Monday, July 25, 2011

Board meeting tonight: “preventive education”

     The board of the South Orange County Community College District will conduct its July meeting tonight, starting at 6:00 p.m. Here’s the agenda: Board Agenda
     I glanced at the agenda outline. It seems unremarkable.
     I did notice item 6.1:
“Agreement for Special Services: Liebert Cassidy Whitmore”:
Approve Amendment No. 1 to the Agreement for Special Services with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore establishing a new range of rates for professional services effective July 1, 2011
     The firm’s website is here.
     Among other things, the firm claims to be a leader in “preventive education.”
     That’s quite a phrase. They explain it as follows:
One of the firm's greatest sources of accomplishment comes from its record of success in counseling and advising its clients on the best ways to avoid becoming a party to adversary proceedings.
     Item 5.5 is a “Faculty Hiring Addendum” for IVC. This seems to concern the replacement of Lise Telson and Bob Kopecky.
     Also, I see that we’ll be paying an extra $3762 for continued membership in the Community College League of California (CCLC) (dues have gone up from $ 36,238.00 to $40,000). (Item 5.12)

Another agenda:

     Meanwhile, the Voice of OC reports that
     Topping this week's public agendas is the appointment of a new Orange County Public Guardian. ¶ Former Public Guardian John Williams (who also had the job of public administrator) was fired from the post last month after a slew of controversies that eventually resulted in the splitting up of the two jobs. ¶ The Orange County Supervisors are scheduled to appoint Lucille Lyon, who previously worked as Riverside County's chief deputy public guardian, according to a staff report.
     Williams, of course, served on the SOCCCD board from 1992 until about 8 months ago, when he resigned. He's a rat bastard.

Random news:

Group targets Yorba Linda council prayer (OC Reg)
     A group that believes in a strong separation of church and state wants the Yorba Linda City Council to abandon its practice of praying at the council's biweekly meetings.
     "Local governments should not be in the business of performing religious rituals," the letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation states. "Calling upon Yorba Linda City Council members and citizens to rise and pray is coercive, embarrassing and beyond the scope of secular city government."
. . .
     Prayer during City Council meetings in Orange County is widely practiced; occasionally, council members or department heads will offer the invocation.
     Saddleback and Irvine Valley colleges have agreed to discontinue the use of invocations at some events, like scholarship ceremonies and faculty training sessions. The decision, which came earlier this year, was the result of a 2009 lawsuit by the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State….

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