Still shitty after all these years; —PLUS: Roquemore of ages

Mr. Goo/Mr. GOP

     As you know, nowadays, former SOCCCD Chancellor (and inveterate rat bastard) Raghu Mathur is an adjunct chem instructor at the North Orange County Community College District (Cypress & Fullerton Colleges). It's his retirement gig, I guess.

     MR. GOP.
     You’ll recall that Mathur has always presented himself as “Mr. staunch Republican,” and he can always be counted on to join the chorus of “fiscally conservative” politicos and educators, denouncing taxation in any form. For instance, he routinely joined the old SOCCCD board—dominated by Mr. Fuentes and Mr. Wagner—in its distaste for school bond measures and any other measures that amounted to increasing taxes.
     (That's pretty ironic. That the SOCCCD enjoys and has long enjoyed the liberality of the “basic aid” boondoggle—an arrangement always popular among our GOP trustees—means, of course, that South County taxpayers spend far beyond the state average per student. More money spent = more tax money spent.)
     Now get this. Back in 2014, the NOCCCD pursued a bond measure for campus improvements, Measure J (see OC Reg). Despite being "the second-largest school bond in Orange County history," it achieved the necessary 55% voter support. It did so with 15 votes to spare! Whew!
     And who was there, at a meeting of the NOCCCD Board of Trustees one year later, thanking the board for its support of this bond measure and advocating construction of a new science building? Well, it was none other than the taxpayers' friend, Raghu P. Mathur, rat bastard extraordinaire. According to an NOCCCD newsletter,

Ron Armale, Cypress College Physical Science Department Chair; Adel Rajab, Biology Department Coordinator; and Raghu Mathur, Chemistry Adjunct Professor; and Jolena Grande, Mortuary Science Instructor, all thanked the Board for supporting Measure J, and spoke in support of a new Science, Engineering, and Math building, rather than renovating the existing facility. [My emphasis.]

     Mathur's hypocrisy will surprise noone who is familiar with the fellow's history in the district.
     About the vote: according to the OC Reg (Dec., 2014), Ned Doffoney, NOCCCD Chancellor (and former Saddleback College President), stated that “We’re humbled and grateful for the tremendous support of voters who participated in this historically low-turnout election.”
     I don't know why he was pleased about the latter. Ned can be inscrutable.

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     Upon Googling "Raghu Mathur," one finds the fellow's name popping up even more recently, this time as a supporter of the candidacy of Old Guard Republican Ken Williams for OC Board of Ed. In the “endorsements” section of Williams’ campaign website, Mathur is listed as an “educational leader”:

“Raghu Mathur, Ed.D., Chancellor, South Orange Conuty [sic] Community College District (Ret.); Professor, School of Education, Argosy University (Ret.).”

     Natch, Williams is no supporter of school bonds. In the “issues” section of his website, he declares that

I strongly support Proposition 13, and I oppose new taxes or bonds that deepen the fiscal crisis of our state and local governments. I oppose new taxes….

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     THE ROQUEMORE OF AGES.
     On an even more dismal note, I wanted to remind you all that, starting July 1, Glenn Roquemore will be starting his fifteenth year as President of Irvine Valley College. (Glenn became IVC Prez on July 1, 2002.)