"She wasn't just our little girl..." (sniff, tremble)

The OC Register’s piece on IVC's "hometown hero" Mike Carona (Mike Carona's risky business) is definitely worth a read. Some excerpts:

…George H. Jaramillo had emigrated from Ecuador with his widowed mother and twin brother at age 5. As a Garden Grove police officer, he dreamed of being a lawyer. As a lawyer, he dreamed of being the county's youngest judge, or even its sheriff. He had considered running against Carona until the two men met; their philosophies, goals and personalities dovetailed, and Jaramillo decided the best way to the sheriff's seat might be by supporting Carona and eventually succeeding him. ¶ Donald Haidl was a hardscrabble high school dropout who built a multimillion-dollar empire auctioning used government vehicles. He had law enforcement dreams of his own, and a desire to run with the big dogs. He had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the sheriff in San Bernardino, and was proud of his reserve officer's badge. ¶ Jaramillo brought Carona street cred. Haidl brought Carona cash. In the trench warfare, the three men dubbed themselves "Team Forever."

This, federal prosecutors allege, is when the conspiracy to elect Carona and use his office for financial gain, and to reward friends and political supporters, began.

…Carona charmed the board of supervisors as well. For more than 50 years, only captains with at least two years of service could become assistant sheriffs. Jaramillo had been a lieutenant in Garden Grove for less than a day. Haidl was an honorary captain in the San Bernardino County sheriff's reserves. Carona convinced the supervisors to lower the bar, and Jaramillo and Haidl became assistant sheriffs.

…When 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was dragged off screaming on July 15, 2002, Carona was thrust onto the national stage. He held vigil beside Samantha's mother as she pleaded for the kidnapper to return Samantha safely. After Samantha's body was found, Carona leveled an accusatory finger at a bank of TV cameras and spoke directly to the killer: "Don't sleep. Don't eat. We're coming after you." ¶ The arrest of suspect Alejandro Avila quickly followed, and Carona became a superstar. He was invited to the White House. Praised by the president. Dubbed "America's Sheriff" by CNN's Larry King. Thousands packed the Crystal Cathedral for Samantha's televised memorial.

When Carona rose to deliver the eulogy for the little girl he'd never met, thousands rose with him in a thunderous standing ovation. Carona turned his back on the crowd, shaking his head no, waiting for the applause to stop. The Rev. Robert A. Schuller hugged him, and Carona turned back to face the crowd, wiping away tears. "She wasn't just our little girl," he said, his voice breaking. "She became America's little girl."….

The further adventures of a world-class f*ck-up: board meeting on Monday

......The December meeting of the South Orange County Community College District Board of Trustees is coming up (Monday night, 6:30).
......The meeting’s “agenda outline” is available at Board Outlines.
......Monday's meeting is liable to be wild and wacky, what with ATEP development deadlines looming and the continued FUBAR concerning the Chancellor’s

WORLD-CLASS F*CK-UP

re the 50% law (which requires that at least half of expenditures be on instruction). PLUS…

THE ANNUAL ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING:

......As you know, it is in December that the board holds it’s annual “organizational meeting”—a meeting-within-a-meeting. The word is that Dave "the Quisling" Lang is sick and tired of presiding over Chancellor MATHUR and this dysfunctional board.
......But who’s willing to take on the board presidency?
…...Wagner? Could be.

MORE EVALS:

......Prior to the open session, of course, is the super-secret closed session (starting at 3:00). It looks like the board might continue its evaluation and reappointment of administrators. Saddleback College President Rich McCullough isn’t listed, of course, since he recently announced his “retirement,” to take effect in June. In truth, he insisted on really being the president of his college, and Mathur just couldn't abide that, so he drew a target on McCullough's forehead.
…...That's the persistent story, anyway, and nobody who knows Raghu Mathur would doubt it.
…...Among “consent calendar” items is Saddleback College’s popular “study abroad” trip to Santander, Spain. When that one comes up, there’s always a chance that Trustee Fuentes will say something incredibly stupid. Let’s hope so, cuz these board meetings can be way snoozular.
......The discussion of the 50% Law fiasco is scheduled for the end of the meeting. That could be interesting. It is no secret that Mathur’s failure to understand that law whilst spending BIG on ATEP has put us between a rock and a hard place. Meanwhile, there are indications that negotiations between SOCCCD, Camelot, and the City of Tustin or going badly. It is conceivable that the plug will be pulled on the Deluxe Edition of ATEP. (If that happens, it will be because Mathur is incompetent, not because ATEP was a bad idea.) But who knows.
....One “discussion item” is listed, and it’s pretty funny:

6.1 Saddleback College and Irvine Valley College: Languages in a Flat World

Luckily, on the agenda, Mathur explains item 6.1:

Information presented by Dr. Craig Justice, Vice President of Instruction, Irvine Valley College and Dr. Rajen Vurdien, Vice President for Instruction, Saddleback College, on the importance of languages in a flat world.

Oh.

A perfect storm of foolishness?

'FRAID SO. From this morning’s LA Times: Staying put in Orange County:

…Worried county officials had called the mandatory evacuation when forecasts called for 1 to 3 inches of rain. ¶ The concern was heightened by fears from federal hydrologists that there was a serious risk of mudslides in severely burned watersheds above Modjeska Canyon and two neighboring canyons. ¶ Maps released by the U.S. Geological Survey on Friday backed up earlier findings: Because the Santiago wildfire burned so hot above the canyons at the end of October, there are not even charred roots left on many slopes. There is just a sheer, waxlike surface that could propel rainwater, boulders and debris downhill into creek beds that can roar through the inhabited canyons. ¶ "Imagine a wall of mud coming down that creek in just seconds . . . a moving body of mud, water, whole trees, pieces of houses, cars, all mixed up like a chocolate milk shake," said Bob Scheibel, a structural engineer who lives in Modjeska Canyon. ¶ …[R]epeated evacuation orders coupled with milder conditions than predicted are already reducing the effectiveness of the orders [to evacuate]…Officials have warned residents to expect more evacuation orders in the future and are concerned that evacuation fatigue could set in, resulting in residents' opting to ride out a storm only to put themselves in harm's way if disaster strikes….

Friday images

.....Evidently, it's "Christmas" in Irvine Valley College's shiny and empty new Performing Arts Center. The Center's lobby sports exactly one object: a lovely Christmas tree.
..... Some college denizens have noted, grumpily, that not all Irvinites celebrate Christmas.
..... Did you know that nearly 30% of Irvinites are Asians and Pacific Islanders (so says the City of Irvine)? (I know, I know. Some of 'em are Christians.)
..... Did you know that the "city vegetable" of Irvine is asparagus? They oughta at least mount a big asparagus stalk next to that tree. That's if you ask me.




.....It's mighty wet and dreary out here in the Santa Ana Mountains.
..... Today, canyon residents (Modjeska, Silverado, Trabuco, etc.) received a special phone message from the Orange County Fire Authority: mandatory evacuations are lifted—for now. The message mentions the storm expected Saturday night. What then? Who knows.


.....OK, it's dreary. But it's beautiful, too.


........ I couldn't resist:

Gloomy, doomy Santa Ana Mountain communities

The OC Reg’s Science Dude reports that, according to the National Weather Service, “The cold North Pacific storm that’s streaking toward Southern California will drop 1 inch to 1.5 inches of rain by 8 a.m. Friday, with the heaviest precipitation falling in and around the burn areas of eastern Orange County….”


8:14 p.m.: Canyon residents under mandatory evacuation:

MODJESKA CANYON – Weary canyon residents, scarred by the recent wildfire and forced to leave their homes for 24 hours during a rainstorm last week, are now under a mandatory evacuation order again. ¶ The decision to make the evacuation mandatory was based on a National Weather Service forecast that the canyon areas will receive a minimum of 2 inches of rain tonight in a six-hour period….

On an even drearier note, I spotted Raghu P. Mathur at Irvine Valley College's Holiday party today, which, owing to his presence, was a shitty affair, judging by the faces of those who surrounded him. It was bleak, way bleak, I tell you.



Well, so it seemed to me, but I was only there for maybe one minute. No doubt the party was great in every other respect—even IF Tony was not allowed to roar up to the party on his Harley, wearin' his Santa suit.

I bet Mathur told Glenn: "You WILL have your holiday party in the Performing Arts Center. You will NOT have bikers. Or Bauers. Got it?"

I'm told that Mathur took that little poinsettia with him when he left. Could be somebody just made that up.


THE "POINSETTIA" EPISODE, 1998
FROM DISSENT 14, December, 1998:

...Late Thursday, the 10th, everyone seemed to be buzzing about President Mathur’s latest outrage. He had imposed himself on a lunch for classified employees at around noon. Each table held a lovely potted poinsettia. The idea was to give the thing to the classified employee who had been with the district the longest.

Since she had been with the district for nineteen (?) years, classified employee Linda X was identified as the recipient of the plant for her table. But the President—Mr. Raghu P. Mathur—put a stop to that. He announced that he had been with the district for nineteen and one half years, and so, as he left, to the astonishment of everyone, and despite his never having been a classified employee, he took the plant.

“Can you believe it!” people said. “Who does he think he is?” “What next!” Some among the classified staff who had witnessed the infamy offered suggestions as to where Raghu might plant his poinsettia. (Oh, how they hate him.) My inveterate commitment to peace and loveliness precludes saying more.

At about 2:30, I briefly visited a Burrito picnic out by the temporaries that had been arranged by students. Naturally, people were still buzzing about the purloined poinsettia. Then someone appeared holding two plants that he and others had purchased at Ralph’s—poinsettias, of course. A group of about ten faculty and staff—I was told to stay behind by my self-appointed handlers—took the plants and entered the Administration Building. As they walked past the President’s open door, they loudly hailed Linda X and presented her with the replacement plants. Everyone clapped and cheered. Then one of the group halted the applause. “No,” he said. “One clap.” [In those days, Mathur used to insist on what he called the "Orange County 'Clap'."]

Then, in unison, loudly: CLAP!

Again, smoke could be seen exiting Raghu’s riffraffian ears. —BB

"Scared to death" of the manipulative Nielsen

"The passion to be reckoned upon, is fear." —Hobbes

• From this morning's Frank Mickadeit column: Jeff Nielsen should have dealt long ago

…The new evidence would have refuted any defense claim that Nielsen had downloaded child porn inadvertently when searching legal gay-sex sites. "When you have newsgroups like, ' Sven's House of Teenage Lust,' that's unambiguous," coprosecutor Matt Lockhart noted. ¶ Lockhart says Nielsen's two former boyfriends "changed the whole case" by agreeing to testify and should be commended because they were "scared to death" of the manipulative Nielsen….

• This morning’s editorial in the OC Reg: [T]oxic atmosphere of local Republican politics:

…But in politics – and especially the nasty, scandal-plagued world of Orange County Republican politics these days – opponents reach for the long knives at any opportunity. And so, after Supervisor Janet Nguyen agreed to pay $5,000 in fines for illegal donations to her legal-defense fund after her three-vote election victory in February, her opponents came out swinging. ¶ Attorney Mike Schroeder, who represents losing candidate Trung Nguyen, told the news media that "This was an organized attempt to circumvent the law that they repeatedly lied about until they got caught." He was surprised by the low fine amount. Yet the Fair Political Practices Commission, which must still approve the settlement deal when it meets later this month, argued in its report, "In this case, the investigation did not produce sufficient evidence to support a finding that the violations were deliberate. In addition, all of the fundraising occurred after the election and no campaign statements were filed incorrectly as a result of this activity. The money was returned promptly when the mistake became apparent." ¶ … Ms. Nguyen's consultant, Dave Gilliard, told us that Mr. Schroeder "continues to appeal and appeal and appeal [the election verdict]," and is trying to harass Ms. Nguyen so that she cannot possibly win re-election. That is an increasingly common view. In a column in the latest Red County magazine, conservative political activist Mark Bucher writes about "a poison in our party," which he describes as the "practice by some Republicans to attack people personally, and destroy their lives if necessary, as a means to obtaining more power." His example: "Trung Nguyen and his lawyer, Mike Schroeder, are attempting to weaken Supervisor Janet Nguyen through personal attacks, accusations of criminal behavior and serial complaints and lawsuits. Their goal is to damage her politically and financially and thereby increase Trung's chances of winning the seat next year."….

Some Republicans? Tom Fuentes was among Trung Nguyen’s advisors. [Oops. I think I got my Nguyens mixed up. Fuentes advised Tan, not Trung. –CW]

• From this morning’s Inside Higher Ed: Presidential Politics and the Student Vote:

...On the presidential nomination question, Barack Obama and Rudolph Giuliani come out ahead, according to the “Fall 2007 Youth Survey on Politics and Public Service.” … ¶ Among likely young Democratic voters, Obama (38 percent) leads U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York (33 percent) by five percentage points, and both candidates are well ahead of former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina (7 percent). On college campuses, Obama’s margin is even wider. He’s at 44 percent to Clinton’s 23 percent. (Polling stopped a month ago.) Clinton edges Obama among those surveyed who are not currently at a four-year college and those who have never enrolled at any college…. ¶ [James Leach, a former Republican Congressman from Iowa] referred to data showing that more than one-third of the young people surveyed say the two parties are “doing such a poor job that a third major party is need.” Only 30 percent said that Democrats and Republicans are “adequately representing the American people.” Liberals were more likely to say a third party is needed than were conservatives. And while more than 70 percent of the entire cohort said elected officials don’t have the same priorities that they do, more than 6 in 10 said getting involved in politics is “honorable.”….

Sandbags and hay bales and Witch Projects

It was good getting away from the college today, what with its appalling atmosphere of end-of-semester student anxieties. I don't wanna talk about it. ¶ But people are getting pretty anxious out here in the canyons, too—especially, in Modjeska Canyon. You know: fire and rain. ¶ As I neared Lambrose Canyon, I took some grim pics out the window of my Chrysler. Strictly point 'n' shoot. (Or just shoot.) One pic reminded me of the moon; the other of the Blair Witch Project. Seemed perfect.


The rains are coming, and they could be bad, and everybody out here knows it. Grim. ¶ The Reg is on the case: Flash-flood watch issued as rains approach: Modjeska Canyon residents place sandbags and hay bales around homes and other structures:

Updated 4:11 p.m. Wednesday
The National Weather Service issued a flash-flood watch for Orange County coastal and mountain areas this afternoon. The flash-flood watch is in effect from Thursday evening through Friday evening. ¶ A flash-flood watch means that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding.

Updated 3:45 p.m. Wednesday
Residents, county and other officials and volunteers were placing sandbags and hay bales around homes and other structures in the canyon areas in preparation for the rain predicted to hit the county Friday. ¶ "What will happen will happen, I'm just doing what I can do,'' said resident Nancy Woodward, who has lived in Modjeska Canyon less than one year and already has had to contend with a wildfire and the threat of flooding and mudslides. She was placing sandbags in front of three driveways outside her home Wednesday.

Click here to view the U.S. Geological Survey Webcam of Modjeska Canyon Rain Gauge.

"Sometimes, you're just shoveling shit against the tide." —My Dad