The OC: last refuge of scoundrels

1. MORE ON ARMANDO "BOOTS" RUIZ

Yesterday, the Reg’s Frank Mickadeit once again spanked Armando Ruiz, who is known for being Raghu Mathur’s one-time monkey boy, an incompetent Coast Community College District trustee, a Junketeer extraordinaire (like our own John Williams!), and an all around asshole from hell. Here's what the Mick had to say:

'Jamming Armando?' No problem:

Serial public-perk abuser and Coast Community College District Board candidate Armando Ruiz finally defended his conduct Thursday afternoon. … Give Ruiz … credit for showing up. Credit should end right about there, though. I wandered into the Orange Coast College Student Center shortly after 1 p.m. for a candidates forum and found Ruiz at the far right end of a dais populated by the other candidates – including the two who are on the ballot opposing him in Area 3, Lorraine Prinsky and Don Apodaca.

During his six-minute opening statement, Apodaca … swung his support to Prinsky and said he wasn't going to campaign. He left the room. Ruiz got up and asked the moderator archly, "Am I going to have 12 minutes then?" With a nod toward Prinsky, he added, "I just ask because his speech was for her." Whiner!

"A lot of people are saying things about me that are unfair and untrue," he continued. He said he was part of a reform board when he took office in 1983….

Great, as Prinsky noted later, but what have you done for us lately? Besides spend tens of thousands of dollars on cross-country junkets, keep the district's accreditation problem under the radar and, most egregiously, engineer a phony double retirement so he can soak the taxpayers for about $50,000 a year more than he deserves and continue to sit on the college board.

On Thursday, Ruiz's total defense for his 2004 retirement scheme … was this: "It was a retirement I have and I took advantage of it."

We've waited four years for him to utter that? Take advantage of us, is more like it.

As for the excessive travel – he's heading off to Manhattan for another junket next week – Ruiz noted that all travel is approved by the board majority.

True. However: Other trustees travel about half what Ruiz does. And when they do get travel approved, they don't always follow through with the trip, especially in light of one of the worst budget crises in memory and with scores of classes potentially being cut. Jerry Patterson canceled his trip to the New York conference.

On the accreditation issue, Ruiz denied that two fellow trustees were kept out of the loop, as they have charged. A copy of the warning letter was put in their mailboxes and they were told to check them. "They didn't read their mail," Ruiz asserted.

And then sounding like a whiny NBA center, he invoked the third person: "This is another way of jamming Armando."

Patterson denied he was notified. The first he heard about it, he said, was at a meeting a month after the warning was issued – and only then from a teacher.

Amazingly, Prinsky charged, the issue of accreditation was not brought up by the board until Oct. 1 – at 11:45 p.m., when it could be conveniently buried.

As for the accreditation problems themselves, Ruiz blamed the faculty for not embracing a policy of laying out specific learning objectives for every course.

This was but one of several issues for which the Western Association of Schools and Colleges cited the district, but it was the only one Ruiz addressed. One of the others, significantly, is that the lines of authority between the district and colleges are not clear.

Which brings up Ruiz's excuse about how it came to pass — without public discussion by the board – that scores of courses could be canceled this spring. Those decisions are left to the three individual colleges, Ruiz said. "I'm not the expert to say, 'You should cut this,' " he said.

Wait a minute. This is a crisis. You have been on the board 25 freaking years! In your real job, you worked in college counseling and administration. You're not the expert?

It's the faculty's fault. It's other trustees' fault. It's somebody else's job. You're picking on me.

Maybe come Nov. 4, it will be somebody else's job.

2. NOT NOTIFYING THE PRESS?

A local reporter has written us about SOCCCD public information. Evidently, he notified the district in writing that he wanted to receive notices of special SOCCCD meetings, but this yielded an email response, saying that there is no system in place for providing such notices. Our reporter friend insists that, by law, districts are required to notify every general circulation newspaper that has requested notification at least 24 hours in advance. This includes any emergency meetings, he adds.

3. TO THE MOON, ARIES!

Bob Park reports that India has launched its first spacecraft to the moon. According to Bob, “Astrologers among the astronomers in the Indian Space Research Organization declared 22 Oct 08 to be an auspicious day for the launch….” Oh good.

4. ASSHOLES ON A TEAR

I’ve been told that Chancellor Mathur is on another one of his tears, getting in underlings’ faces, causing tears, the gnashing of teeth, and much irregularity.

Meanwhile, his pal and patron Tom Fuentes is sending robocalls to South County residents, taking credit for balanced budgets, high transfer rates, good weather, and I don’t know what else.

He's a lyin' sack o' shit. You can quote me.

5. MY NIGHTMARE

I had a nightmare last night: in November, the whole country will swing to the left, ridding itself of numerous Republicans.

The nightmare? Everyone everywhere rids themselves of Neanderthals, except for us in South Orange County.

The last refuge of scoundrels.

Pictured left: my dad's latest clay creation. A closeup. Above: El Toro Rd., near Cook's. Live Oak Canyon Rd., as seen from my Chrysler 300.