Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Corruption wriggles and writhes in a college district near you


     Last night, I posted about an occurrence during Monday’s board meeting: as IVC President Glenn Roquemore prepared to give a presentation about the college’s 25th Anniversary, board President Don Wagner suddenly declared a cake break. Five minutes later, Wagner continued the meeting, leaving no doubt that Glenn’s presentation was, well, over.
     That was the first of several uncomfortable anti-Roquemoreian moments Monday night.
     Wow.
     A day before the board meeting, I reported that Wagner was “hopping mad” about something or other—I alluded to an administrative hire that “may have” gone against Wagner’s expectations. I said that we might witness manifestations of Wagner's anger—and its object—at the board meeting.
     We sure did.

* * * * *

John
     In recent years, Trustee Wagner, IVC President Roquemore, and IVC Academic Senate President (until a year ago), Wendy Gabriella, have become allies.
     Years before that, both IVC administration and faculty shared victimhood at the hands of odious Chancellor Raghu P. Mathur. This tended to bring college administration and the Academic Senate—and especially its leader, Wendy—together: mouse and cat, battling Mean Dog. Two or three years ago, Mathur and Co. had brought the two colleges to the brink of Accreditation disaster, and thus it came about that an unusual accreditation group was formed that brought IVC faculty and administrators, and board President Wagner, together in one room, repeatedly.
     Wagner may be a bully and a hothead, but he's smart, and, in the course of these meetings, he came to see that Mathur’s portrayal of faculty—and of Wendy in particular—was a lie. The faculty he encountered were smart, dedicated, decent—the "notorious" Wendy included.
     Partly owing to his proximity to IVC (he lives in Irvine), Wagner had already developed a relationship with Roquemore. I’ll skip the details.
     Meanwhile, nobody plots and schemes and haggles like former OC GOP Big Cheese Tom Fuentes, Wagner's colleague on the board. In the presence of this Prince of Darkness, anyone who seeks to advance must do so by playing his ugly game—undignified, that—or by keeping out of Fuentes’ way while carefully readying one’s own schemes.
Craig
     By about two years ago, Wagner had come to regard Mathur much as Team Irvine has long regarded him. Especially after one or two particularly loathsome Mathurian conniveries (probably related to Accreditation and Mathur’s hatred of trustee-faculty mingling), Don’s switch had been flipped. Wagnerian peevitude, once it hits a threshhold, is a terrible, heedless thing. A roaring freight train.
     But Mathur’s protector, Tom “Godfather” Fuentes, is a similar (though reptilian and self-loathing) force; and he was not about to sit still while the Wagster iced the Gooster. And so, with the arrival of the new Wagner came a new BOT war.
     The timing was bad: Wagner had been relying on Fuentes to help him prevail in his 2nd bid to win a seat in the 70th Assembly.
     With the help of his new friends (and long-time anti-Mathurians) Milchiker, Padberg, and Jay, Wagner commenced scheduling Mathur’s banishment, causing Mathur, normally cold and calculating, to panic and thrash indecorously. It got seriously ugly. And Fuentes and his gang (Williams & Lang) could do nothing more than have the district hire OC GOP consigliere/hit man Phil Greer (kaching!) to help Mathur get a good deal as the exit door slapped ‘im in the ass. (Greer was paid $25K!)
     Despite the new obstacles, Wagner prevailed in the primary (just barely), and by late Spring, he was (according to the received view) destined for Sacramento, for his district is heavily Republican.

The Third Man (1949)

     But that meant bailing on his trustee seat, starting in December of 2010. Wagner’s hatred of Mathur extends to protecting the world, and SOCCCD in particular, from Mathur’s return. No doubt that goal has produced machinations of some sort. I suspect it has affected the Chancellor search.
     But if Mr. Muldoon, a Wagner-like Christian culture warrior, were to win Don’s seat, he would likely fall into Fuentes’ orbit, thus swinging the board back in Fuentes’ direction. That was bad enough, but it could pave the way for the return of Mathur!
     I suspect that—until very recently—Wagner “favored” Muldoon’s union-friendly opponent, T.J. Prendergast, a high school coach and a fellow unlikely to join Team Darkness. Evidence: back in September, during the televised board meeting, Wagner introduced Prendergast as though he were his trustee heir apparent!
     In general, Don’s plan was to get as many anti-Fuentean elements “in place” as possible prior to his December exodus. And, no doubt, one of those elements was Wendy’s hire.
Tom
     Naturally, as this unfolds, Fuentes is unhappy. During a special board session last summer, Fuentes screamed at Roquemore, bellowing that “the fix is in.” During previous meetings, similarly ugly episodes occurred when the board debated the desirability of the new IVC deanship. (I have always favored the deanship myself.)
     Now, really, I don’t know why (as per persistent rumor) it was allowed to occur that a certain person was taken out of the dean sweepstakes (if, um, that happened). (Yes, I’m assuming that certain persons have no compunction about ordering certain underlings to forward a certain candidate [or not] to the next round.) I have no doubt that the fix was in. The job description alone makes that clear. And then there’s the oddly brief and limited advertisement of the position. (Until someone noticed, there was no ad in the Chronicle!)
     But it happened (as per rumor).
     Inquiring minds wanna know why.

* * * * *

Don Wagner
     Last night, one reader (“Anonymous”) offered a theory:
     Let's string together some rumors we've all heard and see what happens:
     Glenn [Roquemore] is rumored to have (1) wanted to succeed his mentor, Mathur, and (2) make [Vice President] Craig Justice the new president. But Wagner wouldn't go there. [When the Chancellor candidates forwarded by the search committee were found wanting by the board, Wagner evidently sought to recruit Gary Poertner, not Roquemore.] We now know that the rumor about Gary Poertner [(3) namely, that he’s the choice for Chancellor] is true. So, to get back at Wagner … for not [giving him] the chancellor job, it's rumored that, following a suspect process, (4) Glenn's knocked Wendy out of the running for the dean position that (5) Wagner had pushed [this is fact, not rumor], which (6) leaves Wagner angry at Glenn for … double-cross[ing him]. Meanwhile, Wendy's just a victim of Glenn's and Craig's failed power play.
     Six separate rumors and they hang together nicely. Wagner went to bat for Glenn and IVC to get rid of one rat bastard [namely, Chancellor Raghu Mathur], only to find out that Glenn had learned his lessons well and is just another duplicitous, self-dealing, rat bastard. Only a fool would ever again trust Glenn Roquemore or Craig Justice. It's simple really. [I've edited for clarity
.]
Wendy
     Some district denizens I’ve spoken with today (gosh, I do get around) are attracted to this theory.
     I’m still on the fence. Tell us what you think.
     Naturally, we at Dissent the Blog have long fretted and hinted and warned about the violations of “process” (of fairness, transparency, decency) described in the above saga. People like Wagner (and his allies, I suppose) naturally think that the cure for cheatin’, stealin’, and manipulatin’ rat bastards is to out- cheat, steal, and manipulate said bastards.
     But no. Believe it or not, some of us just want a stop to all the corruption.
     Decency. That’s the ticket.
     That's always been the ticket.

* * * * *

     P.S.: I'm told that, now, Wagner is actively campaigning for Muldoon.
     Also: an old rumor is worth mentioning: that John Williams seeks to resign from the board. He'll likely do that within the next few months.
     Imagine the machinations!

Check out Red Emma’s latest:

     Book Report: Peter Heller's "Kook" – in Modern Luxury: Orange County

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The Third Man

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Williams resign from the Board - I doubt it. Now that most of his savings are being depleted by Greer, how can he afford to travel to Orlando if he retires. I say no way! Not until the Board of Supervisors strip him of his hot gig the Public Guardian position. Until then, your stuck with him!

Anonymous said...

Is that how it really works?

Is it all about salaries and power?

How did Wendy become one of them?

Anonymous said...

Wendy used to be Crusader Rabbit - what happened?

Anonymous said...

Williams resigning? To go where? Jail?

Anonymous said...

Wendy worked her ass off to save this college by forcing an honest look at the place and writing an honest accreditation report. She did this after bringing administration, faculty, AND the BoT into the same room and making them not only talk, but actually work together. Now she get's smacked on this blog as some sort of sell out? Wake up! The sell outs are Glenn and Craig. Fuentes must be thrilled that they're back in his fold by icing out Wendy.

Anonymous said...

I, personally, will miss Williams' hair. I hope his replacement will have a coiffure that will sustain the proud tradition.

Anonymous said...

Mathur is expected to run for the seat. He has already been seen within the last week out on the political trail at Fuentes' side. You'll miss more than Williams' hair if that happens.

Anonymous said...

No one's suggesting that Wendy didn't work hard - she always has -- but I think the question is about her motivation at this point.

Clearly Wendy has been used -- but she was using too.

Anonymous said...

Nooooooooo!

This is all a Dissent Halloween spoof, right?

Anonymous said...

The question is "motivation"? What's suspect about her motivation? She wanted to move into administration. She wanted some personal recognition and benefit from her hard work. Only in academia does that desire in any way call her "motivation" into question.

Anonymous said...

The concern I see xpressed here is not about a desire to change jobs - but the perception that the process was corrupt, greased, made to order, a backroom deal, - the exact kinda thing we've been complaining about for over a decade.

Motivation might equal much more than what you added it up to.

Anonymous said...

Let's remember that (1) for many years, Wendy really was our Crusader Rabbit and (2) if "Annonymous'" theory (re the rumored odd dean search development) is correct, she's been betrayed by her administrative handlers. She's been put out in the cold. --BvT

Anonymous said...

Wendy's certainly out in the cold. Anybody seen her around here the last week? She even missed the accreditation exit interview! She's worked on accreditation for years . . . and missed the last day with the visiting team to hear what they had to say? That's amazing. Was she ordered to stay away by Glenn or Craig, one of her two rat bastard "administrative handlers"? What a shameful way to treat someone.

Anonymous said...

She's betrayed herself - and a whole bunch of other people, you included BvT.

Anonymous said...

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE IVC DEAN OF PHSYICAL SCIENCES AND BIO?????

Anonymous said...

10:25--such a stickler. --BvT

Anonymous said...

Schrader? Word is they're giving her the ol' heave ho. Opened her mouth once too often

Anonymous said...

guess that is what happens when you stop sleeping with your sponsor

Anonymous said...

Wow, Life at IVC is like living in a Raymond Chandler novel. heheehe

Anonymous said...

There really are two issues here: first, Wendy worked tirelessly to reinvent the Academic Senate and create an entity that Mathur and Roquemore had to acknowlege. In this regard her desire to enter administration is absolutely fine and is clearly warranted on its face. The second issue involves the hands in which she placed her trust: Wagner, Roquemore, and Justice. Wagner liked Wendy (maybe a little too much), Roquemore and Justice were just plain lazy and were happy to have a zealous intellect assembling the bones of a real college. The symbiosis fit perfectly. In so far as Roquemore had ambitions that would torpedo Wendy is absolutely predictable. Behind that simpering smile is a vapid, hollow, self-promoting snake. Justice played along because he would end up the president of a good college where the intellectual infrastructure had already been built (by Wendy). The sadness of it all is that the entire thing was done by a wink and a nod and the players were really skunks. Wendy played with the Devil and got burned. Roqumore's nature is well known, if anyone has a memory longer than six months. This little Greek tragedy could have no other ending than the one it did. All this happened without Fuentes or Mathur doing a thing. The culture of corruption is so deep and so murky at IVC that only the most naive would think the bad days are over.

Anonymous said...

ixnay on the eepslay, OK? BvT

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

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