources; President/Saddleback College; Dean, Counseling Services, Irvine Valley College; Dean, Humanities & Languages/Social Science & Library Services, Irvine Valley College; Dean, PE, Kinesiology & Athletics, Saddleback College; Assistant Dean, Counseling Services/Special Programs, Saddleback College; Dean, Fine Arts, Business Sciences & College Online Education, Irvine Valley College; Provost/ATEP; Dean, Math, Science & Engineering, Irvine Valley College; Dean, Health Sciences, PE & Athletics, Irvine Valley College]

• Amazingly, the closed session, which started at 5:00 p.m., lasted until nearly 9 p.m.! Gosh, that must be a new record! What do you suppose that was about?

• Oddly, nothing was reported out of closed session.

• Don Wagner was elected (again) as the President of the board for the next year. Nancy Padberg is VP. Marcia Milchiker is Clerk. (Wagner is a major contender in a race for the 70th Assembly District. You'd think he'd devote his time to that. But what do I know.) (Photo: Tracy Daly)

• That seriously curious "prayer" resolution (prayer? Hell Yes! plus: thou shalt examine videos before showing them; Williams shalt avoid jokes condemning non-believers, etc.) was approved, despite Dave Lang's efforts to amend it. "Dave, you got snookered," said Wagner. (It is unlikely that trustees are all on the same page about the prayer and religion issue. Lang has been among those who've pushed back against the board/Mathur's in-your-face religiosity/sectarianism.)

• IVC's seriously odd and troublesome temporary full-time faculty positions were approved. Big money.

• Trustees opted not to discuss accred, owing to the lateness of the hour.

2. THE BORED (e.g., cylinders). The other day, in my Ethics class, whilst discussing John Stuart Mill’s distinction between the quality and the quantity of pleasures—Mill insisted that any puny amount of  "pleasure of the mind" trumps gobs of sensual delights—I found myself ridiculing popular contemporary movies, and that led to a thorough condemnation of car chase scenes and explosions. I was thinking of such movies as “The Fast and the Furious,” which, naturally, is shite.

But, in truth, I love a really good car chase scene, though they don’t seem to be done with as much flair as they used to be.

Here’s a good one. And an explosion, too. It’s from Bullitt (1968):

McQueen is driving a dark "Highland Green" 1968 Ford Mustang 390 CID Fastback. (See Shelby.) The hit men are in a "Tuxedo Black" 1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Magnum. (See Charger.)

The hit man driver is none other than the legendary Bill Hickman (1921–1986), who was involved in three of the greatest car chases in movie history (Bullitt 1968, The French Connection 1971, and The Seven-Ups 1973.)

Hickman was a pal of James Dean’s. According to Wikipedia,

Bill spent some of his earlier days as driver and friend to James Dean, driving Dean's Ford station wagon towing his famed 550 spyder nicknamed “Little Bastard”, and often helping and advising him with his driving technique, he was driving the Ford station wagon and trailer following Dean on the day of his fatal accident and was first on the scene….

[According to Hickman:] "In those final days, racing was what he cared about most. I had been teaching him things like how to put a car in a four-wheel drift, but he had plenty of skill of his own. If he had lived he might have become a champion driver. We had a running joke, I'd call him Little Bastard and he'd call me Big Bastard. I never stop thinking of those memories." In another interview with James Dean expert Warren Beath, Hickman is quoted as saying "We were about two or three minutes behind him. I pulled him out of the car, and he was in my arms when he died, his head fell over. I heard the air coming out of his lungs the last time. Didn’t sleep for five or six nights after that, just the sound of the air coming out of his lungs."

Typically, in explaining Mill’s distinction, I compare American muscle cars and European sports cars. You know: quantity versus quality.

But you’ve gotta love that Mustang and that Charger.

COMMENTS:

Anonymous said...
The four hour closed session was dedicated to celebrating Wagner's new title: the Sexiest Man in the World.
7:10 AM, December 08, 2009

Anonymous said...
Very strange last night.
9:17 AM

Anonymous said...
I still don't get the temporary full-time hire thing at all.

9 positions?!?

I thought there wasn't enough money anywhere for anything extra.

Where does it come from? 

Why?
10:05 AM

Anonymous said...
How was Lang snookered? What was the nature of his proposed amendment? Inquring minds want to know.
10:22 AM

B. von Traven said...
I'm afraid I can't answer any detailed questions, since I wasn't at the board meeting, as per my resolution of a month or so ago. But I would guess that the trustees are not unanimous in their decision to entrench with a pro-prayer stance, which, naturally, will have implications for the current litigation. 
At IVC, it would seem that we have entered an era in which administrators are less than straight with us. Originally, we were told that there was some "extra money" that permitted the temp full-time hires. In truth (I believe), the district is attempting to avoid violation of the 50% law, which requires that at least half of expenditures be devoted to "instruction."
10:33 AM

Anonymous said...
Clearly, they spent those hours in prayer.
11:14 AM

Anonymous said...
You're into muscle cars? Really?
11:54 AM

Anonymous said...
of course he is - haven't you seen his ride?
12:59 PM

"Thou Shalt Destroy All Evidence That Might Get Your Pious Ass Sued"

An hour or so ago, OC Weekly’s Matt Coker reported about our trustees and their pious and unconstitutional ways: College Board Sued Over Prayers Weighs Prayer Policy Tonight:

Ever go to a school board meeting and have a tent revival break out?

Trustees who lord over the South Orange County Community College District … and are being sued over their frequent and apparently mandatory use of official prayers are scheduled tonight to consider a new policy concerning those moments of supposed intimate connection with a greater power.

Matt joins us here at DtB in noting the curious nature of tonight’s special 3-part “prayer ‘n’ videos” resolution. Remember the “Jesus Christ and the American G.I.” video?

The new policy, then, would seem to acknowledge that was bad--mmm-kay?--as a video like that would have to be pre-screened, and all religious images and inferences would be strip-mined out.

The bit in the third section about restricting one's personal religious comments seems to stem from district trustee and County of Orange Public Administrator John Williams introducing his prayer at an August board session by essentially telling those present who questioned Bible stories that they were going to hell.
…
Since the board videotapes its meetings, that footage apparently would have been edited out had the policy being considered tonight already been in place. Which brings us, brothers and sisters, to the 11th Commandment: Thou Shalt Destroy All Evidence That Might Get Your Pious Ass Sued.

Our Beno

• Board meeting tonight, complete with Japanese sneak attack (agenda) — Trustees will resolve to check vids before showing them ~ $2,445 a person for Orlando junket ~ new Board President?

• A Rainbow of Patriots/Crazies Greet Nancy Pelosi in Irvine (OC Weekly) — Way crazy 9/11 truthers, Fuentesers, et al.

• U.S.A. All the Way Apologies to the cynics, but we’re on a roll. (The New York Times) — That's right, our French fries are still the best, and Apple rules

• Should you treat your children like dogs? Can dog-whisperering techniques used to control canines also work with children (The Guardian) — Sure, why not, and with students too; can we use treats?

AT A RECENT MEETING of the IVC Academic Senate, senators discussed “student learning outcomes” (SLOs) yet again. The discussion got seriously nuts. I listened in amazement. It appeared to me that, perhaps unknowingly, the college had constructed a “system” around the new planning and SLO requirements that was shot through with bad faith and, well, idiocy. I needed to say something.

“I feel that I am in a dystopian novel,” I announced. Most senators just stared. (I don’t think they know what “dystopian” means.)

It does not surprise me that this SLO garbage is being foisted upon us. What surprises me is the impulse to cheerfully accommodate these demands.

What’s the matter with people? Are they too far gone?

But, if you look, you can find plenty of non-cheerful accommodation (or cheerful or non-cheerful non-accommodation). For instance, in this morning’s Inside Higher Ed, Rob Weir declares that he is a “near-total skeptic on the ‘measured outcomes’ fad sweeping academe.” In parentheses, he says more: “Way too much of the latter is jargon-ridden gibberish fashioned by administrators who don’t teach to mollify demagogic politicians who don’t think!”

For us in the community colleges, much of this gibberish seems to originate (after the demagogic politicians, I mean) with accrediting officials. That ACCJC: it is, by itself, its own dystopian novel.

It’s headed by the remarkable "Babs" Beno. Remember when she arrived in the spring of '06 to declare that things in the district were just about, well, hunky-dory? She actually offered that assessment, more or less, immediately after having heard three faculty leaders explaining how remarkably unhunky and undory things really were.

She and Tom Fuentes were on the same page that day. Everything is just f*cking great, they said. They were on a soma holiday together. How wonderful.

I seem to recall that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World describes life under “Our Ford.”

OK then.

Our Beno.

Dystopia c. 2006

1:20 Faculty speak the truth, to no avail
6:28 Babs Beno: “I’ve seen a lot of progress here, so good for you.”
6:50 Trustee Fuentes: “an infusion of good cheer”
7:35 Ian Walton: “Can I really truthfully stand up here and say it’s nice to be back? I’m not even gonna try to answer that question.”

Watch Ian Walton listen to Babs and the trustees and, well, find himself in a dystopian novel.

Live music for a dead Sunday

I chose this one in part because you can see Tina Weymouth playin' her bass. I remember wearing this song out in grad school, late 70s. Very cool, very dark. My fave version is on 1982's live The Name of This Band is Talking Heads.

Well, OK, this isn't "live." It was sung by the now dead Nico (died in '88), during her time with Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground in the mid-60s. (Love the Velvets.) Nico was a nihilist and heroin addict. That's obvious, I guess.

Here they are performing, about thirty years after the original recording, and they still sound great. X is considered by many to be the greatest of the LA punk bands, though, really, they were always more than a punk band. (Not that there's anything wrong with being a punk band.) I've always loved the way John Doe and Exene Cervenka's voices mesh on this song. Pretty special.

Bragg first recorded this in the early 80s. He's very smart and just plain wonderful. Saw him at the Coach House a few years ago with Reb and Red. I think those two have gone to dinner with Mr. Bragg. The same politics, I guess. The old union radical crowd: always eating, always plotting and scheming.

This song first appeared on an album (Marquee Moon) in 1977. Television was a part of the New York scene that produced Talking Heads, Blondie, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, et al. They still sound great. The interplay of the two guitars is pretty special. Also check out their song "Marquee Moon."

I've always loved this one. Once again, we get to see Tina Weymouth playin' her bass. At first, she was just the drummer's girlfriend, but the band needed a bassist, so they got her a bass and made her listen to Suzie Quatro albums, and so there you are. (This is pretty much how Maureen Tucker became the drummer for the Velvets. She was somebody's sister, hanging around.)
All of these bands (except perhaps X; not sure about them) were heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground. And no wonder!

I do believe that The Modern Lovers, who hailed from Massachusetts, recorded this version of "She Cracked" in LA in 1972. Clearly, they were way ahead of their time. This doesn't appear to be the version of "She Cracked" that ended up on their one and only album (The Modern Lovers), which wasn't released until 1976 (it comprised the 1972 demos). This recording isn't live, but these guys always sounded like a live band somehow. Singer Jonathan Richman has continued as a solo artist. Jerry Harrison joined Talking Heads. The drummer helped found the Cars, etc.

Evidently, heroin can lower your voice. Here’s Marianne Faithfull (2000) doing her hit from circa 1979—during one of her many comebacks. Did you know that she is none other than the Baroness Sacher-Masoch and that her maternal great-great-uncle, Herr Masoch, wrote Venus in Furs? The latter title served as the title of one of the Velvet’s most celebrated songs, sung by Nico.

If, for some reason, you would like to go insane, take a look at Faithfull lipsyncing to her hit “As Tears Go By” in 1965.

Orlando Bound! ("a palpable sense of drama and grandeur")

"Sparkling pools and lazy river"
Only $2,445 a pop. Taxpayers will be delighted.

WHO WILL BE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD? In December, the SOCCCD board of trustees holds its annual "organizational meeting." This year, the meeting is on the 7th--Pearl Harbor Day! Click here for the agenda (pdf).

The trustees will, among other tasks, elect the President of the Board. As you know, current President Don Wagner is running for a seat in the State Assembly (70th AD). One might suppose, therefore, that he has better things to do than to preside over this board for yet another year. But maybe he loves bossing people around, keeping his eye on Mathur, sitting immediately under the golden "Ronald Reagan" sign, etc. Who wouldn't?

Trustee Tom Fuentes has never served as board President. Do you suppose he wants the job? Do you suppose he's up to the job? If he becomes President, will he hold entire meetings in prayer mode? Will he put on Christmas and Easter Pageants? Will the full measure of his piety finally come out of the closet? Come to Monday's meeting and see! (I won't be there. I've sworn off it.)

ORLANDO! Trustees are requesting money for conferences. One pricey conference is in a spectacular hotel in Washington, DC. And, as usual, a certain trustee (or perhaps multiple persons) has requested big money to attend the "National Conference on Trusteeship"—five fabulous days in lovely ORLANDO, Florida. Natch, the conference will be held at a fancy schmancy hotel. Check it out: golf, pools, serving wenches and everything.

Gosh, I wonder if JOHN WILLIAMS plans to go? He's into family values. He's terribly staunch about that. And I do believe he has relations in that part of the country. Well then!

Do you realize that he has been on the SOCCCD board for seventeen years? Do you suppose he still needs to brush up on this "trusteeship" thing? Guess so! Plus, he can work on his golf swing! (See Orlando Boy.)

●  2010 Community College National Legislative Summit

●  2010 National Conference on Trusteeship

●  CCLC Legislative Conference

●  Sheraton Grand Sacramento

Washington Marriott Wardman Park

"The soaring cathedral ceiling of our downtown Washington, DC hotel lobby conveys a palpable sense of drama and grandeur. It's a gesture that indicates the level of luxury and elegance—as well as service and amenities—you can expect as our guest."

$2,011 a pop.

SOCCCD Board of Trustees: special resolution retreatery

I just perused the agenda for the SOCCCD Board of Trustee's December (7) meeting. (Click here; a large pdf file.)

Item 6.1 is interesting:

Invocations at District and College Events
Adopt Resolution 09-23 regarding District policy on invocations at District and College events.

Point 1 of the resolution is just what one would expect from this conservative board. But points 2 and 3 reveal--oh, intense regret and... --um, I'll let you characterize it.

As I have noted previously, at the board meeting immediately following the notorious Fall Chancellor's "opening session"--in which a patriotic video declared that "Jesus Christ" offered to save our souls--the board heard from faculty who mightily objected to the video "Christ" sentiment and Trustee Williams' curious "going to hell" remark and invocation. They also requested an apology.

At that time, in response, trustees and the chancellor mentioned no "mistake" and made no apologies. Indeed, the Chancellor remarked that he was "not offended." Board President Wagner praised the Chancellor's opening session as a "job well done."

That was it. (This was nearly two weeks after the session.)

It is important to understand that the recently filed lawsuit ("Westphal v. Wagner") presents a pattern of behavior over a long period of time. The events of the Fall opening session are only some among many that constitute a rich and worrisome practice, including troubling and defiant episodes.

COMMENTS:

Hell No!
Anonymous said...
wow - you mean John Williams won't be able to tell me that I'm going to burn in hell anymore?
8:21 AM, December 04, 2009

Ixnay on the Apcray
Anonymous said...
Does this cover Raghu telling people that God put him in the Chancellor's office and that he is doing God's bidding at the colleges? 
Just wondering.
8:28 AM

Don Juan v. Don Wag
Anonymous said...
Ouch.

(Vote for Johnny Depp people - defeat Don Wagner!)
9:13 AM

Gratuitous Truth-spewage
Anonymous said...
Pot stirrer! Do you really want people to know what's going on? Why? To what end?
9:18 AM

Gimme separation or give me, um, a booboo
Anonymous said...
"Power concedes nothing without demand." - Frederick Douglass.

Thanks for demanding. Keep it up.
9:34 AM

Sure you can!
Anonymous said...
You can't make this stuff up!
9:51 AM

Wha?
Anonymous said...
Can anyone interpret that incomprehensible blather in paragraph 1?
11:10 AM

omg, CYA, CYA!
Anonymous said...
So basically they went to their (and God's) lawyer, and he said, "YOU IDIOTS! GO BACK AND COVER YOUR ASSES! TELL THEM IT WAS A MISTAKE! TELL THEM ANYTHING! HOW DUMB ARE YOU ANYWAY?"
12:24 PM

For the deaf, too
Anonymous said...
Let's see—you're a college for the blind, right? --Johnny Depp
12:39 PM

We won't be pushed around (beyond this point back here. Hello?)
Anonymous said...
Wow. A partial retreat. Their lawyer must've given 'em some bad news: "Good Lord, you people are morons."
1:10 PM

Trojan horses in public schools

TODAY, the Reg reported that

A libertarian think-tank that prominently features the Capistrano Unified School District in a documentary about how the U.S. public school system is broken will screen its 49-minute film this afternoon on Capitol Hill. [The documentary--see trailer above] recounts a five-year effort by the CUSD Recall Committee parents group to bring reforms to a school district plagued by scandal, community unrest and allegations of corruption reaching into the highest levels of its administration.… The 2:30 p.m. screening will be hosted by two leading GOP lawmakers....

Co-hosting the screening will be the film's executive producer, Lance Izumi, and [the director]….

Lance Izumi? Does that name sound familiar? It should. Izumi was Chancellor Raghu P. Mathur’s super-special guest speaker at the Spring ’08 “Opening Session.” He was co-billed with Elvis. Remember?

The filmmakers highlight the much-criticized construction of Capistrano's sprawling district office building, the grand jury indictment of a former superintendent, and the unpopular decision to build a high school on a hilly site bordered by high-voltage transmission lines, landfills and a high-pressure gasoline pipeline.

The filmmakers also traveled to Nashville, Tenn., to profile a family's unhappiness with local public schools, to Sweden to examine that country's school voucher system, and to Oakland to chronicle the turnaround of an inner-city charter school.
...
Several Capistrano trustees who ran on the CUSD Recall Committee's "reform" platform attended the May premiere of the film, drawing ire from critics who questioned why public school officials were apparently supporting a film calling for sweeping reforms to public education, including school choice [i.e., programs allowing parents to spend government vouchers on private schools].

That is mighty strange, isn’t it? Public school officials in favor of the private school “voucher” concept? Gee willikers! It's almost perverse!

The Reg article notes that “Capistrano's ‘reform’ movement has accepted at least $40,000 in political campaign contributions over the past few years from the Education Alliance, a Tustin-based political action committee that, among other things, strongly supports school choice and school vouchers….”

Education Alliance: that’s the right-wing organization that SOCCCD board president Don Wagner helps guide (he’s on their board). A couple of years ago, Wagner (and Mathur and Padberg) went to a big EA shindig, featuring ultra-pompous blow-hard Dennis Prager! They told everybody about it at a board meeting.

EA got its start, you know, with a big chunk of money provided by Tom Fuentes’ good pal Howard Ahmanson—you know, the guy who thinks that stoning gay people to death isn’t really such a bad idea.

They're a sweet bunch, really they are. And very pious. As you may have heard, they do a lot of prayin'.

Tonight’s musical selection is the late Gene Pitney’s 1961 recording of “Every Breath I Take.” It is perhaps the most delirious record ever made. Love it. Be sure to catch Gene's lurid sigh just before the instrumental break:

Bonus track: Mekons’ glorious I Love a Millionaire

The Reg: John Williams' reduced authority

Last night, we reported some impending decisions with regard to trustee John Williams’ role as OC Public Administrator/Public Guardian. This morning, the OC Reg’s “Watchdog” (Jennifer Muir) reports:

County CEO: Reduce authority of elected official

The county’s top executive wants to seize oversight of the public guardian’s office, essentially reducing the authority of the county’s elected Public Administrator John Williams.

The recommendation comes months after a grand jury issued two scathing reports about Williams and the public administrator/public guardian office. They accuse Williams of doubling his management budget, breaking personnel rules and squandering a trustee’s estate….

Williams has refuted the findings, saying the grand jury just didn’t understand some of the complicated information he handed over and that their reports contain factual errors.

The county concedes that Williams has corrected or explained many of the grand jury allegations, but still contends “there is more to be done,” according to a staff report from CEO Tom Mauk’s office.
…
Supervisors have historically appointed the elected Public Administrator to take on the additional role of Public Guardian. In 2007, they solidified that marriage, passing an ordinance that makes the elected Public Administrator the ex-officio Public Guardian.

That means Williams, like the county’s other elected officials, doesn’t report to a direct supervisor. The public is his boss.

Mauk wants supervisors to repeal that ordinance, returning the Public Guardian job to an appointed position– a position that reports to him.

Mauk is recommending that supervisors let Williams keep the public guardian job if they vote to split up the offices. But if supervisors decide to appoint someone else instead, it could mean Williams will get a pay cut. He currently earns $139,526 a year….

COMMENTS:

Anonymous said...
Everyone knows that John has been overworked and underpaid - I am sure he welcomes this change.
9:26 AM, December 03, 2009

Anonymous said...
I expect the district will send out another clarifying email announcement regarding this latest development.
9:46 AM

Anonymous said...
There you go again Roy - stirring the pot of controversy by reading newspaper and then posting the article so people can be informed! This has got to stop.
10:50 AM

Anonymous said...
Yeah, there you go stirring the pot, beating the Register to this story and getting everything exactly right! What an asshole!
11:11 AM

Anonymous said...
That's pretty good pay from the taxpayers. Maybe John is also in favor of public healthcare.
11:52 AM

Anonymous said...
Williams is finanlly getting what he deserves. Lets hope the BOS moves quickly to implement this then turn around and fire his worthless ass, then folled up again with the firing of the HR director and the Chief Deputy. I hope Williams is enjoying his last Christmas party with his staff (Claimjumpers).
12:58 PM

Anonymous said...
Claimjumper?
5:44 PM

Anonymous said...
Yes, Claim Jumper! He was even nice enough to donate a dvd player as a raffle item. $139K for showing up for work for a few hours a day and he donates a dvd player! He only said a few words too, which was really nice. We all know he doesn't care about anyone but himself anyway, so why waste the words.
10:37 PM

Movies: the flood of 1938 (Orange County)

From Orange County Archives' photostream:

● 1938 flood at Olive
Traveling north on the 55, Olive hill is the last (and only!) hill on the left--just before one encounters the 91 and Santa Ana Canyon.

● 1938 flood at Atwood (a section of Anaheim), California
"The great flood of 1938 damaged many Orange County communities, but it struck hardest in the largely Mexican-American communities of Atwood and La Jolla. Most of the deaths caused by the flood came from this area, near the spot where the Santa Ana River initially broke through its banks. The Atwood area is now part of the City of Anaheim." [Or Placentia?]

● 1938 flood at Anaheim
Gustavo Arellano describes the flood

John Williams: as sharp as a bowling ball

You’ll recall that, earlier this year, trustee John Williams, the OC Public Administrator/Public Guardian, was the subject of two scathing Grand Jury reports that essentially accused him of mismanagement, incompetence, and various worrisome irregularities.

Today, a reader commented:

It seems as though the Orange County Board of Supervisors is FINALLY going to act on these [Grand Jury] findings. In the agenda for the upcoming [Board of Supervisors] meeting you will find under Item 45 where the BOS will adopt an ordinance to separate the elected position of the Public Administrator's office and the ex officio Public Guardian. This will again create two departments and Mr. Williams will now have to account for his actions to the CEO [County Executive Officer Thomas G. Mauk, I believe] will serve at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors….

The reader advises perusal of the “staff report,” and suggests that, according to that report, Williams will cease his role as Public Guardian after his term is up.

I read the agenda for the Dec. 8 BOS meeting, and, indeed, item 45 is the following:

Consider first reading of "An Ordinance of the County of Orange, California Repealing Ordinance No. 07-008, Which Designated the Public Administrator as the Ex Officio Public Guardian; and set second reading and adoption for 12/15/09….

Attached to item 45 is a staff report, which includes the following:

The CEO recommends repealing Ordinance 07-008 … thereby returning Public Guardian (PG) to an appointed position, reporting to the CEO….

The [Public Guardian] was an appointed position until County Ordinance 07-008 was adopted, when the Board designated the Public Administrator as the Ex Officio Public Guardian.

On March 11, 2003, the Board of Supervisors appointed the newly elected PA to the additional office of Public Guardian of the County of Orange, and moved the PA/PG department from the Community Services Agency (CSA) to the Health Care Agency (HCA).

On May 3, 2005, The Board of Supervisors approved the separation of the office of the Public Administrator/Public Guardian from HCA and established it as a separate department. This action was taken primarily to realize significant cost savings.

On May 22, 2007, The Board of Supervisors approved Resolution 07-008 …, which made the elected Public Administrator the ex officio Public Guardian….

...The recommended actions would again give the Board of Supervisors the discretion to make the appointment of the PG.

The CEO recommends repealing Ordinance 07-008 … thereby returning Public Guardian (PG) to an appointed position, reporting to the CEO. This would improve management oversight and collaboration with the department and CEO, including budget and reserves, policies and procedures and human resources. This action does not affect the elected Public Administrator (PA) position. … The only substantive operational change will be to have the CEO provide support and oversight for the PG activities.

The CEO recommends these actions based on a number of factors. The PA/PG has been the subject of an unprecedented two Grand Jury reports this year. The first, “Guardian of Last Resort,” published May 6, 2009 raised significant concerns about personnel classifications, management growth, the replacement IT system and financial accountability. The second Grand Jury report, “Supplemental Guardian of Last Resort” published on June 30, 2009 re-emphasizes many of the same concerns. While many of the Grand Jury issues have been corrected or explained, there is more to be done.

Additionally, PA/PG is facing significant budget challenges, as the revenue streams are projected to be lower than expected because of economic conditions (i.e. interest and estate fees)….

PA/PG has also experienced significant issues with their new IT replacement system. Deadlines have been missed, and PA/PG agrees with CEO IT that a new vendor could be needed. Since this project will be lead by CEO IT, having CEO oversight for Public Guardian will provide better oversight and increased assurance of timely success.

This new reporting relationship will enhance accountability of the department and services to the clients of Orange County.

This action is timed to be effective prior to the filing for the June 2010 election. The second reading for this action must be completed prior to January 15, in order to be effective prior to the commencement of the declaration of candidacy by the Registrar of Voters for the June 2010 election, which is February 15, 2010. Anyone seeking to run for Public Administrator will know that the additional appointment as Public Guardian will be appointed at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors.

The determination of the split between the PA and PG salaries is based on past practice and estimated workload. Until 2007, the PAPG was budgeted separately at a split of approximately 25% for the elected Public Administrator and 75% for the appointed Public Guardian....

The Philosopher of the Sierra Madre: on Andy Hardy Christians

Community: Social cohesion; mutual support and affinity such as is derived from living [with a body of people in a place]

— The Oxford English Dictionary

A Terrible Wrong. Many months ago I went to a party where a colleague came up to me troubled and angered that a recent hire/search process hadn’t identified a certain familiar person, the estimable X, as the committee’s recommendation. I had been on that hiring committee.

I looked at him. I said something like, “Well, we interviewed lots of candidates, and X, though estimable, wasn’t among the very best candidates interviewed. So, naturally, X’s name wasn’t put forward.”

The colleague stared back, uncomprehending.

It wasn’t the first time I had encountered people who assumed that some candidate who is familiar and generally well-regarded would be selected. But I’ve served on enough search committees to know this: if the process is clean, the assumption is never justified.

Have you ever sought a position and done an interview somewhere burdened by the suspicion that the fix was in?

“No,” one thinks. “People aren’t that rotten—to allow all these earnest people to travel to this strange place from far and wide, to give their all when, in truth, the entire process is a sham, a fraud, for the decision has already been made!”

Sometimes, over time, we drift from our initial clarity, and we come to do things unthinkingly that, once, we would have surely condemned. I do think good people, confused and fragmented by endless episodes of complexity and compromise, sometimes fall into this kind of corruption, this kind of wronging of people.

But it is a terrible wrong, isn’t it?

Community and the Public Christian. I think of myself as a kind of communitarian. I view community as a goal of the wise. And, obviously, there are actions and practices that promote community and there are actions and practices that weaken it.

Some Christians, it seems, are incapable of imagining that some members of the community will be offended or somehow put off by the imposition on public gatherings of the idea, “we are all Christians.”

Or is it that they just don’t care about giving offense?

Though I am an agnostic, I was raised a Christian (Lutheran division). It is not obvious to me that, as a Christian, one must assert one’s faith to all of one’s companions, and in all of one’s activities, throughout the day. No, it is possible, in the course of one’s day, to be a Christian quietly, and to be a real Christian nonetheless. It is especially possible when, also, one has innumerable opportunities (e.g., in Church) to be the Public Christian, if that is desirable.

Have you ever seen any of those old Andy Hardy pictures? Watching those old movies, one sensed that Andy simply could not help himself. He had to put on a show.

Perhaps there are Andy Hardy Christians.

COMMENTS:

Just egos?
Anonymous said...
Faith is a gift Roy,one that you have not received. You were raised as a Christian, it was the best your parents could do. You stuck your head in a book and came out questioning everything your parents taught you. Now, you're content to stick your head in the sand and claim everyone is blind to what you don't see. Your next move is to claim that the Pledge of Allegiance is a prayer too and ban that at all college functions. The fact is, this has nothing to with church and state. This has nothing to do with political correctness. This is nothing more than the continuing battle between egos and assholes that has plagued this district for far too long.
7:50 AM, December 02, 2009

What you know ain't so
B. von Traven said...
Gosh, 7:50, you sure do know a lot. The problem is that much of what you know just ain’t so. It is simply a factual mistake to view this lawsuit as originating with me. I have no plans to challenge the Pledge of Allegiance and I do not regard it as a prayer. I certainly do not reject everything my parents taught me. (Why don’t you ask ‘em?) And my participation in this lawsuit has nothing whatsoever to do with egoes. ¶ 

I have made two points here: that community, a valuable thing, is undermined by unnecessarily imposing one’s particular religiousness on others (a loutish thing, that) and that being a Christian does not entail engaging in worshipful practices and rituals in public settings (that include non-Christians). Rather than speculate (badly) about motives, Why don’t you deal with my argument?
8:32 AM

The Shame Game
Anonymous said...
If some of our students are anything like I was at their age - raised without religion - I expect that they feel a bit as I once did in similar situations when prayers are offered and I was told to bow my head - SHAME. It's an awful feeling - and one that shouldn't be created in a public institute of education. 

oh, an Anon at 7:50 - I wouldn't predict what Roy's next "move" is going to be - that's pretty bad bit of faulty reasoning - and the kind of red-baiting attack that sadly never seems to go out of style. 

(BTW, I LOVE the Judy Garland bits.)
8:33 AM

Trustees R beyond offensive
Anonymous said...
I taught in a Cathloic school at one time. There were prayers said - of course. I led some of them, of course. 

IVC is not a religious institution - it is paid for by citizens of all beliefs and those of no faith. It is attended by students of many religious traditions and students who follow no religious tradition. Employees are equally diverse. 

To be subject to repeated explicitly Christian prayers at public events and employee-related events is offensive. To be chastised by a member of the governing board for a lack of the faith that is HIS faith and not mine -and to be told in so many words by someone who is my employer that I am "going to hell" - is well, beyond offensive.
9:19 AM

Whiner! Pot-stirrer!
Anonymous said...
Roy, You don't have an argument, you don't have a case. What you're doing is called a whine. I feel certain, (some would call it faith)that you will continue to stir the pot of controversy and post pictures of your cat.
9:39 AM

Loud American vs. quiet European Jesusery
Anonymous said...
I've traveled quite a bit and find it fascinating that the American manifestation of Christianity often is as Roy describes. 

Any insight on why that is so? 

One doesn't get this kind of thing in England or Germany or France - or even in Italy (though I guess some wouldn't consider Catholics Christians...)
9:49 AM

Subtle corruption is alive and well
Anonymous said...
Thanks for both excellent insights in these posts, VbT. I once served on a search for a Dean in which, as I LATER realized, the fix was pretty much in. And I've observed probably half a dozen faculty searches in which the inside candidate was --surprise!--the one chosen. My strong suspicion is that this kind of subtle corruption of good people is, indeed, at the heart of things in many of these cases. The injustice of it is maddening. 

Thanks, too, for the comment about being a quiet Christian. Spot-on.

MAH
10:07 AM

In the real world, it isn't corruption; it's good
Anonymous said...
In the real world, the inside candidate often has an advantage, without any "fix" being in. In fact, the opportunity for advancement within an organization is an incentive to good work and should be encouraged. That's why many companies have explict policies favoring promotion from within. No "surprise" there. Why should academia be any different? It's not corruption, subtle or otherwise.
10:27 AM

You make all Christians look bad
Anonymous said...
"Faith is a gift Roy,one that you have not received."

What a patronizing, smarmy, self important character this person must be. His/her special god has chosen to bestow a very special gift upon this person, and not for the likes of our humble blogger. These are the types of Christians who make all the others look bad.
10:32 AM

Insiders have it clinched? They shouldn't
Anonymous said...
Hiring processes for academic positions generally receive a great number of applicants, and, typically, among these are highly qualified people. In an academic setting, it is unlikely that local adjuncts will be among the best candidates, when there are many. I have been on perhaps ten job searches, and I don't think we ever offered the job to an insider. We often started the process assuming that a particular adjunct would rise to the top, but, again, in my experience, that has just not occurred. The point here is not that "insiders" don't have an advantage (they do). Rather, the point is that, all things considered, there is no reason to assume that the insider will be selected in the end--not of the process is clean.
11:45 AM

Judy, Judy, Judy
Anonymous said...
Yes--can't get enough of the young Judy G!
11:50 AM

It's corruption, Business Boy!
Anonymous said...
Well, 10:27, academia should be different from the business/corporate world for a number of reasons, but perhaps foremost because honesty is an absolute, core value in academia, ideally and often in fact. And doing a search when one knows or believes that the insider will get the position is plain dishonest, as well as stupendously inconsiderate and disrespectful of the outside candidates. The problem arises when the appearance of an authentic search doesn't correspond to the reality of a foregone (or even *almost* foregone) conclusion. 

Insiders do, in academia, also have advantages that don't have to do with corruption, of course. They are familiar with the institution, the students, the ethos of the place (if they've been doing their jobs). 

Still, the subtle corruption is there, in my view, based on observations over many, many years. 

MAH
11:59 AM

It's an important issue
Anonymous said...
Despite what one commentator has suggested, this suit highlights an important issue and I look forward to seeing how the court eventually sees it. 

Perhaps Anon at 9:39 should peruse some American legal history and see how this case fits in a proud tradition.
1:23 PM

DtB lifts the lid!
Anonymous said...
The blog doesn't stir pot as much as it lifts lids to show us what's cooking.
1:58 PM