Unpleasantness

AS I SAID LAST NIGHT, I missed the first 30 minutes of the board meeting, and so I can’t report on that portion. Luckily, Tracy Daly’s fine Board Highlights (BH) fill in the blanks!

As usual, trustees offered their reports. According to the BH,

Board President David B. Lang congratulated Chancellor Mathur on an outstanding Opening Session, probably the best he has attended in his time on the Board. He thanked Vice Chancellor Andreea Serban, who lined up Dr. Robert Bramucci as a speaker.

Bramucci truly was excellent.

During his report, Trustee Don Wagner said that he’s written a response to a Lariat editorial. Hope they print it. Peevish Don never fails to entertain.

According to Tracy, Trustee John Williams, too, was pleased by the Opening Session, which he judged to be “the best he has attended during his 14 years on the Board.” Williams evidently found the music to be fun. You remember. Elvis, Neil Diamond.

Evidently, during his report, Chancellor Raghu P. Mathur said that “enrollment is healthy at both colleges.”

Virtually all the consent calendar items were approved.

Next came the ATEP proposals. (ATEP is the district’s Advanced Technology and Education Park, situated at the old Tustin helicopter station.) According to the BH, the board accepted for review and study “all of the 13 ATEP partnership proposals, in preparation for presentations at subsequent meetings,” namely, on Feb. 1.

See, it’s like this. Park Ranger BOB KOPECKY and his team have managed to attract 13 proposals for what to do with our facilities (or some of our acreage) at the old Tustin base. Everything turns on the quality of these proposals. If just a few of them are worthwhile, well, we’re in business at ATEP. That’s what the Feb. 1 meeting is all about, I suppose.

Hey, everybody, this is important!

LITTLE SAIGON

One proposal comes from EBD (Economic Business Development, Inc.). They’re the “Little Saigon” people I mentioned last night. For some reason, they were given a special opportunity to present who they are and what they propose. According to Tracy’s highlights, they propose

to build a business incubator and economic development center with a $2.5 million EDA grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The facility would be open to small or incubating businesses with educational resources determined by SOCCCD. Students would fill internships on a one-to-one ratio with business professionals and have opportunities for job placement.

I dunno what that means.

The presentation was made by an earnest Asian woman with a thick but not unpleasant accent. Alas, the video portion of her presentation sported its share of PA system gremlins. She made up for that by introducing half the people in the audience, including some Dean from CSUF. She took questions.


Lang worried that this project seemed focused on denizens of Little Saigon. What about South County? As I recall, Ms. EBD said that it’s illegal to zero in on one ethnic group, and anyone will be able to participate. Wagner said that he was unclear about the “educational component” of the proposal. She gave some kind of answer, I dunno. At one point, she seemed to refer to the need to design courses. Uh-oh.

IVC Senate Prez WENDY G zeroed in on this “course design” stuff. Ms. EBD sought to assure Wendy that her organization would consult with faculty. “You are the experts,” she said. Wendy seemed dissatisfied with that. She asked whether EBD would “dictate our curriculum.” That remark seemed to fluster Ms. EBD. She looked a tad desperate. Or maybe just annoyed.

As you know, curriculum is the responsibility of faculty.

Who knows, though. This EBD thing could turn out to be a good thing. Don't forget Feb. 1!

STREAMLINING

Item 5.7 was “Effectiveness of Board Agendas and Meetings.” During the December meeting, Chancellor Mathur showed up with a list of suggested changes to the agenda and the board meetings. Well, they reappeared last night. The board was being asked to approve them.

Naturally, the perpetually staunch Mr. Williams said that they are “long over-due.” But Trustee Marcia Milchiker objected to one of the suggested changes, namely, the idea that, when meetings run long, college presidents and governance groups might be told to turn in written reports in lieu of oral reports during the meeting. Trustee Nancy Padberg concurred, noting that a report that is filed in written form is ipso facto not “made public.”

Another controversial proposal was to diminish the right of a trustee simply to pull items from the consent calendar (i.e., the set of usually-routine items that are approved wholesale) for further discussion. Trustee Don Wagner chimed in to say that the changes that Mathur proposed were not as drastic as some trustees supposed them to be. Trustee Tom Fuentes reminded the group that trustees were supposed to provide feedback (about these proposals) to the chancellor between the last meeting and this meeting. Had these naysayers done that? Trustee Bill Jay said that he had made his objections to some of these ideas at the last meeting, so what further feedback was he supposed to provide? Williams chimed in to repeat one of his favorite idiocies, namely, that board meetings are meetings of the board, not of others (e.g., Academic Senate Presidents).

UNPLEASANTNESS

At one point, Mathur commenced saying unpleasant things. He said that Trustee Padberg’s requests for reports seem to “waste our time.” He and his staff produce a report, he said, and then “nothing comes of it.” He seemed to be suggesting that Padberg wasn’t really interested in gaining information, that she was somehow playing politics most foul.

Raghu seemed pleased with himself. His body smiled.

I suppose that all of this had something to do with Padberg’s history of shining light upon inconvenient truths. Take the case of trustee travel expenses. Not so long ago, Nancy asked for a report on trustee expenses for one year. The resulting report evidently (I never saw it) embarrassed John “Orlando” Williams. She then asked that the report be expanded to cover five years. The Board Majority ruthlessly voted the request down.

Gee, if some trustees are abusing the system, shouldn’t the public be made aware of it?

Eventually, the board got to Mathur’s recommended changes regarding the ability of trustees to remove items from the consent calendar. Padberg noted that that item was “directed at me.” She declared, defiantly, that she would continue to pull items from the CC, when, that is, she feels that questions about them are warranted.

That seemed to set Don off. You know how he is. “Yes,” he said, this is “geared at you, Trustee Padberg.” He seemed to join Mathur in accusing Nancy of asking “rhetorical” and “political” questions about board items.

“Frankly,” he said, “we’re tired of it.”

Nancy defended herself, noting that mistakes can be made in constructing the CC such that her questions might well be warranted. She alluded, too, to the Brown Act.

Williams, a man with no imagination and even fewer gray cells, seemed to say yet again that certain trustees (Padberg) should “do their homework.” Some trustees, he said, show up to meetings “unprepared.” Jay and Milchiker took Nancy’s side. But they didn’t have the votes to stop approval of this recommendation.


The board eventually turned to the proposal according to which the college presidents and governance groups can have their (oral) reports cut when meetings run late. Predictably, the minority (Jay, Padberg, Milchiker) argued on behalf of the presidents/governance groups. And, just as predictably, the majority (Lang, Wagner, Fuentes, Williams) argued on behalf of Mathur’s trustees-über-alles proposal.

Wendy G asked: what if the Academic Senates have an important issue, and then the board meeting runs late. Does this mean that the senates are just out of luck? That their concern will not be voiced?

No problem, said Dave. They can still turn in their written reports.

“OK,” said Wendy. That “OK” sure sounded a lot like “you, sir, are a jackass.” But I could be mistaken. My hearing isn't so good.

Fuentes, who had hung back, finally had had enough. With obvious annoyance, he declared that “anyone can fill out” a yellow form to make a public comment! So “what is all the debate about?”

I smelled sulphur.

In the end, the Board Majority got their way.


Another recommendation concerned the notion that trustees should contact the Chancellor before a meeting, should they have a question about an item. Nancy, I think, argued that she should be allowed to bypass the Chancellor to ask staff for information. This caused Wagner to play the M card. “That’s micromanaging,” he roared. “When we start freelancing, we get ourselves into trouble,” he declared.

The recommendation passed.

After this “agenda” shootout, Mathur made some remarks that were seriously pompous. I haven’t the will to describe them.

Next came Andreea Serban’s presentation concerning “Transfer Rates” for IVC and Saddleback College. It was excellent. Tracy provides a link to Serban’s full report in her Board Highlights.

I hope to provide a review of some of her findings in a future post. —CW

Generating heat

JUST GOT BACK from the board meeting. Nothing major occurred, far as I know (I showed up a half hour late, so maybe someone went postal, but I didn't spot any bodies).

One thing for sure, though. This is one dysfunctional board. They were sniping at each other all night. They were hissin' and spittin' and lookin' ugly too.

At one point, Trustee Don Wagner seemed to point to Trustee Nancy Padberg and call her a "trollop." Well, no, but he did say that she was the one causing lots of problems with the agenda and with clueless yappage, and, boy, is everybody sick and tired of it, he said. You know how Don gets.

She gave 'im the stink eye, which is a terrible thing, accompanied by a hollow Padbergian laugh. Yikes!

It's hard to believe that these two--Don and Nancy--blew in together, back in '98, basing their candidacy on opposition to the "El Toro Airport" (ha!) and funding their campaign with corrupt rat bastardular Old Guard union cash. Back then, they seemed like twins, even though Don's a good deal taller. But, sheesh, I think Don and Nancy need to be kept on opposite sides of the building from now on. Plus Don better watch his back.

These days, everybody's got ATEP on the brain, and, on Feb. 1, there'll be a special meeting in which various proposals (for partnerships with SOCCCD at the old Tustin base) will be discussed. At tonight's meeting, a group that had submitted one of the proposals was allowed to make a half-hour presentation. Technical difficulties messed it up pretty good--there was a weird Morse Code of buzzing. I gather, though, that the proposal was something about incubating small businesses down in Little Saigon.

Lots of fed money is involved. I mean LOTS. Shitloads.

I think the Academic Senate Presidents got a little leery, though, when the Asian woman who did the talking for this group spoke of the special courses that would be taught. Who would generate these courses exactly? I mean, who's in charge of course development, anyway? You guys?


Vice Chancellor Serban gave a great report on student transfers, in effect making a case for the burning of the Register building down in Santa Ana. I think a mob's headed there right now, shouting: "Transfer rate? We'll show you our stinkin' transfer rate!"

Well, let's see, what else happened? At the December meeting, Chancellor Raghu Mathur showed up with an armful of nasty little suggestions as to how to streamline board meetings, and that generated lots of heat. Somehow, those same suggestions and that same heat showed up for this meeting.

On and on they went. Should the college presidents and the governance groups give reports, or should they just shut the **** up? The Board Majority (Lang, Wagner, Fuentes, Williams) opted for the latter. The minority preferred the former.

John Williams brought talking points--two of them, cuz he's got a very small brain--and he repeated them interminably: (1) Let's give Raghu's ideas a shot, why don't we?! (2) Nancy Padberg sure is a trollop!

Well, no, he didn't say that 2nd one, but he sure was thinking it. I believe that the 2nd talking point was that this is a meeting of the board, not of those other guys, so screw 'em. Besides, I wanna go to Orlando and spend some taxpayer money!

Well, that's my report. Hope it helped. I'll have more tomorrow, when I've recovered from the effects of one super-cold beer on one super-tired brain.

And Spanky: you know. Be good, be happy.

Carp, carp, carp

I WALKED through the A200 “faculty lounge” this morning at about 9:30, and what did I find? Aha! Furniture! True, it was wrapped in hideous stinky plastic. And yes, it sat upon the world’s harshest, ugliest, linoleumist floor.

BUT THERE WAS FURNITURE! NEW FURNITURE!

An hour and a half later, I was back, and they (whoever they are) had unwrapped and positioned the furniture. I stopped and beheld the scene. “Well, it’s a start,” I said to myself. I went to get my camera. In the hallway, I ran into Mr. M, who said, “Thank you, Mr. Squeaky Wheel!”

“You’re welcome,” I said. In truth, I have been but one of a chorus of squeaky wheels, and by no means the squeakiest. Rebel Girl, for one, has squealed and screeched numerous decibels higher and longer than me.

I happened to catch the eye of a nearby denizen who complained that the furniture was “ugly.” “Plus,” she added, “what about that horrible unmatched tile on the other side of the room!”

Well, yes, there’s that. Who would even think to do this and call it “tile replacement”? A monkey, maybe.

And plainly we need an area rug. That linoleum is shitulistic. Vomitous, even. Sure, sure.

But step back and receive the gestalt. Experience the spankin-new-roomedness of the scene! Is it really so bad?

“Yeah, now that we’ve got some decent furniture, the walls, in contrast, look like total crap,” said Mr. D, peevishly. “We’re gonna have to paint ‘em, that’s what!”

“Yeah,” said someone else, unpleasantly.

OK, I guess so.

Carp, carp, carp.

I found a quiet moment and, alone in the room, I sat upon one of the chairs.

“Not bad,” I said. “Not bad at all.”

The Dog Ate My Homework

CHECK OUT this article by Don Troop from the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled: "You're Never Going to Believe This One." It offers an inspired sampling of the latest and greatest of student excuses – and there are some doozies including my fave:

"Sorry I missed class, professor, but I had to stay with my girlfriend while she was getting her hair cut."

Most of the excuses are gleaned from the ever peevish RateYourStudents blog.

What? You haven't visited that site? What's wrong with you? Hurry up! Time's a wastin'!

The Chronicle article is good for laughs--and who doesn't need an extra chuckle?--but the RateYour Students blog gives you more than that. Take some time and scroll around. Go ahead. No one's looking. Really.

Tom's crowd

As you know, a few years ago, the IRVINE VALLEY COLLEGE Foundation honored Orange County Sheriff MIKE CARONA as it’s “Hometown Hero.” How did that happen? Well, at the time, Carona was a Republican star, and Tom Fuentes, one of our trustees, was the chair of the OC GOP. Maybe that's it. Dunno.

So, anyway, Carona gets this hero prize. But there's a turd in the punchbowl, cuz Carona, as it turns out, is a seriously out-of-control lecher, is generally sleazy, and is a member of the ruthless and corrupt gang that seems to own this county. Some hero.

The gang? Some people call ‘em the Republican Mafia. (See our recent "The man who sued his own mother".)

For a while, Carona’s best pal was similarly unsavory Assistant Sheriff GEORGE JARAMILLO, Carona’s likely successor. But, somehow, Jaramillo got on somebody’s bad side, and so he was charged with bribery and corruption by the OC DA, TONY RACKAUCKAS, another member of our Republican central mob.

Naturally, Jaramillo doesn’t want to be prosecuted by Rackauckas, cuz Rackauckas is part of Carona’s gang, and he’s advised by the same rat bastard who advises Carona, namely, Friend-of-Fuentes MICHAEL SCHROEDER.

Schroeder seems to be the Republican Mafia’s consigliere—you, know, like Robert Duvall's “Tom Hagen” in The Godfather. He may be more than that. Brando? Dianne Keaton? Talia Shire?

Today’s papers explain that Jaramillo’s request to move his case out of the OC DA’s office was denied. (DA still on Jaramillo case.) According to the Reg,

Jaramillo said he was a friend of Rackauckas' before he was fired by Carona in 2004, and that Rackauckas' office filed charges against him after being influenced by Carona and Republican activist Michael Schroeder. Schroeder is an adviser to both Carona and Rackauckas.

MEANWHILE, the state has been investigating our boy Carona for sexual harassment. But, yesterday, in the blog Total Buzz, Peggy Lowe reported that one of Carona’s accusers now refuses to cooperate with the state:

The state AG's office had to drop its probe into the claims made by Erica Hill, who had said Carona made inappropriate sexual advances, because she refused to cooperate. I left her a message yesterday and she got back to me last night. I picked up her message today...Hill, as those of you following the sheriff saga well know, is the sister-in-law of George Jaramillo.

Here's what she told me about why she wouldn't talk to investigators:

"Look what happened to George Jaramillo when he became a threat. Look what happened to BILL HUNT when he became a threat. I'm just a little, single mother of three."

See Hill speaks on sheriff investigation

Lovely, isn’t it?

You're supposed to obey, lady

DO YOU REMEMBER that 85-year-old woman and leader of a Christian sect in Costa Mesa who was arrested during a rhubarb over the presence of county health inspectors at the group’s little "tea room"? It was all about health permits, the county’s health standards, and, well, whether the county may enforce its notions of how people should run businesses.

Marie Kolasinski was sentenced to 10 days in jail and three years probation. According to the Times (“O.C. sect leader gets 10-day sentence”), at a court hearing,

Piecemakers Judy Haeger, 59, and Doug Follette, 52, were [also] sentenced to three years' probation and 30 days of community service.

…"No man is above the law, and no man is below it," the judge said, quoting Theodore Roosevelt.

When the judge asked the three if they understood their sentences, [leader Marie] Kolasinski, wearing a black beret, said she didn't know why she was being punished.

…[Judge] MacEachern said Kolasinski got jail time because she was the "instigator" and had a "long history of disobedience."

Some Piecemakers burst into tears as deputies took Kolasinski into custody.

…The Piecemakers, made up mostly of 26 elderly women who live communally, run a homey store on Adams Avenue that features handmade quilts, craft supplies and a small tearoom that serves sandwiches, soups and sweets.

Since 1991, the group has barred health inspectors from its facility, citing freedom of religion.

…"These laws are stupid laws," said Diane Sieker. "The government bullies us, terrorizes us. They come in with their guns and attitude and give us people who are trying to make a living a hard time."

…According to probation reports, the three refused to acknowledge wrongdoing and felt they were victims of government harassment, unjust laws and discrimination.

…Kolasinski said she had "absolutely no remorse" and "regrets nothing."

According to the OC Register (“Piecemakers leader gets jail”), the judge told Kolasinski, “Mrs. Kolasinski, you're going to jail right now…How much time that you get is up to you."

I suppose this means that she got the jail time that she did because she failed to be penitent. I mean, you’re supposed to “obey.” And when you don’t, you’re supposed to say sorry.

That’s the way it works, lady. Just suck it up.

P.S. (11:00 a.m.):

Just came across the OC Register's Steven Greenhut's angry reaction to the Kolasinski judgment (yesterday):

...Yes, jailing an 85 year-old woman for illegally selling soup and pies to non-complaining customers really warranted the time and effort of the justice system...So congratulations to the OC DA for imprisoning a peaceful, senior citizen, who makes her living running a crafts store and baking apple pies and proving that government is the boss in America of 2007....

"Offhand" question

● IVC EARLY COLLEGE @ TUSTIN HIGH SCHOOLS? ALL ABOARD! See this morning's OC Register: ”Tustin high schoolers can take college courses”. Some excerpts:

Tustin high school students will be able to graduate with a high school diploma and a college associate's degree at the same time after the district and Irvine Valley College agreed Monday on a program that will start in the fall.

The program will put college professors in high school classrooms to teach college courses, giving students a chance to earn college credit throughout high school without paying college tuition.

…The early college program will launch in the fall at Beckman High School, and will be brought to Tustin High and Foothill High schools soon after.

…The district is targeting students in high school honors and college preparation courses…Students participating in the program will be enrolled in Tustin Unified and Irvine Valley at the same time. Credits earned through Irvine Valley will count toward high school graduation.

…The early college idea has been around since November 2005, when the partnership was formed. The possibility for Tustin high schoolers to take college courses at Irvine Valley has been around for years, but never as a program.

…Board President Jonathan Abelove will also be impacted by the program. He is a parent of a Pioneer eighth grader who will be going to Beckman when the program begins. He said he was worried about the idea that college courses would be taught to a young age group….

This program was explained during last week’s IVC Academic Senate meeting. During the meeting, some issues and concerns arose (including Abelove’s sort of concern).


● HOWARD AHMANSON AGAIN. The OC Register is now on the “Let’s call it Christmas” story ('Christmas' comments revive religion claims.) Unsurprisingly, Trustee FUENTES’ pal, HOWARD AHMANSON, pops up:

A question about what to call the winter holiday has resuscitated concerns that three new trustees for the Capistrano Unified School District are backed by religious interests.

Ellen Addonizio – who, with Larry Christensen and Anna Bryson, was elected to the district board in November – asked during a board meeting Monday whether naming the holiday break "Christmas vacation" would be appropriate, Capistrano Unified spokeswoman Beverly DeNicola said.
The question, described by DeNicola as "offhand," came during a discussion of the school calendar.

It was followed by requests from Addonizio and Bryson that district staff look into the legality of the matter. A report will be written.

"The federal government has established the Christmas holiday because most people have asked for it to be in that manner," Bryson said. "That doesn't mean we aren't aware of other values, Hanukah and everything else."

…During the election, the candidates' opponents criticized them for what they saw as a connection to religious groups – including donations from the foundation of philanthropist Howard Ahmanson, who has supported religious causes….

Ahmanson is one scary dude, and he’s got some serious money. (Heir to Home Savings fortune.)

● @ UC/CSU, PISSED OFF AT ARNOLD. In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:

When he was running for re-election last year, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made much of his work with legislators to find money to cancel planned tuition increases for the University of California and California State University systems. Now that he’s inaugurated for a full term, tuition increases don’t bother him so much, and they were included in his budget plan for higher education, released Thursday. Student leaders are calling the budget “a betrayal,” the Los Angeles Times reported. Community college fees would not increase under the plan.

● BOARD MEETING, NEXT WEEK. Don't forget: there's a meeting of the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees next week (on the 16th). For the agenda, go to SOCCCD board agendas