The further adventures of a world-class f*ck-up: board meeting on Monday

......The December meeting of the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees is coming up (Monday night, 6:30).
......The meeting’s “agenda outline” is available at Board Outlines.
......Monday's meeting is liable to be wild and wacky, what with ATEP development deadlines looming and the continued FUBAR concerning the Chancellor’s

WORLD-CLASS F*CK-UP

re the 50% law (which requires that at least half of expenditures be on instruction). PLUS…

THE ANNUAL ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING:

......As you know, it is in December that the board holds it’s annual “organizational meeting”—a meeting-within-a-meeting. The word is that Dave "the Quisling" Lang is sick and tired of presiding over Chancellor MATHUR and this dysfunctional board.
......But who’s willing to take on the board presidency?
…...Wagner? Could be.

MORE EVALS:

......Prior to the open session, of course, is the super-secret closed session (starting at 3:00). It looks like the board might continue its evaluation and reappointment of administrators. Saddleback College President Rich McCullough isn’t listed, of course, since he recently announced his “retirement,” to take effect in June. In truth, he insisted on really being the president of his college, and Mathur just couldn't abide that, so he drew a target on McCullough's forehead.
…...That's the persistent story, anyway, and nobody who knows Raghu Mathur would doubt it.
…...Among “consent calendar” items is Saddleback College’s popular “study abroad” trip to Santander, Spain. When that one comes up, there’s always a chance that Trustee Fuentes will say something incredibly stupid. Let’s hope so, cuz these board meetings can be way snoozular.
......The discussion of the 50% Law fiasco is scheduled for the end of the meeting. That could be interesting. It is no secret that Mathur’s failure to understand that law whilst spending BIG on ATEP has put us between a rock and a hard place. Meanwhile, there are indications that negotiations between SOCCCD, Camelot, and the City of Tustin or going badly. It is conceivable that the plug will be pulled on the Deluxe Edition of ATEP. (If that happens, it will be because Mathur is incompetent, not because ATEP was a bad idea.) But who knows.
....One “discussion item” is listed, and it’s pretty funny:

6.1 Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College: Languages in a Flat World

Luckily, on the agenda, Mathur explains item 6.1:

Information presented by Dr. Craig Justice, Vice President of Instruction, Irvine Valley College and Dr. Rajen Vurdien, Vice President for Instruction, Saddleback College, on the importance of languages in a flat world.

Oh.

A perfect storm of foolishness?

'FRAID SO. From this morning’s LA Times: Staying put in Orange County:

…Worried county officials had called the mandatory evacuation when forecasts called for 1 to 3 inches of rain. ¶ The concern was heightened by fears from federal hydrologists that there was a serious risk of mudslides in severely burned watersheds above Modjeska Canyon and two neighboring canyons. ¶ Maps released by the U.S. Geological Survey on Friday backed up earlier findings: Because the Santiago wildfire burned so hot above the canyons at the end of October, there are not even charred roots left on many slopes. There is just a sheer, waxlike surface that could propel rainwater, boulders and debris downhill into creek beds that can roar through the inhabited canyons. ¶ "Imagine a wall of mud coming down that creek in just seconds . . . a moving body of mud, water, whole trees, pieces of houses, cars, all mixed up like a chocolate milk shake," said Bob Scheibel, a structural engineer who lives in Modjeska Canyon. ¶ …[R]epeated evacuation orders coupled with milder conditions than predicted are already reducing the effectiveness of the orders [to evacuate]…Officials have warned residents to expect more evacuation orders in the future and are concerned that evacuation fatigue could set in, resulting in residents' opting to ride out a storm only to put themselves in harm's way if disaster strikes….