Monday, December 14, 2009

One pure smile

The SOCCCD rumor mill is grinding day and night. Have you heard some of this stuff?

"Watch for things to pop," some say.

–Like what?

Today, a friend talked to a friend who talked to an acquaintance who recently ran into Chancellor Mathur, who (so the story goes) complained that things are getting pretty nasty on the third floor (district headquarters), and so he (Mathur) is contemplating resigning.

(We keep hearing that Mathur royally pissed off the Wag Man with his sneaky tête-à-tête with Babs Beno over the propriety of trustees serving on accred committees.)

Meanwhile, another friend (and faculty leader) has heard (where? I dunno) that there will be a double secret probationary board meeting on Friday. I checked the district website, and there’s nothing posted there, but there wouldn’t be, would there? This crowd only does what is legally demanded, openness-wise. Sometimes, they don't even do that.

(Another friend keeps describing to me his fantasy of a long and twisty conga-line on the 3rd floor of the district offices, led by XXXX, as Mathur is seen being escorted to his Mercedes by Harry Parmer and a German Shepherd.)

A week ago, the board spilled into the Ronald Reagan room, a veritable slime ball of mutual, snarkological peeviosity and sticky, backroom wheeler-dealery. (Gosh, it must be hard keeping all those grudges straight. One pure smile could really mess things up!) Imagine! –Fuentes, Williams, and Lang voting against Don Wagner for President! And Williams nominating Padberg! And Don nominating the likes of Padberg and Milchiker for his “team"!

And Nancy and Tom arguing over whether Washington, D.C. is on a coast! 

And what does this mean for Wagner’s 70th Assembly campaign? At least until recently, Don seemed to enjoy the full backing and political wizardry of Tom Fuentes, and, in this benighted county, that still means something. Might this “new SOCCCD order,” if that’s what we've got here, threaten Wagnerian electoral Fuentification and brass-ring grabbery?

Gosh, I just don’t know.

Where’s this all going? And if the board is so torn up over Mathur (and who-knows-what-else), can they really be on the same page about this “religion” fubar? And what’s happened with the ongoing Tustin snafu? And is the district heading for another close call (or worse) with the dang 50% Law?

And when am I finally gonna get my gosh-darn 23-year pin!

Inquiring minds wanna know!

No conga, but good


Comments:

‪Anonymous‬ said...
I'll make chile rellenos!
8:04 PM, December 14, 2009

‪Anonymous‬ said...
Yes! I can absolutely picture that conga line! With XXXX in front!
8:41 PM

‪Anonymous‬ said...
Didn't Williams once FIRE Padberg?
8:57 PM

‪Anonymous‬ said...
Washington DC is on a river. The Potomac.
8:59 PM

‪B. von Traven said...
Yes, Williams fired Padberg a few years ago, and she was plenty steamed about it. ¶ 
Padberg rejected the Orlando trip because of the expense of travel to the "other coast." Presumably, consistency requires that she reject trips to Washington as well, since that city is virtually the same distance--further, actually--and similarly expensive to travel to. ¶ 
As to whether Washington DC is on the east coast: surely it is, despite not literally being along the coast. No one would deny that, say, Irvine is on the west coast or that Philadelphia is on the east coast, despite neither city being "coastal."
10:23 PM

Anonymous‬ said...
Orlando is probably further from the coast than DC is since Orlando is in the middle of Florida...
5:20 AM, December 15, 2009

‪Anonymous‬ said...
There you go again Roy - twisting the facts. DC is NOT a coastal city.
6:29 AM

‪Anonymous‬ said...
Hate to be all Eyeore, but so what if he goes down - look who's standing in line behind him: a decade of mediocre hires and worse.
7:20 AM

Anonymous‬ said...
Which is worse? Ruthless and untrustworthy? Or just incompetent? I guess it depends. In any case, we'll have a day or two of cool conga dancing. We may have to stop and pray here and there.
10:58 AM

Anonymous‬ said...
I myself resent having to choose between Ruthless & Untrustworthy and Incompetent.

The students, the community, all of us, deserve better.
11:08 AM

Anonymous‬ said...
Request for a new Poll: Eeyore has opened the door on this one. If (when?) there is an opening on the third floor, who is your next fearless leader?
12:41 PM

Anonymous‬ said...
Can they all fire each other? Clean sweep? is there a precedent for this?
9:34 PM

Dissent the Blog's Fall '09 video



This video gathers many images used in recent months on this blog, including crazy graphics, lots of pictures of Irvine Valley College, the Board of Trustees, and--my favorite--Orange County's colorful past. Pictured are such places as Irvine, the Santa Ana Mountains, El Toro, Tustin, Orange, Mission Viejo, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach (among others).

The music:
Blind's Blake's "Diddie Wa Diddie" (1929)
Monarch Jazz Quartet's "What is the Matter Now?" (1929)
Skip James' "If You Haven't Any Hay, Get on Down the Road" (1930)
King Solomon Hill's "Tell Me Baby" (1932)
Love this stuff.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...