DtB's Year in Review, Part 3: Process Schmocess—and "Mighty Oaks from little flacks grow"

IVC Prez Glenn Roquemore pretty much does as he pleases, process be damned. A case in point: 

¡I am the process!

     MAY 5: DtB readers know that Irvine Valley College has a very mixed record with regard to its invited commencement speakers. Some have been good. Some have been embarrassing in one way or another. (Plagiarism anyone?)

     The chief difficulty here is familiar: the piss-poor leadership of IVC Prez-for-life Glenn Roquemore, that remarkably non- (or anti-) academic fellow (he hangs out a lot at the Chamber of Commerce and gives speeches over at the knuckle-dragging Pacifica Institute), who generally finds ways to get who he wants at commencement, despite student or faculty preferences—and the demands of process!—to the contrary.

     This year is no exception. The college has a process according to which a committee, with wide representation, arrives at a list of carefully winnowed committee-approved candidates. The committee’s suggestions are sent up to the Prez, who makes the final selection. 

     For years, the Reb, among others, has suggested inviting the inimitable Gustavo Arellano (aka "The Mexican" of "Ask a Mexican!"), editor of the OC Weekly, to speechify. No matter the strength or weakness of the alternatives, Roquemore has always nixed the Mexican. Upon repeated Roquemorian rejections at IVC, Gustavo has given commencement addresses at UCLA, among other fine institutions of higher learning.

     This year, Gustavo made it to the IVC committee’s winnowed list of faves. 

     But no. At a recent meeting, the President’s rep on the committee—chair Diane Oaks—essentially declared that the committee may not suggest Mr. Arellano. And so his name was taken off the list. The list was forwarded, sans Mexican.

     So tell me. What’s the point of having a process in which a committee, with wide representation, chooses the candidates and the Prez makes the final selection, if the Prez also determines who can be on the committee’s list?

     This issue will be mentioned (it is too late to agendize it) at this week’s meeting of the IVC Academic Senate.

     Stay tuned.

TWO DAY LATER:

Erwin Chemerinsky

    MAY 7:  “What’s the point of having a process at all?”
     “Why doesn’t he just tell the committee who they can’t recommend before the process starts?”
     “The idea that this action by the committee chair followed the process is dubious at best.”
     Such were the comments* made at today’s meeting of the IVC Academic Senate when folks were informed of Diane Oaks’ curious pronouncement last week that the “commencement speaker” committee, which she (as Prez Roquemore’s rep) chairs, may not include writer and columnist Gustavo Arellano among its recommendations for the 2016 IVC commencement speaker.
     According to the process, the college President is entitled to choose among the recommendations forwarded by the committee, which has campus-wide representation. Nothing in the official language describing the process refers to the chair's authority to censor (or edit) the committee's list on the President's behalf.
     Meanwhile, a half hour into today’s senate meeting, President Glenn Roquemore sent the campus community the following email:

     It is my honor to announce the 2016 Irvine Valley College Commencement Speaker, Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the School of Law, University of California, Irvine. 

     Nice diversion, Glenn.
     “Process” sure don’t count for much here at IVC, what with President-for-life Glenn Roquemore running things his way. But at least we’ve lined up an interesting choice for commencement speaker (for 2016—next year).
     Chemerinsky was atop the list of recommendations forwarded by the committee—the list that did not include Arellano, despite committee members' desire to put him there.
     You'll recall that, when Chemerinsky's hire as Dean of UCI's new law school was announced in 2007, local right-wing pols complained bitterly to UCI's then-Chancellor Michael Drake about the left-leaning legal scholar. That led to an embarrassing flip-flop, followed, ultimately, by yet another flip-flop. (In the end, Chemerinsky was again hired.) It was a low point in Drake's tenure.
     At the time, rumors (at least rumors I heard) had it that then-SOCCCD trustee and Neanderthal Tom Fuentes, for many years the chair of the local GOP, was among the noisy complainers about the selection of the decidedly non-knuckle-dragging Chemerinsky.
     Maybe we can get the C-man to talk about that for commencement?!

*Loose paraphrases of actual remarks, imprecisely remembered

SEE ALSO:

• East LA College Chooses their Commencement Speaker: It's Gustavo!
• Roquemore's curious email
• "Too Political"
• News about Gustavo Arellano, who, again, won't be commencement speaker
• Commencement speaker choices: the controversial and the unimaginative

MORE OAKS:

Marketing Director Diane Oaks

The IVC guide to insulting the IVC community 

     JUNE 2: This afternoon, Daniel Gross, the Director of Composition (among other duties) at UCI emailed TAs, lecturers, et al. about an opportunity, a job. “Greetings,” he said. If you “are interested in this job, please get in touch directly with Diane Oaks at Irvine Valley College….”
     Diane Oaks, of course, is the Director of PR and whatnot here at Irvine Valley College.
     What’s the job? Gross explains by providing Diane’s memo to him:

     I am looking to hire a UCI faculty member to edit our IVC style guidelines.
     We have created an IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGE style guide similar to the UCI style guidelines:

• http://communications.uci.edu/campus-resources/styleguide/
• http://communications.uci.edu/campus-resources/graphic-standards/index.php

Daniel Gross

     We are hoping [you] might recommend a UCI faculty member who would help us EDIT or [sic] IVC STYLE GUIDELINES = we are interested in paying your faculty member a stipend for this project.
     Thanks so much! 

     Diane

     Golly.
     Why on earth didn’t she just contact the English Department here at IVC? Perhaps they are not up to the task, in her estimation.
     Good grief. [And what about her own staff?]

DtB’s Year in Review, Part 2: the fall of the house of Beno (obscuring the deeper issue)

     In mid-February, 2015, we issued our brief “SOCCCD dismal truisms” series. (See here and here.) We offered two such truisms:

• SOCCCD dismal truism #1: [SOCCCD has gone] from board micromanagement to board inaction
• SOCCCD dismal truism #2: to the consternation of thinking people everywhere, the district embraces the illiterate and dunderheaded evaluative architectonic of the Accreditors (and, more generally, of the "education"* crowd), thus busying administrators and faculty with endless committee work that produces mostly nonsense that, ahem, "guides" the district and its planners.

     Truism #1 was explained thus:

     Owing to its history of overreach and loutishness..., the board is particularly concerned that it not be accused of “micromanagement.” Unfortunately, the board has settled into a routine of erring in the other extreme—inveterately refusing to investigate or address complaints and objections about officials' conduct and policies.
     This has been particularly disastrous for Irvine Valley College, which has suffered under Glenn Roquemore’s embarrassing, anti-intellectualist, sub-collegiate leadership—poor hires, poor management, general obliviousness, failure to communicate or to sustain community, tolerance of incompetence and worse—for over a dozen years, allowing the institution to sink ever further into mediocrity and its employees ever deeper into resigned acquiescence.

     I illustrated Truism #2 by taking a gander at SOCCCD’s embarrassing “district-wide goals.” Have you read them? Good grief.

* * *

     But why am I referring to the ACCJC as "dunderheads"?
     At the start of the millennium, our accreditor, the ACCJC, adopted the theoretical assumptions of a movement—the measurable “student learning outcomes” (MSLO) movement—despite an absence of empirical support for the efficacy of the movement's approach.
     Think about that. It’s a serious problem. It should be a show-stopper.
     Well, you'll be pleased to learn that, back then, some noticed the problem and attempted to stop the show. That led, in 2002, to the State Academic Senate’s (ASCCC) challenge to the ACCJC’s embrace of MSLOs:

Essentially, the ACCJC adopted MSLOs [measurable student learning outcomes] as the overarching basis for accrediting community colleges based on their faith in the theoretical treatises of a movement.... After repeated requests for research showing that such use of MSLOs is effective, none has been forthcoming from the ACCJC [accreditors]. Prior to large scale imposition of such a requirement at all institutions, research should be provided to establish that continuous monitoring of MSLOs has resulted in measurable improvements in student success at a given institution. No such research is forthcoming because there is none….

—The Accountability Game…., Leon F. Marzillier (Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, October, 2002)

     Actually, the State Senate issued a series of related ACCJC-challenging resolutions, including this one:

• Whereas, The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) adopted new Standards for accreditation over the objections of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges as well as those of the American Association of University Professors [AAUP] and the Community College Council of the California Federation of Teachers among others;
• Whereas, The ACCJC has not responded to repeated requests to provide the Academic Senate the background materials and research upon which it based its decision to restructure the Standards around the continuous monitoring of student learning outcomes; and
• Whereas, The ACCJC has not responded to repeated requests to provide the Academic Senate with evidence or research to support the contention that such an approach in fact leads to improvements in the quality of undergraduate education or enhances student achievement;
• Resolved, That the Academic Senate continue to request the background evidence and supporting research that would justify recent radical restructuring of the Accrediting Standards by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC); and
• Resolved, That the Academic Senate publicize in relevant educational and public venues its concerns regarding the secrecy and lack of substantive evidence provided by ACCJC to support these costly new accreditation requirements.

     Impressive!
     Ever high-handed, the ACCJC simply ignored the ASCCC’s resolutions, and that was that. (See Systematic rational failures and SLOs, part II: the ACCJC gets dogmatic & dictatorial all over Cal community colleges.)
     I did some research, and, as far as I could tell, in the years since the 2002 challenge, evidence for the efficacy of the MSLO approach has not materialized.
     And so the problem remains. And that's absurd.
     Last Spring, I decided to raise the issue anew. I wrote about the problem here on DtB and that led to a sympathetic discussion of the matter on the floor of the IVC Academic Senate. Our senate then approved a resolution that amounted to a new but essentially similar "evidential" challenge to the ACCJC. It was brought to the ASCCC's April Plenary for general adoption:

• Whereas, In the last 15 years, new attempts to track the success of school systems around the world (e.g., Program International Student Assessment) have achieved impressive bodies of data useful in measuring the effectiveness of education approaches;
• Whereas, These data indicate that the more successful countries do not embrace the notion of “measurable student learning outcomes” that are central to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges’ (ACCJC) existing standards for evaluating and reviewing institutions and the philosophy that emphasizes that tool; and
• Whereas, It continues to be the case that research fails clearly to establish that continuous monitoring of course-level student learning outcomes (SLOs) results in measurable improvements in student success at a given institution but does engender frustration that continues to characterize community colleges’ attempts to implement the SLO approach;
• Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges request no later than July 1, 2015 that ACCJC justify its continued implementation of SLOs and explain why it does not opt for approaches more consistent with the approaches of successful countries in educating their students.

     Well, as you know, the State Senate is largely a vast cluster of gasbags, and so the resolution failed to gain sufficient support. IVC Senate Prez Schmeidler reported that it went down owing, evidently, to minor issues, such as the desirability of explicitly identifying the empirical evidence, such as existing meta-analyses.
     I wrote about all this here:

Systematic rational failures and SLOs, part III: why don’t we do something? See also DISSENT! Contra anti-intellectualism

     In the Fall, our senate made yet another effort to sponsor a new and improved resolution, and, again, the effort failed. (This time, our Senate Prez seemed even more disgusted by the apparent reasons for the resolution’s failure.)
     Gasbags.

* * *

     IN THE MEANTIME, as you know, for years, there's been much Sturm und Drang about the ACCJC's action of pulling City College of San Francisco's ticket and, more generally, about its notoriously high-handed ways: alleged bias, failures to heed process, alleged unprofessionalism, etc. The State Chancellor’s Office eventually created a task force to examine these complaints. That task force ultimately (June) issued harsh recommendations, including abandoning the ACCJC as the state CC’s accrediting body.
     Then, in mid-November (2015), the system's Board of Governors voted to dump the ACCJC (See).
     Wow. According to the San Francisco Chronicle,

...the Board of Governors voted 14-0 to direct state Chancellor Brice Harris to create a plan to replace the commission and come up with a timeline by its March meeting. State officials say any new accreditor would be phased in, a process that could take years because each of the state’s 113 colleges is reviewed for accreditation every six years. A shift to a new accreditor will also require a lengthy approval process by the U.S. Department of Education….

     Then, in December, the DoE spanked the ACCJC:

     The embattled accrediting organization that oversees California’s community colleges should lose some of its existing authority and not be allowed to expand its jurisdiction, the U.S. Department of Education’s accreditation unit has recommended.
     In a report published Wednesday, department staff recommended that the department revoke the accreditor’s existing federal authority to approve some four-year degree programs at California’s community colleges.
     The staff also recommended that the accreditor—the WASC Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, known as the ACCJC—have its request for broader authority to approve bachelor’s degree programs denied.... (Inside Higher Ed, Dec 10)

     This is all very nice. But you should be aware that our colleges’ two presidents—Burnett and Roquemore—have expressed unhappiness with the BoG decision to replace the ACCJC, evidently joining other CEOs in preferring to reform the organization.
     That's some leadership, that SOCCCD leadership.

* * *

     So, is our effort to challenge the ACCJC’s embrace of MSLOs now moot?
     Don’t think so. There’s no guarantee that future accred standards will eschew dubious MSLO assumptions, since the aforementioned "City College"-related controversy made no reference to that can o' worms. This whole noisy chapter about ACCJC bias and impropriety has had nothing to do with the evident fact that there is no empirical support for the presumed efficacy of focusing on SLOs as an approach to bringing about learning.
     Amazing.
     (Denizens of B200: I'm sayin' that we're on this ship, see, and everybody's hopping mad about the shitty navigation and crummy maps; meanwhile, there's this huge hole in the hull, and we're bound to sink. An' nobody's yammerin' about that. Got it?)

DtB's Year in Review, Part 1: the WOMEN'S STUDIES controversy is finally resolved

From the GC handbook

     February of 2015 saw the sudden resolution of the Women’s Studies (WS) controversy here at IVC. (See Resolution of the Women's Studies imbroglio Feb 3.)
     For various reasons, WS has had no real home at this college, in part because the School of Humanities (formerly, the School of Humanities and Languages) wanted to “do” such a program “right,” and none of its faculty was prepared to make that kind of long-term commitment (given their other commitments, etc.). And so WS bounced around a bit but never really rose above half-assery, program-wise. The program—or, better, the bundle of courses—eventually ended up in the School of Guidance of Counseling (GC), where it languished. Indeed, though it had once attained programhood, WS had been allowed to lapse into a non-program on GC’s watch.

     Meanwhile, the School of H hired new instructors, including several faculty with strong backgrounds in Women’s Studies and related fields. In 2013, one of these whippersnappers (very qualified, very gung-ho, very untenured) sought to finally develop a decent, full WS-ish program, and so she made non-threatening overtures to the GC crowd (according to which GC could keep some courses)—who immediately responded with defensiveness, paranoia and worse. In a way, that was odd, since GC had done little with WS, and, as I said, had allowed it to languish. Further, GC was offering courses that, at least on paper, were distinctly outdated. Indeed, the course outlines were an embarrassment. The important point was that WS (and related or associated studies) are precisely the sorts of enterprises that fit in the Humanities, where critical discourse of the WS sort is routine, or perhaps in the social sciences, where of course much the same can be said. For what it's worth, a brief survey of colleges and universities (including community colleges) will reveal that WS and related areas are invariably housed in the Humanities or the Social Sciences and never in something like Guidance and Counseling. (See HERE.)
     And that, of course, is precisely what one would expect.
     Owing to (at least some of) the GC faculty’s curiously unprofessional and hostile conduct, our untenured instructor judged it prudent to hold off on the WS initiative, though, of course, she had received much support from her colleagues in her own school, who had had other curious run-ins with the counselors over the years. (See HERE.)
     Time passed. Eventually, the moment was right to finally pursue the program, starting with a realignment—as per the college’s Program Realignment Policy, which had been created exactly because of the nastiness of past program realignment skirmishes, especially Fine Arts’ notorious grab of Art History about ten years ago.
     So the issue was broached at the Academic Senate.

     Alas, once again, despite our professionalism and carefulness (our maven was advised to sink somewhat into the background), the GC crowd immediately responded with wild hostility and anger. Two full-time GC faculty in particular seemed to make it their business to work the system and push buttons, however preposterous, to preserve GC’s continued “ownership” of WS—including inflaming the passions of the apparently clueless corps of part-timers who have always done the teaching for GC. (“J’accuse!” they said, virtually, at a special discussion session. Somehow, they had been rendered incapable of reason.)
     In truth, all of the arguments were on H’s side, none were on GC's side, and, crucially, the realignment had the support of both the Academic Senate Prez and the college VPI. GC finally backed off, but not before it had pushed faculty* skepticism of GC honesty and competence to new extremes.
     So that was that, I guess.
     A few months later, the two apparent leaders of GC’s dismal realpolitiking popped up in another popular DtB story, a story about faculty salaries over $200k ($201k, $229k).
     Karma, baby.

*Yes, yes, I know. "In our system," counselors are regarded as faculty.

CONTEMPORANEOUS DtB POSTS:

• Our concern about freedom is manifest - Feb 5 – A stupid talent show issue erupts. You know what they say about academic politics....
• The "talent show" imbroglio, Part II - Feb 6 – More eruption
• Making things easier for students: is that always the right thing to do? - Feb 6 – Endless student do-overs. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

Bustamante Pleads Guilty to Sex Crimes
(Voice of OC)

     Carlos Bustamante, a former Orange County executive and one-time rising star in the local GOP, pled guilty late Friday morning to multiple sex crimes and theft of public funds, according to a press release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office....

‘The Big Short,’ Housing Bubbles and Retold Lies
(NYT)
Paul Krugman DEC. 18, 2015

     …Sure enough, “The Big Short” has already been the subject of vitriolic attacks in Murdoch-controlled newspapers; if the movie is a commercial success and/or wins awards, expect to see much more.
     The thing to remember, when you see such attacks, is why they’re taking place. The truth is that the people who made “The Big Short” should consider the attacks a kind of compliment: The attackers obviously worry that the film is entertaining enough that it will expose a large audience to the truth. Let’s hope that their fears are justified.

Board Meeting Highlights: Jemal is Prez

     Please see Tere’s Board Meeting Highlights
     Here are two interesting factoids therein:

     The board of trustees conducted their annual organizational meeting and facilities corporation meeting. The new board leadership positions are Tim Jemal, President; Jim Wright, Vice President; and Dave Lang, Clerk.
. . .
     Employment contract for Gary L. Poertner as Chancellor, SOCCCD, effective July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019.

     Jemal as President: that's likely a good thing.

It can be fixed, some say
(the "CEO perspective")

     The extension of Poertner's contract, insiders tell me, does not reflect a desire to extend Poertner's service into the future. Rather, the new contract is, I'm told, an inducement for him to retire asap.
     I'm also told that, when Gary P steps down, which will be soon, "big changes" will occur throughout the district, leadershipwise.
     Let's hope the BOT gets an outsider for Chance (and for other roles). We need to get away from this sorry crowd.
     Am I right?
     Re upcoming trustee races: near as I can figure, these four seats are up (for 2016): Jemal, Wright, Lang, Jay. As I recall, Jay promised not to run for office next time around. Yeah.
     Prendergast, Whitt, and Milchiker are up in 2018, I believe. Did Whitt make a promise similar to Jay's?
     Promises, promises.

P.S.: [12/23] A wanted to watch the streaming video of Burnett/Roquemore's report on the accreditor's (ACCJC) recent troubles, but I couldn't get the streaming video page (at the district website) to open (it's mostly blank). So I emailed Tere, who said she was off to a vacation or something, and she dropped the matter in someone else's lap. But I still can't get the "streaming video" page to open.
     What's up with that?

Fall of the house of Beno

California Accreditor Under Fire (Inside Higher Ed)
Education Department staff recommends sanctions for the accreditor of the state’s two-year colleges. - December 10, 2015

By Michael Stratford

Beno

     The embattled accrediting organization that oversees California’s community colleges should lose some of its existing authority and not be allowed to expand its jurisdiction, the U.S. Department of Education’s accreditation unit has recommended.
     In a report published Wednesday, department staff recommended that the department revoke the accreditor’s existing federal authority to approve some four-year degree programs at California’s community colleges.
     The staff also recommended that the accreditor -- the WASC Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, known as the ACCJC -- have its request for broader authority to approve bachelor’s degree programs denied....

Lost Someone

Interesting districtular factoids: murder, NPR, propositions

Did you know that, thirty years ago, a Saddleback College administrator murdered someone in the nursing department?

     Yep. On Sept 16, 1984, the Times reported that a "Saddleback College Dean [has been] Held in [the] Shooting Death of His Wife [Dona Dawson of the nursing department at Saddleback College]."
     Then, on the 19th, the Times reported that "Saddleback Community College Assistant Dean Donald E. Dawson told his ex-wife's boyfriend that he 'killed Dona' minutes after he allegedly used two handguns to shoot her six times, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. James Enright said Tuesday."
     On November 22, 1986, the Times reported that "A former assistant dean at Saddleback College, Donald E. Dawson, convicted of first-degree murder in the 1984 shooting of his ex-wife, told a Superior Court judge on Friday that he wanted to proceed with the sanity phase of his trial. Dawson had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but a jury returned a guilty verdict Wednesday. Dawson was arrested immediately after shooting Dona Mae Dawson, 46, five times on the sidewalk near her El Toro home on Sept. 15, 1984." (See additional articles below.)

Did you know that Saddleback College’s radio station was once an NPR affiliate?

     According to the Times' "Saddleback trustees vote to drop NPR affiliation" (May 31, 1984), "Orange County lost its only National Public Radio station Tuesday when the Saddleback Community College District's Board of Trustees voted to change Saddleback College-based KSBR (88.5 FM) into…."

--Into what? Well, into a student-run station, I guess. I didn't pay for the whole article.

Did you know that the construction of IVC was delayed because of Prop 13?

     Well, according to the Times' "Saddleback's 2nd Campus Faces the Ax" (Jun 17, 1978), "The Saddleback Community College District, nearing the halfway point in building its planned second campus in Irvine, may not be able to complete it because of Proposition 13."
     Groundbreaking had occurred in November of 1977. At the time (Nov 12, 1977), the Times reported that the campus was "due to open next fall," i.e., the fall of 1978. In fact, however, the campus, then called "Saddleback College North Campus," did not open until January (spring) of 1979 (see Times, Jan 15, 1979). 

More about Donald Dawson:

Ex-Dean Found Guilty of 1st-Degree Murder in Shooting of Former Wife, LA Times, November 20, 1986

     Former Saddleback College Assistant Dean Donald E. Dawson was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his ex-wife, but jurors rejected a prosecution claim that he was "lying in wait," which could have meant a sentence of life without parole.
     Despite the partial victory, Dawson was bitter about the jury's verdict, said his attorney, Ronald G. Brower.
     "He believes the jurors should have recognized the shooting occurred when he was in something like a psychotic state, a rage, and that legally it was a heat-of-passion shooting," Brower said.
     Killings that occur in the heat of passion are considered voluntary manslaughter in California, which was the verdict Brower sought from jurors. Dawson had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.…
     Dawson killed his former wife, Dona Mae Dawson, as she ran away from him down the sidewalk in front of her El Toro home at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 15, 1984. 

Resigned After Arrest
     According to evidence presented by both sides, Dawson had been trying to persuade his ex-wife to take him back and was upset to learn that she was seriously dating someone else.
     Dona Dawson, 46, at the time was director of the nursing department at Saddleback College. Dawson was assistant dean for Saddleback's division of technology and applied science. He resigned soon after his arrest the day of the shooting.
     About 2:30 that morning, while his ex-wife was spending the night with a boyfriend, Dawson had entered her house with a key she kept hidden. Evidence showed that he had waited part of that time in an upstairs bedroom with two guns, several boxes of ammunition, several pieces of rope and a pair of handcuffs.
     Dawson fired six shots at her with a .38-caliber handgun when she came through the door. All of them missed. But he felled her with a single shot fired as she ran down the sidewalk outside the house. Then, according to witnesses, he stood above her and fired four more shots into her. He stayed at the scene until police arrived and told them what had happened.
     At his trial, Dawson chose not to testify.
     Prosecutors filed the "special circumstances" allegation that he was lying in wait for her, claiming that he shot her after springing from a hidden position. Brower devoted many of his trial arguments to efforts to disprove that claim.
     Jurors on Wednesday rejected the special circumstances allegation.
     Normally, had the jury found that the special circumstances did apply, the trial would have gone into a separate penalty phase for jurors to choose between death or life without parole. But in Dawson's case, prosecutors did not seek the death penalty because of his lack of a criminal background. A sentence of life without parole can only be reduced by the governor.
     The first-degree murder verdict carries a sentence of 27 years to life, including two years for use of a firearm. Dawson would be eligible for parole in 13 1/2 years.
     But if Dawson were found insane, he would automatically be sent to a state hospital.
     Brower said after court Wednesday that before he decides whether to proceed with a sanity phase, he will have to do research to determine how long Dawson would probably have to remain committed to a hospital.
     "I think state mental hospitals are probably just as bad as prison," Brower said. "If a hospital commitment would be longer (than 13 1/2 years) it might not be worth going ahead." 

'Background of Depression'
     Dawson has been interviewed by half a dozen psychologists and psychiatrists, all of whom testified at his trial that he killed his ex-wife in a rage and that he was mentally unstable at the time. But they have not touched on the sanity issue yet.
     Brower said it was not out of character for Dawson to be bitter about the jury verdict.
"All the doctors have told us that he has a history of rejecting responsibility," Brower said. "He has a background of severe depression, very exaggerated mood swings."
     Dawson's parents and his brother, Robert, left the courtroom quickly after the verdict was read. An angry Robert Dawson told reporters, "Just leave us alone."
     Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. James G. Enright, who prosecuted the case, said afterward that he could not discuss the verdict in detail because of the possibility of a penalty phase. But he did say he was pleased with the first-degree murder verdict and not too surprised at the jury's rejection of the "lying in wait" claim.
     "That one was a close call; without any witnesses, we knew that one would be tough," Enright said.
     Dona Dawson's two sisters, who attended most of the trial, were not able to get to court Wednesday in time to hear the jury's verdict. But a close friend of the victim, Dorothy Williams, wept and whispered, "Thank you," as jurors left the courtroom. Lee Arth, a former professor at Rio Hondo College who had known both the Dawsons for about 15 years, was in court for the verdict too.
     "It was a fair verdict, considering what Don did," Arth said.

Parole denied for killer of ex-wife, OC Register, Aug 1, 2001

     The confrontation exploded in front of the house, where Dawson pumped five bullets into her back.
     Then the scholar poured himself a glass of wine.
     In rejecting Dawson's first bid for freedom, the parole board agreed with prosecutors that he remains, in essence, a serial philanderer whose lust for control drove him to kill.
     Dawson, who was convicted of first-degree murder, is serving a sentence of 27 years to life at a medium-security prison in San Luis Obispo.
. . .
     Dawson, who has a master's in criminal justice, is a quiet inmate who has caused no problems during his 13 years at the California Men's Colony….
...
     Dona Mae Dawson was 46 and about to become assistant director of the nursing program at Saddleback College when she was murdered.
. . .
     Donald E. Dawson swears he's a new man…
     He swears he's no longer the person who 17 years ago gunned down his former wife in front of her Lake Forest home in a crime that stunned colleagues, friends and family members.
     On Tuesday, a parole board didn't buy his story and told the former college administrator he will have to wait four years to make his case again.
     He will be 67 then.
     The board still thinks he poses a danger to society, '' said Denise Schmidt, spokeswoman for the Board of Prison Terms in Sacramento.
     Dawson became obsessed with his former wife after their divorce in 1982, prosecutors say.
     One night, the former police officer, Navy intelligence investigator and assistant dean at Saddleback College broke into her home and waited.
     Several hours later, Dawson – incensed that Dona Mae Dawson was seeing another man – fired his .45-caliber pistol when she walked in the door, hitting her thigh.
...
     Dixie Bullock, president of the college in Mission Viejo, said Donald Dawson doesn't deserve freedom.
...
     In 1996, a Santa Maria woman married Dawson.
...

     According to [Prosecutor] Middleton, Donald Dawson has kept his reason for being in prison a secret from Marianne's children.

     They think he works for the California Department of Corrections on undercover assignments, ' Middleton said.
     In papers submitted to the parole board, Dawson stated, I did not love my previous wives, but I love my current one.''
     That statement chills Middleton
     It shows his contradictory nature, '' the prosecutor said. To me, it shows that he now has another obsession.''

All Things Must Pass

E.g., this passed.

Aerial view of IVC, c. 1991

A friend in Facilities and Maintenance dropped by with this cool aerial photo of IVC, c. 1991
CLICK on it for detail

Contemporary Google Earth image

College map

The Faculty Association Old Guard's sleazy tactics: 1985

 

Saddleback College's Sharon MacMillan

     Originally, the stuff below was a continuation of my recent post re the controversial selection of the site for our district's second, and northern, campus. In fact, however, the subject changed to the involvement of the district's faculty union (the Faculty Association) and its involvement in local politics. So I've fashioned a new post about that.
     As it turns out, some of the same unionists who dragged the district through the mud in 1996 were employing similar tactics as early as 1985, when faculty's big issue had been getting rid of a detested chancellor, Larry Stevens. (See 1982: The district hires Larry Stevens and learns to regret it.)

     1985. OK, so let’s jump now to the end of Eugene McKnight’s tenure as trustee of the Saddleback Community College District (1985). Today, I came across this old LA Times article. Some interesting names came up:

Mailer in Saddleback Campaign Is Assailed : Newsletter by 'Republican' Taxpayer Group Not Sent Out by GOP, County Chairman Says

November 01, 1985 BILL BILLITER  Times Staff Writer

Then-Chancellor Stevens

     Thomas A. Fuentes, chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County [and future trustee for the SOCCCD BOT], Thursday denounced a campaign mailer that was sent to some voters in the Saddleback Community College District and that said it was "distributed by Orange County Republican Taxpayer Federation." [Spoiler: the Old Guard’s Sharon Macmillan and her ilk were behind this mailer.]

     Fuentes said such a group "is not affiliated in any way with the official Republican Party of Orange County, nor is it affiliated with the California Republican Party." 

Unethical Behavior Claimed 

     The mailer attacks two incumbent trustees on the Saddleback Community College Board, Bill Watts and Robert Price [you’ll recall that, a decade earlier, Price was “a member of the select citizen's advisory committee to determine the need for a northern campus”], and also Mike Eggers, a candidate for the board. The mailer says that the "Price, Watts, Eggers Triad Seeks Control of College Tax Money."

     The mailer also accuses Eggers of unethical behavior and connection to admitted political corruption figure Patrick Moriatry [sic], an Anaheim fireworks company executive. [Re Moriarty, see Moriarty freed from prison.]

     Eggers, who is an aide to Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) and runs Packard's office in Mission Viejo, formerly handled a public relations newsletter for 3,000 charitable organizations that sell fireworks. Eggers said Thursday that he has never had direct relations with Moriarty and that the mailer was "a smear."

     Eggers is one of four candidates in Tuesday's election seeking the Saddleback Community College District seat being vacated by incumbent Eugene McKnight, who is retiring.

'Very Inflammatory' 

Carraway

     Fuentes said the mailer was "trying to utilize the good reputation of the Republican Party to lend credibility to . . . very inflammatory charges."

     Fuentes noted that the "Orange County Republican Taxpayer Federation" listed a Placentia address but no officers of the alleged group.

     "This kind of tactic demonstrates a blatant disrespect for the voters and for the Republican Party," he said.

     Eggers said the mailer was part of the teachers' union's campaign to win control of the Saddleback Community College District board in Tuesday's election.

     The mailer was in the form of a newsletter of the "Consumer Action Council," which listed Earl H. Carraway as its chairman. Carraway is the husband of Saddleback College faculty member Sharon MacMillan, immediate past president of the Saddleback Faculty Assn., the teachers' union.

Properly Registered 

     Carraway could not be reached for comment, but in a press release that he sent to news media Thursday he said the "Orange County Republican Taxpayer Federation" is a political action committee that is properly registered both with the state and the Orange County registrar of voters.

     Carraway's press release added: "I and other Republicans who paid to distribute the Consumer Action Council newsletter are concerned about protecting the good image of the Republican Party in Orange County; we feel that Mike Eggers is bad for that image."

     Eggers said the mailer, by linking him to Moriarty, "is probably costing me a thousand votes." He said he has received questioning calls from voters, "but after they hear the facts, they're angry about the mailer and are promising to work for me."

Eggers, 2006

'Do Not Know' Moriarty

     Eggers, 37, said that from 1982 to mid-1983 his private public relations firm, Mica and Associates, wrote the newsletter for Organizations for Safe and Sane Fireworks. He said that group consisted of 3,000 charities from 345 communities in the state, all of which sell fireworks around the Fourth of July.

     "I do not know, nor do I have any relationship with, Pat Moriarty," Eggers said. "I've seen him twice, both at social occasions. He was never directly involved in the organization that hired me to write its newsletter."

     In addition to Eggers, three other candidates are seeking McKnight's trustee seat. They are Iris Swanson, a retired college executive assistant who has been endorsed by the teachers' union; Cal State Fullerton sociology professor Perry E. Jacobsen, who has been endorsed by McKnight, and Ian Doyer, who is retired.

     Ain’t that rich?

     How rich? Well, when the faculty union's favorite trustee, Steve “Holocaust denyin’” Frogue, resigned from the board in the summer of 2000, the Faculty Association Old Guard (which then included Sharon M) showed up at a special board meeting to urge the selection of Tom Fuentes as Frogue’s replacement.

     I kid you not.

P.S.: Re Mr. Earl H. Carraway, Sharon MacMillan's husband: He ran, unsuccessfully, for Congress against Schmitz and Hinshaw in the early 70s. He's a Republican and some sort of anti-tax nut. (See LA Times.) He has been an elected member of school boards. He is the author of Shake Off The Dust 1936: A Memoir and resides (or once resided) in Nellie Gail Ranch. In recent years, he has been a realtor (in Lake Forest).

     As a Republican, a proponent of "back to basics" education reform, a member of Rick Warren's church (see below), and a foe of taxes, he would seem to be very conservative. He once pursued an amendment to the CA Constitution re elimination of construction bans in agricultural preserves. Perhaps he has Libertarian leanings.

     Carraway’s SVUSD Candidate Statement from 2012:

Candidate: Earl Carraway

OCCUPATION: Educator/Realtor/Publisher 

     I, Earl H. Carraway, pledge not to vote for any new taxes. I’ve served as a teacher, public school administrator, elected trustee for the Tustin Union High School District (which included high schools in Mission Viejo, Irvine and Tustin) and United States Marine Corps, receiving one battle star.

     Awarded Bachelor and Master’s degrees from California State University Long Beach. Graduate work: Chapman, Whittier and Fullerton State Universities.

     Successful small business owner: Raised funds for charities such as Children’s Hospital OC (CHOC). Member: Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Our family atttends Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church.

     Thirty year Saddleback Valley resident. I believe in open government, small class sizes for our children, support for our teachers, back to basics education, balanced school budgets, parental participation in the education process and not raising taxes.

     I authored/published with Amazon.com: “Shake Off The Dust 1936", 48 short stories of a teenager’s great depression era memories. Book described by critics as: “What you would get if Mark Twain had written ‘The Catcher In The Rye’.”

     Live in Laguna Hills with daughter and wife: Sharon MacMillan Carraway, Ph.D. I promise, you won’t regret your vote for me. Thank you.

     If Mr Caraway is still among the living, he is 84 years old. 

"Shut up," he told her (Choosing the site for "North Campus" amid Pissed Off Tustinites, 1960-1977)

 

     Those who enjoy reading about OC history and, in particular, about the zany history of our college district might enjoy this:

     A while back (IVC: the birth of a college with a daffy name), I told a story I heard according to which the City of Tustin has a big reason to be pissed off at the SOCCCD (or the Irvine Co.) re the failure to locate the long-awaited second campus of the district in Tustin. I wrote:

     The decision to build a north campus had been made by trustees in the early 70s. The way I heard it, the people of Tustin were very excited about the possibility of a campus in their city, and, at some point, land in the vicinity of what became the Tustin Market Place was selected for that purpose. But then (according to the story), the Irvine Company decided to give away some land for the purpose of a community college right here on Irvine Center Drive (and Jeffrey), so the decision was made to build the campus there instead, a couple of miles to the south.
     The City of Tustin has been pissed ever since. It’s like Mayberry over there, so you can’t reason with ‘em. Just steer clear of ‘em.
     That’s the story. Don’t know how much of it is true, but surely some of it is (I got it from a reliable sort).

     I’m trying to find out how much of this story is true.
     I did some looking. The evidence is mounting that the story is largely true, though I think the Irvine Co. sold the land—they gave nothing away—albeit sold cheap.
     In the course of researching this “story,” I came across some interesting factoids about unethical campaign tactics—evidently created by the same crowd that gave us the infamous “same-sex” fliers in the election of 1996.
     But first:

* * *

     1960-1967. Let’s start here: According to Saddleback College’s 1967-1968: Founding Years,

     In 1961, functionaries in the Laguna Beach, Capistrano, and Tustin school areas met in a meeting called by Larry Taylor, then President of the Laguna School Board (and years later to become a Saddleback Trustee) to discuss the ramifications of the Allen-Biescoe report [a 1960 report that projected the need for “junior colleges” in OC in the coming two decades]. Over the next several years numerous such meetings took place to study and assess the possibility of forming a college district. This culminated in a feasibility study conducted by Boyle Engineering in 1965, the result of which predicted a full-time equivalent student count in 1964-65 of 1,113 rising by the year 1973-74 to [? sic] FTE. The target date of 1969-70 with an estimated average daily attendance of 1,332 qualified the area for district status.. . .
     On Valentine's Day, February 14, 1967 [election day], Saddleback Junior College District was instituted. The new college district was immediately dubbed the "Sweetheart of South Orange County." Its boundaries included 329 square miles, 14 communities, and 5 elementary and secondary school districts in an area that constituted 48 percent of Orange County.. . .
     Simultaneous with the election on the proposed junior college district was the election of the five-member Board of Trustees....

     As you can see, owing to dearth of cities in South County, the City of Tustin was a big player in the early days of what came to be known as the SOCCCD. Tustin was the northernmost city of the (geographically) lower 48% of the county. That situation made for awkwardness, as we'll see.

Site 1, situated at what became the Tustin Market Place, was chosen by
trustees in 1976, but then the Irvine Co. asked to withdraw
that site in favor of Site 2, in Irvine. The Faculty
Association favored Site 2, and this became an election issue.

* * *

     1967. In the January 26, 1967, issue of Tustin News, candidate (for trustee, area 1) Shirley Lampert, among others, is interviewed. (Ultimately, she did not prevail.) She says:

“I realize the principal functions of a school board member are involved with establishing operating policies; hence any decisions in that regard should reflect the desires of the taxpayers…. I strongly favor a junior college district board, which is able to approach its task in an unbiased manner, free of the pressures from existing high school boards. I have heard numerous rumors that members of the high school board and administration are planning to control the new junior college district. I do not want to see this happen. The new J.C. board will have problems that differ from the limited needs of the individual college district. Therefore, it is both prudent and in the pubic interest to elect individuals who are unencumbered by ‘prior provincialism.’"

     Just what are we to make of that?
 

* * *

     1968. I found the following at the Saddleback College website (Founding Years):

The Tustin News, October 17, 1968:
     "Tuesday, October 15, saw our Saddleback Junior College dedicated and even Governor Ronald Reagan joined local officials in marking the occasion. This, to us, is a dream come true ever since The Tustin News first proposed publicly—years ago—that we should have our own junior college from among the high school districts now comprising Saddleback JC."

     So, at least by the mid-60s, Mayberry—er, Tustin—was pretty serious about getting its own “junior college.” The Saddleback campus was a "dream come true" for Tustin. Still, Tustin was more than 15 miles to the north, and, from the beginning, there was talk of building a second campus to serve the northern end of the district.
     In the city of Tustin?

* * *

     1975-1976. Let’s skip ahead now to the mid-70s, a time when the Saddleback Community College District was finally zeroing in on the location of its much-anticipated “north” campus.
     In the newspaper articles and excerpts that follow, reference is made to Site 1 and Site 2. Near as I can tell, both sites were offered by the Irvine Company. In 1975, the latter offered only Site 1, which was at the intersection of Bryan and Myford (near today's Tustin Market Place; see map). At one point, Tustin contemplated leaving the Saddleback district—perhaps because trustees were not fully on board with the idea of locating Campus 2 in Tustin. After a year of study, the district approved the first site, in Tustin. But then, on Jan 7, 1977, the Irvine Co. asked to pull the first site in favor of Site 2, on Jeffrey and Irvine Center Drive, miles south in Irvine. Nevertheless, in early March, the trustees decided on Site 1 on Myford. The trustee race later that month (March 8) ousted charter trustee Backus, a proponent of Site 1, replacing him with McKnight, who had been backed by the faculty union, a proponent of Site 2. Then, in late April, the post-election board reverse itself (as widely predicted), opting for Site 2. Again, the district's faculty union actively supported Site 2 and trustee candidates who favored that site, and this support itself became an election issue. Meanwhile, the Rancho Santiago district was planning to build a new satellite campus only a few miles from Tustin (along Santiago Canyon Rd.). Eventually, RSCCD Orange Campus opened in 1985. It became Santiago Canyon College (in the 1990s), achieving autonomy in 2000.

* * *

     1976. From the IVC Student Handbook:

1976: The history of Irvine Valley College can be traced to 1976, when a select citizen’s advisory committee determined that another campus was needed to serve the north region of the 376-square-mile Saddleback Community College District. Today, the district is known as the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD) 

* * *

A foggy past. 1977: Shown prior to cake cutting (for the district’s 10th anniversary) are, from left, Trustees Larry Taylor, Donna Berry, Frank Greinke, Norrisa Brandt (daughter of the Mayor of LA in the 50s), charter trustee and special guest Hans Vogel, and Trustee Pat Backus, who was also a charter board member.

     1977. I found the following garbled fragment of an article that appeared in The Tustin News for Feb. 10:

Norrisa Brandt (né Poulson), 1942

     In a board meeting with the sparks flying and bickering among board members, Saddleback Community College trustees again deadlocked Monday night voting 3-2 for the Bryan-Myford northern campus site. Four votes are needed for a motion to pass…. Trustee Jim Marshall was absent because of illness…. The seventh seat has been vacant since Bob Bartholomew, Tustin trustee, resigned in December, before moving from the area.
     Voting for the Bryan-Myford site (sites) were Frank Greinke, Pat Backus, and Donna Berry. Voting against were Norrisa Brandt and Larry Taylor, who favor the site at Jeffrey and Irvine Center Drive (site 2).
     The board had selected the Bryan-Myford site back in September after a year of studying 10 different sites. However, the Irvine Co. on Jan. 7 told the board that they had found that it would not be in the company's best interest to sell that site and offered the alternative site at Jeffrey and Irvine Center Drive.
     Since that time the Irvine Co. has offered Site 2 at $45,000 for 20 acres and any additional acres up to 80 at a fixed price of $45,000 an acre at 61/2 per cent interest if purchased within the next five years. The land has been appraised at $75,000 an acre. The Bryan-Myford site has been appraised at $30,000 an acre.
     Within the last week, the Irvine Co. has made three additional offers on Site 2 including 20 acres at $30,000 and additional acres at $60,000; 20 acres at $35,000 and additional acres at $55,000; and 20 acres at $40,000 and additional acres at $50,000.

SPARKS FLY
     The sparks began to fly when Trustee Frank Greinke arrived from a business meeting two hours late and made statements referring to the timing of Irvine Co. changing the site only three weeks after Tustin Trustee Bob Bartholomew had resigned and also similarities between Judas selling out for 30 pieces of silver. When he was interrupted by Board Chairman Norrisa Brandt, who objected to such statements, he demanded that he be able to say his piece and told Mrs. Brandt to "Shut up." This led later to Trustee Pat Backus stating that the board had "gotten off the track" and it should "get back to the issue." He also told Mrs. Brandt she was a "lousy chairman" to let Greinke get away with such insinuations. Greinke admitted that the issue was a very emotional one for him and later apologized. 

Trustee Donna Berry said, "Greinke is just trying to bring something out into the open that has been continuous. The timing was strange indeed." Greinke said he was also upset that his suggestion in secret session to have the meeting in Tustin had not been followed up. 

That's Patrick Backus in the middle (between Alyn Brannon and Hans Vogel) at the groundbreaking for Saddleback College in 1967

SICK OF POLITICS
     Greinke, who has been the strongest supporter of site 1, said, "It makes me sick that politics got involved and not the betterment of the district. The most economical site is not the cheapest site."

Greinke noted that three years ago he had favored the petition for Tustin to pull out of the Saddleback College District adding "I ran for the board, because I wanted to make this district more responsive." 

Patrick J. Backus, 1967

He referred to the proposed traffic circulation plans of hte Northeast Orange County Circulation Study stating that at present they "do not inter-relate" with site 2. He also noted that the Rancho Santiago Community College District (SAC) is looking at a proposed site of 170 acres at Newport Ave. and Crawford Canyon. "Why must we change because Irvine City and the Irvine Co. want to spin us off. I think it is important that the district represent the balance of the county and not just the south of the county.

20 OR MORE?
Tayor said that the only way site one would benefit the college was if the board did not buy more than 20 acres. "That is a risk and a gamble. We may elect to buy 20 acres each for four or five satellites. But I would not want to take away from future boards to make a decision. It is tough to come in where you are locked in." [Trustee Larry] Taylor noted that the price per acre five years from now on each site had been projected at $125,000. [Trustee] Mrs. [Norrisa] Brandt used these projections to support her feeling that site 2 would be more economical in the long run, if purchasing an additional 80 acres. She estimated that at the end of 1977, total of 100 acres at site 1 would cost $5,760,000 while the same acreage at site 2 would cost at the $45,000 an acre Irvine Co. deal, $3,600,000. She also used 1982 figures estimated at $100,000 an acre on site 1 to support her contention. Backus [trustee Patrick J. Backus of Dana Point] said he still favored site 1. "I like the accessibility of it," he said. "I feel if we do not choose that site we are making a mistake." He also referred to Tustin's attempt to pull out of the district and the new Ranch[o] Santiago College proposed campus at "the back door of Tustin. If Tustin pulled out we are talking about the tax rate and teaching positions." He said he was considering only 20 acres and perhaps similar acreage around the Turtle Rock area and in the San Clemente-Dana Point area in the future.

BETTER PRICE
     Mrs. Brandt stated that site 2 would still be 13 miles closer to Tustin than the Mission Viejo campus is now. She said that in going over the tapes of the September public hearings on the sites, she found that the main reason that the Jeffrey-Irvine Center Drive site [the site that was ultimately selected] was not picked was because of the price. "I felt it to be too expensive. The facts have changed. We have a chance to purchase better site at a better price. We have Irvine Co. in a bind." She also noted that, according to planners' statistics, the growth will be in the El Toro-Irvine area. Mrs. Berry asked if the only way the district could get site 1 was through condemnation. Taylor replied, "The Irvine Co. said they would not force us into condemnation, but would negotiate on the price. We have not been assured that….

The Tustin News, February 17, 1977

     The issue of the northern campus site will be on the Feb. 28 agenda of the Saddleback Community College District board of trustees, the board decided Monday night. There was some argument Monday night on whether a motion could now be passed with three votes since there are now only five members on the board until the March 8 election. The sixth and seventh members were Bob Bartholomew who resigned in December because of moving out of the area and Jim Marshal who died last week after a long illness. At the last meeting, the board voted 3-2 for the Bryan-Myford site for the second campus. Favoring that site were Frank Greinke, Donna Berry and Pat Backus. Voting against were Norrisa Brandt and Larry Taylor, who favor the Jeffrey-Irvine Center Drive site. The board had selected the Bryan-Myford site in September, 1976 after a year of study. However, on Jan. 7, 1977, the Irvine Co. asked to withdraw that site and offered the Jeffrey-Irvine Center Drive site at an attractive price. Two votes have been taken at 2-2 and 3-2. A seven member board must have four affirmative votes for a motion to pass. Monday night Greinke….

     I found yet another garbled fragment of an article that appeared in The Tustin News, this time on Feb. 24, 1977. Once again, it either is or reports candidate statements (for college district trustee):

     … Trustees have a responsibility to serve the entire college district of 378 square miles. The college trustees cannot agree on the sites under consideration and they remain deadlocked.
     "Robert Price, a member of the select citizen's advisory committee to determine the need for a northern campus, Tustin candidate Dr. Alan Greenwood, and I all favor an immediate college satellite at site 2, Jeffrey and Moulton Parkway. We three candidates have walked over the grounds and have carefully studied aspects of the two sites. We find that such factors as geology, flood plain, available utilities, water sewerage disposal, access roads, appraisals, market value and long range costs indicate site 2 would be best for students, the college and taxpayers."  

   [Eugene] McKnight, 70, is a retired college consultant. He and his wife purchased a home in 1968 in Dana Point and have lived there and in San Juan Capistrano for over five years. The McKnights have two daughters and five grandchildren. ... McKnight has degrees from Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and UCLA. He also holds a renewed California State Administrative Credential. After business experience, professional library experience, and World War II service, McKnight served for 25 years in the community colleges at Riverside and Los Angeles City College. He has served as dean of student activities, librarian, classroom professor and department chairman of philosophy.

     McKnight’s name should be familiar. He was a trustee of the (then-called) Saddleback Community College District board from 1977 to 1985. (He died in 1993.) Evidently, McKnight taught Philosophy at LA City College for many years, retiring in 1972, when he and his wife moved to Dana Point.
     He also served on the Citizens’ Advisory Board for Saddleback Community College (until 1977). (See here and here and here.) (Price and McKnight were trustees during the disastrous Larry Stevens Chancellorship of the 80s.) He was a big proponent of Site 2, in Irvine.

The Tustin News, February 24, 1977, continued

(Continued from Page 1 ) concern regarding permissive taxes to build structures that are not necessarily and frequently, not at all, convenient to the young people who would use them. 

"I hear concern about the possible whims of the Irvine Company and their effect on a 'several-months-long, costly study' of the location of the northern campus. 

"I'm told that Tustin is paying for about 25 percent of the action at Saddleback Community College and I listen hard to how the Tustin people would like the College to develop to meet Tustin's needs and those of the rest of Saddleback Community College District. 

"I am concerned with high prices and the high cost of deferring or delaying decisions. 

"As I listen and study, it begins to seem to me that the Community College fates of both Irvine and Tustin are quite closely allied and the interests of each would be served best if they jointly decided how best they could see themselves served as a unit of the county that would have a growth rate different from the South County population areas, certainly over the next 10 years of county development. If elected, I expect to expend my greatest efforts protecting the taxpayers' pocketbook." 

Dr. Brooks and his wife have six sons, three of whom have graduated from two of the high schools in Tustin. Originally trained and practiced as a specialist in pediatrics, Brooks subsequently made the transition to general allergy and environmental medicine including areospace medicine and general preventive medicine. Brooks served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam on three tours with combat support missions. He retired in 1975 from the USAF Reserve as a flight surgeon....

The dastardly faculty union!

…Closer to home, we read where Dr. Allen Greenwood, one local candidate trying to succeed Bob Bartholomew on Saddleback College board, is getting the backing of the college teacher union and is supporting the Irvine City satellite campus Site No. 2 over Site No. 1 which the Tustin trustees, Bartholomew and Frank Greinke, with Pat Backus and Donna Berry have supported. We are printing a letter from one of Greenwood's opponents in this issue…. 

Bill Watt. … Watt has favored Site No. 1 at Bryan and Myford. We think probably Dr. Clifton Brooks, also trying for the Bartholomew trustee seat, will announce his site position prior to the election. The college teacher union supports the Irvine Co. choice of Site No. 2. It is 3 miles farther from the Bryan-Myford Site No. 1 or 6[?] miles from Tustin. … I believe the voters of the Saddleback College district need to be aware of an important issue that has not been publicized! Alan Greenwood has been endorsed by the teachers union, the CTA, and the faculty at Saddleback College….

* * *

      1977. From the IVC Student Handbook:

1977: In 1977, land for the new site [of the district's 2nd and northern campus] was purchased from the Irvine Company, including 20 acres located at the corner of Jeffrey Road and Irvine Center Drive. Groundbreaking for the satellite campus of Saddleback College was held on November 1 of that year.

* * *

     Some details of this story can be gleaned from the following 1977 LA Times articles:

Irvine Co. Asks Saddleback to Shift Satellite – LA Times, Jan 19, 1977

     The Irvine Co. is trying to persuade the Saddleback Community College District to change sites for a planned campus, but college trustees aren't ready to make up their minds.
     Irvine Co. gave a presentation during a 3½ hour meeting, urging trustees to change sites.
     But last week the Irvine Co. suddenly said it had made a mistake in not discouraging the college district from pursuing its planned purchase of the site, which the firm said was located in the middle of a profitable asparagus field.
     [Irvine Co. wants district to buy 20 acres 3½ miles from the Myford location]….
     Afterward, trustees agreed that the Irvine Co. was offering a financial inducement that “is tough to beat,” if the district agrees to switch.
. . .
     The site the Irvine Co. prefers is adjacent to a new housing tract and has sewers and water available.
. . .
     The board was warned that the Irvine Co. might fight for a higher price than the district’s appraisal for the Myford location.
     Trustees scheduled more discussion at their Jan. 24 meeting.

Campus Site Debate Marks Trustee Race - LA Times, Feb 21, 1977

   The impasse over selecting a site for the second campus of the Saddleback Community College District is turning the March 8 trustee election into an emotional, and increasingly bitter, race.
. . .
     In southern Orange County, one candidate described the Saddleback Community College District race as “a real battle,” while another said “it’s a mess” as a result of the furore [sic] over the second campus site.
. . .
     The board has deadlocked over the two sites, with trustees adamantly favoring one site over the other. The impasse is further confused by a shrunken board of five members. One trustee recently died and another moved away and resigned.
     Earlier this month, the board voted 3 to 2 to buy the original Myford property despite Irvine Co. objections. That wasn’t enough votes to carry the matter because, at the time, the board legally had six members, even though trustee James Marshall was terminally ill and unable to attend meetings. He died Feb. 9.
     Now that the board is down to five trustees, those favoring the Myford site think they can clinch it at the Feb 28 scheduled meeting—a week before the election.
     But Lawrence W. Taylor, an incumbent who strongly favors the alternate site, cites State Education Code rules requiring a two-thirds vote (or four out of the current five) to approve land acquisition….
     This week, the Saddleback College faculty and staff began circulating flyers urging the election of three candidates favoring the alternate site—Alan H. Greenwood, Eugene C. McKnight and Robert L. Price. The flyers are signed by the school’s Faculty Assn. president.
     There are two vacant seats open, and the only uncumbent up for reelection is trustee Patrick J. Backus, a vigorous supporter of the board’s originally favored Myford site. There are a total of seven candidates for the two seats.
     (One of the official candidates on the ballot is the deceased trustee Marshall who conceivably could win and hold up site selection….)
     Backus, who is running a hard pace in promoting the Myford property said in an interview, “I’m tired of dilly-dallying around,” and urged a decision Feb. 28.
     He said he favors the Myford site because it is closer to the Tustin portion of the college district. “The people in Tustin and Irvine are literally clammering for a campus closer to them,” he declared.
. . .
     But trustee Taylor…maintained that it will [lose] the district $500,000 more immediately and from $2 million to $6 million additionally over the long run if it decides to reject the Irvine Co. financial inducements for the second site….
. . .
     Taylor said he is exploring legal options of preventing board action before the election….
. . .
     Board President Norrisa P. Brandt, who favors the alternate site, said “it would be inopportune” for the board to make a decision before the election…. If the new, full-sized board, could make the decision, “it would be more representative of the school district,” she said.
     Her position on the site is that, “There is no question, if you stick to the facts, that it’s the best deal financially (to buy the Jeffrey Road property).”
     [Board candidate Robert] Price, who supports the Jeffrey site, said the campaign “has become an extremely emotional and political issue.” At the last board meeting, he said, “trustees were telling one another to shut up, accusing one another of making insinuations, and some were rude to people in the audience.” He said it was “an ugly scene.”….

Confusion Grows in Dispute Over Site for Campus - LA Times, Feb 26, 1977

     The controversy over which site to select for a second Saddleback Community College District campus became further confused Friday by a written opinion of the Orange County Counsel's Office.
     The district’s five-member board of trustees was told that it can purchase property by a simple majority vote, but that it will require a two-thirds majority (or four votes) to acquire property through condemnation.
     What this means is that the three trustees who are favoring one of the sites must have one more vote if they are to take action to have the property condemned at a scheduled meeting Monday.
     A district spokesman explained that condemnation is the only means of acquiring the site at Myford Road and Bryan Ave….
     But the other site, at Irvine Center Drive and Jeffrey Road, can be purchased by a simple majority vote….
     The two trustees who favor this site would need one more vote at Monday’s meeting to purchase it.
     As a result of the written opinion from Dep. County Counsel Ronald W. Stenlake, the board would appear still stalemated, since all five trustees are on record as strongly supporting their site choices.
     The three trustees favoring the Myford Rd. site are Frank Greinke, Donna Berry and Patrick Backus. Those supporting the Jeffrey Road site are Norrisa Brandt and Lawrence Taylor.
     The controversy has become a political issue as candidates campaign for two vacancies on the seven-member board that will be filled in the March 8 elections….

Saddleback Board Decides on 2nd Campus: trustees Vote 3 to 2 to Acquire Original Location Near Tustin - LA Times, Mar 2, 1977

     Trustees of the Saddleback Community College District have decided to acquire the site for a second campus that was originally planned.
     The landowner, the Irvine Co., had discouraged acquisition of the site and offered an alternative…. But the trustees voted 3 to 2 Monday to proceed with acquisition of the 20-acre parcel at Myford Road….
     Trustee Lawrence W. Taylor, who had favored the alternate site at Irvine Center Drive… and urged the board to delay action until after next Tuesday’s …elections, said Tuesday he would not attempt legal action to prevent the board from trying to purchase the Myford Road property.
. . .
     In deciding to acquire the Myford Road site, the board sidestepped a ruling of the County Counsel’s Office that any vote to acquire the property through condemnation requires a two-thirds, or four-vote, majority.
     The board instead acted on the presumption that a 5-1 vote it took last Sept. 24 to acquire the Myford Road site through condemnation is still a valid board action.
. . .
     Trustee Taylor said he and others supporting the Jeffrey Road site decided not to pursue legal action because the election is only a few days away, and that “there is a lot of unanswered questions about the Myford site.”
     Taylor said it is conceivable that a newly elected board could reverse the decision made by the present board.

Upset Marks College Race; Several Other Incumbents Turned out – LA Times, Mar 10, 1977

     Several incumbent school board members lost their seats in Orange County elections Tuesday, including a charter trustee of the Saddleback Community College District.
     “I thought sure I was going to win; I really did,” said Patrick J. Backus, a trustee of the Saddleback district since its formation in 1967. He lost to Eugene C. McKnight, a 70-year-old retired college professor.
. . .
     The biggest upset of the election was the defeat of incumbent Backus of the Saddleback Community Collge [sic] District.
     Backus said Wednesday that he was at a loss to explain why he lost the seat he won in 1967 and was reelected to in 1968 and again in 1973. “I don’t have any pulse on it; I don’t know where I was strong or weak,” he said.
. . .
     He said there had been no doubt in his mind that he would win reelection. “My friends and the people working in the campaign also thought I was going to be a winner. I never felt I was going to lose,” he said.
     An issue in the campaign that could have affected the outcome, Backus said, was the selection of a site for a proposed second college campus for the district.
     Backus was a strong advocate of a 20-acre site close to the Tustin portion of the district while his opponent, McKnight, campaigned in favor of an alternate site about three miles away in Irvine.
     Another upset in the same college race was the election of William Watts, a school principal, to the board seat vacated last year by conservative trustee Robert Bartholomew. The odd-on [sic] favorite had been dentist Alan H. Greenwood, who was endorsed by the Saddleback College faculty union….

College Trustees Reverse Selves on 2nd Campus - LA Times, Apr 27, 1977

     Efforts by the Saddleback Community College District to settle on a second campus site have taken yet another turn as trustees reversed themselves and chose another location.
     At a heated meeting Monday night, the newly seated seven-member board of trustees voted 4 to 3 to acquire the site at Irvine Center Drive and Jeffrey Road in Irvine. About 100 persons attended the session.
. . .
     The issue [re the two sites] became an important factor in the March 8 trustee elections. However, at a meeting Feb. 28, the outgoing board voted to go ahead with acquisition of the Myford site, even though it was clear the new board might overturn the decision.
     The new board, first seated April 11, includes three new and four returning members. The new trustees are Eugene C. McKnight, Robert Price and William Watts. Those returning are Larry Taylor, Norissa Brandt, Frank Greinke and Donna Berry.
     Monday’s decision to reverse the old board’s action came after a series of six split-vote motions leading up to the final action to purchase 20 acres at Jeffrey Road and Irvine Center Drive.
     Trustees Greinke, Watts and Berry voted against the action, while the remainder of the board voted in favor of the Jeffrey Road site.
     This still may not end the controversy, however. Trustee Greinke, a strong backer of the Myford site, shouted to the audience at the end of the meeting, “Don’t give up on me yet, folks!”….

Groundbreaking at Saddleback College, north campus (Nov 1, 1977)

Ground Broken for Second Saddleback College Campus, LA Times, Nov 12, 1977

IRVINE – Saddleback Community College District has broken ground here for its second campus, due to open next fall.
     The 20-acre parcel, now an orange grove, is at Jeffrey Road and Irvine Center Drive. Campus architect William Blurock is preserving as many of the trees as possible.
     At groundingbreaking ceremonies this week board president Larry Taylor predicted that by 1985 the new campus will be in the very center of population for the northern part of the school district.
     Tustin Mayor James Sharp noted that it took only four minutes to get to the site from his home. Tustin students have long complained about having to attend the distant Saddleback campus at the south end of Mission Viejo.
     “The community college does things a regular college or university can’t do. Everybody has an opportunity to participate,” Sharp said.
     Laguna Beach Vice Mayor Sally Bellerue echoed Sharp’s remarks about accessibility. Irvine Councilwoman Mary Ann Gaido said it was one of the most significant groundbreakings that will occur in her city.
     Saddleback College President Robert Lombardi said it was not an everyday event, noting that only 2,500 colleges have been established in this country since the founding of Harvard in 1635.
     Also in attendance were members of the Leisure World liaison committee, representatives of state and congressional offices, local city and school officials, visiting college dignitaries and a representative of the Marine Corps.
     Grading is now under way.

CONTINUED…
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