1972: one of OC's Supes refers to some Mexican-American workers as "banditos"—and lives (for a little while) to regret it

From the "Trustee Tom Fuentes files" [Fuentes got his start working for corrupt OC supervisor Caspers; Caspers' chief crony was the corrupt Fred Harber]:

     It looks like the Saddleback College community is in a mood to finally get rid of its "Gaucho" mascot, which, for many years, was represented on printed materials and on walls & floors with a Frito Bandito lookalike. Ouch. 

     Well, that image is now gone, and the Gaucho—a problematical South American cowboy, not an image on a Frito corn chip bag—is likely not far behind.

     I've been looking through old articles, and I came upon one of the controversies that Ronald Caspers—an OC Supervisor back in the early 70s—generated in his curious career (that ended mysteriously, in 1974, along with nine others, with the sinking of a boat, wreckage of which was never found). 

     You'll recall that Tom Fuentes, a powerful trustee in our district from 2000 until his death in 2012, got his start in politics (c. 1969) as Caspers' campaign manager and then executive assistant. 

     It was all kind of hinky. Alluding to those early days. some of Tom's opponents referred to him as Caspers' "bagman." 

     Caspers is interesting because of his relationship to corruption (his death prevented his ever being taken to account) and to then new-fangled campaign techniques that later became routine—using computers to assemble mailing lists, lying boldly and repeatedly about one's opponent, stunning ruthlessness in general. 

     And he sure wasn't politically correct. He was pretty bad. As you'll see, when he did what he did, he got little support from his colleagues on the board, though they were no prizes either.

     Evidently, during a dispute with a government worker organization—the members of which were Mexican-American—he was inspired to call them "banditos" or "bandidos," implying that they had taken something that was not theirs.

     BANDITOS!? The shit hit the fan. 

     Here are some of the relevant articles from the time, late 1972 (I was in high school; you?):

Times editorial

Supervisor Battin, I should explain, was later revealed to be seriously corrupt. He was part of the famous "Dick and Doc" political funding scheme. (See.)

     As you may know, Fuentes, later the powerful chair of the OC Republican Party (until 2004), had Mexican-American parents. He was known to have an, um, complex relationship with his Mexican heritage. He instigated the notorious 1988 "poll guard" incident. 

He once said: “I can tell you the [party] registration of the people in the house by observing the neatness of the lawn, what cars are in the driveway…and whether there is a leaky oil can in the driveway.”

          As far as the Times was concerned, that was the end of the matter.

1-7: Here we are

January 7:

Yesterday, we witnessed an unprecedented set of events that compromised the foundation of democracy in the United States of America. Horrified and stunned, I watched an unraveling of what should have been a ceremonial process to certify the votes of the presidential election. Instead, we witnessed a dismantling of that process with lawlessness and violence. 

In the midst of a pandemic, now more than ever, we as educators must remain committed to uplifting, empowering, and educating the leaders of the future. We are reminded by these events that democracy is fragile and can never be taken for granted. Although difficult, I maintain the hope that we will see better days throughout 2021. Be well and stay safe. 

 Kathleen F. Burke, Ed.D. 

 Chancellor South Orange County Community College District

A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in Washington. Here’s how it happened 

—LA Times 

WASHINGTON — The electoral college vote certification was interrupted when supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, capturing the nation’s attention and threatening its democratic process. The rioters, fueled by Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, breached the building and ran freely through its historic halls before being forced out. The violence resulted in the death of one woman and an emergency district curfew that will last until Thursday morning. Here is how the situation unfolded: ….

Trump acknowledges new administration 

—WashPo

Here we are some more