About this time last year

Wasilla: It's Worse Than You Thought

Just pay attention to the interview with the current mayor.

The latest on "public-pension hog" Armando Ruiz

Somehow, I managed to miss Frank Mickadeit’s latest spankage (yesterday) of former Mathurian Armando Ruiz (currently, Coast CC trustee and uber-junketeer):

'Coach' drops out, gives anti-Ruiz effort a boost:

The potential spoiler in the Coast Community College board race involving public-pension hog Armando Ruiz decided over the weekend to abandon his own humble ambitions for the greater good. Don "Coach" Apodaca told me that based on my recent columns, he's ending his campaign and supporting Ruiz's main challenger, Lorraine Prinsky.

Before we measure Prinsky's car for her trustee parking space, however, let's consider the mitigating factors to this most welcome development. My impressive journalism was about two months late. Apodaca would have had to drop his candidacy sometime in August to have his name removed from the ballot.

That means he's still going to draw some votes. But that doesn't mean Apodaca's decision on Saturday can't make a difference. Perhaps the difference. First, a little background:

Ruiz is the longtime part-time trustee in Area 3 of the college district, which takes in the northwest corner of the county. For years, he was also a full-time administrator in the South County Community College District. As a trustee, he got a small monthly stipend.

Shortly before the 2004 election, he engineered a smarmy deal in which he got to "retire" from the Coast district's board as if that job had been a full-time job paying exactly what he made at his real South County job. Then he ran for election to the Coast district board anyway. So he gets a pension upward of $108,000 a year, instead of what he really worked for—which might be a little more than half that—and he still gets to sit on the Coast board. Your tax dollars at work.
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These events were known to the district faculty and a few others, including me, and Ruiz did have his reputation sullied. For the 2008 election, the faculty got behind Prinsky, a Ph.D., and a tenured sociology professor at Cal State Fullerton.


But fortune again smiled on the rapscallion Ruiz: Out of nowhere last summer emerged a third candidate: Apodaca, an optometrist and part-time high school wrestling coach.

He had the backing of some in the coaching community, but he was a very dark horse. He didn't even pay for a ballot statement. Nonetheless, conventional political wisdom holds that entry of a minor third candidate would benefit Ruiz by splitting whatever anti-incumbent bloc was out there. I even heard speculation that Ruiz had asked Apodaca to run.

Not so, Apodaca told me. In fact, he had never met Ruiz and had no idea about his double-dipping. (Ruiz has never returned one of my calls for comment.)

In the days after my columns ran, Apodaca considered his options. He sent me a message saying he was considering dropping out but, he said, "I need to be assured it will not be a meaningless gesture."

He talked to independent sources and he looked into Prinsky's background. Friday night, he and his campaign manager, David Finch, met with Prinsky and her husband at the Starbucks at Goldenwest and Delaware in H.B. What was going to be a 15-minute chat stretched into a two-hour conversation.

Apodaca said it confirmed a few things: One, as he e-mailed me Sunday: that Prinsky is "an honest, hardworking, dedicated lady who does have the temperament and background to straighten out this mess and return our local colleges to the level they once were as the crown jewels of our local communities."

And two, as he said in an interview Saturday night: Prinsky agreed she would look after the issues that made him want to run, chiefly, his desire that community colleges "use athletics as a way to draw in kids who are at risk."

(Had the money spent on Ruiz's nationwide junketing over the years been sent to Golden West and Orange Coast colleges, you'd have been able to spare a sports program or two.)

So Apodaca says he will do what he can to help Prinsky. What that is and how Prinsky hopes to capitalize I will update you on in coming days. But this morning, let's muse for a moment about the civic mindedness of Coach Apodaca and hope he continues to help our youth.

Above graphic from New York Times

McCain's stupid people now killing bear cubs

From this morning's LA Times:

• Sarah Palin's college years left no lasting impression:

What can we learn about our political stars from impressions they made in college?

Sen. John McCain is remembered as a passionate contrarian who won the hearts of his classmates at the Naval Academy. Sen. Barack Obama, who attended Occidental College, Columbia University and Harvard Law School, is remembered as a daunting scholar and calming influence. Sen. Joe Biden, who had a brush with plagiarism at Syracuse University College of Law, is remembered fondly by professors who found him charming.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, however, is barely remembered at all….

• From CSUF’s Daily Titan, yesterday:

Congressman criticizes Powell's endorsement: Ed Royce meets CSUF students to discuss his backing of Sarah Palin as VP pick:

Congressman Ed Royce (R–Fullerton) said Colin Powell "did not think it through" when he endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president.

Royce met with a small group of Cal State Fullerton students and professors in the Titan Student Union Monday. In addition to his own political career, Royce talked about his role in advising Sen. John McCain to pick Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate....

In this morning’s Inside Higher Ed:

• [MCCAIN'S STUPID PEOPLE ARE KILLING BEAR CUBS.] Authorities are investigating a bizarre incident in which a 75-pound bear cub was shot and left at the campus of Western Carolina University, draped in Obama campaign posters, The Asheville Citizen-Times reported. University officials said that they couldn’t determine the motive for the incident, but were troubled by it.

• [CRACKER JACK DEGREE.] Education doctorates are becoming a popular topic for review. On Monday, the American Educational Research Association and the National Academy of Education announced a joint review of education research doctoral programs. Although more than 1,800 such doctorates are awarded each year, a joint announcement by the two groups said that there has never been a comprehensive review of these programs. Last year, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching announced a three-year project to re-invigorate Ed.D. programs.

• From this morning's New York Times:

Fresh face on cable, Sharp rise in ratings:

Rachel Maddow, a woman who does not own a television set, has done something that is virtually unheard of: she has doubled the audience for a cable news channel’s 9 p.m. hour in a matter of days....

Education Alliance trustees showing their true colors at CUSD

As you know, several of our trustees (on the SOCCCD board) are associated with Tustin’s right-wing Education Alliance, a “back to basics” organization that is hostile to unions.

SOCCCD board president Don Wagner is on EA’s board.

Not long ago, EA helped seat the five-member “board majority” that now runs the Capistrano Unified School District. These new board members say they stand for openness and transparency and decency.

Sure they do.

Another open-meeting law violation for Capistrano trustees? (Today)

Capistrano Unified trustees tonight will consider admitting to a "highly technical" violation of the state's Brown Act open-meeting law in September.....

In a legal complaint filed last month, the district's teachers union said the school board had created an illegal quorum when two "reform" trustees, board President Ellen Addonizio and Sue Palazzo, attended the school board's Sept. 16 facilities subcommittee meeting as audience members.
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The Capistrano Unified School District has been blasted four times in the past year by the Orange County District Attorney's Office for its repeated violations of the Brown Act, a law designed to offer transparency in meetings involving elected officials.

The five "reform" trustees on the school board, including Addonizio and Palazzo, campaigned on the premise of restoring transparency and accountability to the board's activities, including stopping the Brown Act violations....

Capistrano district at crossroads with Nov. 4 school board election (Saturday)

November's election was supposed to end three years of political bloodletting in the Capistrano Unified School District, an unequivocal validation of a parent-driven "reform" movement that has replaced five of seven trustees tainted by scandals and criminal complaints.

Instead it is heating up into a bitter political fight as two former allies–the "reform"-minded parents group and the teachers union–go to war over whether the five replacement trustees are as committed to overhauls as they promised or whether they, too, are tainted by their actions and associations.
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Capistrano Unified's "reform" movement was started in 2005 by a group of parents weary of what they viewed as poor planning and fiscal mismanagement by district administrators and the school board.
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Galvanized and popularly received, the CUSD Recall Committee, as it became known, replaced three trustees in November 2006 with candidates Ellen Addonizio, Anna Bryson and Larry Christensen and two more in a June 2008 recall with Ken Maddox and Sue Palazzo.

Collectively, the "reform" trustees secured a five-person majority.

But division had already been brewing. Shortly after the November 2006 election, the Recall Committee lost the support of a strong ally–the financially influential, 2,400-member teachers union. The union had endorsed Addonizio and Christensen and spent $85,394 on their campaigns, but later learned they had been funded in part by the anti-union Education Alliance, based in Tustin.

The self-described "back-to-basics" group opposes health clinics and bilingual education in schools, advocates for school voucher programs, and believes teachers unions wield too much power and influence.

The teachers union has slammed the Education Alliance as a right-wing, special-interest group intent on buying influence in the district through the Recall Committee. Union leaders say they feel betrayed and have expressed grave doubts about the "reform" trustees' leadership.
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The teachers union doesn't deny the new majority's accomplishments, but says their overall track record has been, at best, "disappointing"–including a purported open-meeting law violation in August, unannounced entry into the superintendent's private office on a day when district offices were closed, and a growing perception the trustees aren't as transparent as promised....

SCHOOL BOARD AWARDED...FOR VIOLATING THE LAW!:

Posted by Daffodil J. Altan (OC Weekly)
October 20


The Capistrano Unified School Board was honored with a coveted "Darkness Award" by the California First Amendment Coalition this past weekend. Winners who earn the award usually, among other things, lie, thwart freedom of speech and subvert the public's right to know. The Capo board had it nailed in at least two of those categories and the First Amendment Coalition agreed, citing their continued inability to abide by open meeting laws. Violations were documented in the not-so-shining report issued by the DA's office in 2007, where egregious violations of the state's open meeting laws were detailed, including a handful of secret meetings used to discuss everything from building contracts to how to manage the fussy press and public opinion.

The DA issued another report last month finding more violations committed earlier this year, when the board debated the superintendent's raise in private session (and where recalled, former board member Marlene Draper said, on tape, "It's not about them..." referring to constituents who might object to the raise). No word on whether any of the recalled former board members, or perhaps indicted former Superintendent James Fleming, were on hand to receive the award.

Congratulations are in order, all around.

SEE ALSO:

• Board president Ellen Addonizio wants Spencer Covert's advice
• Capistrano trustees found looking through superintendent's desk
• New Capo trustees pledge openness
• School elections show incumbents' power (1998)

Pictured: Tiger-Ann, Cat

Tustin vs. the SOCCCD: "a significantly different project"

For many years now, the district—i.e., Chancellor Raghu Mathur—has pursued a grand plan for ATEP, the proposed technological education/business complex to be built upon 68 acres of the former Marine helicopter station in Tustin.

They do this alone. As you know, the Chancellor, with the support of the board of trustees, has pursued development of ATEP without consulting faculty, despite the key role that faculty must ultimately have (by law) in developing programs and courses for the campus. In fact, the whole ATEP project has proceeded pretty much behind closed doors, hidden from the public. Nobody really knows what’s going on.

We’ve long heard rumors that tensions persist between the City of Tustin and the district, which is easy to imagine, given the Chancellor's notorious penchant for deviousness and connivery. If the rumors are true, that can’t be good, for the district must satisfy the city before it can proceed with big plans for the property. The deadline for "satisfaction" is rapidly approaching.

* * * *

Last Thursday, Dissent the Blog observed that a “notice of public” hearing for November 3 had been posted. The meeting (of the board) concerns the “Long Range” plans for ATEP. It appears that the board will be meeting to decide whether to approve or disapprove of this plan.

At the district’s website, one finds a link to the announcement of the special Nov. 3 meeting. Further, one finds a link to documents concerning the ATEP “long range academic plan,” or LRP. The latter, in turn, provides various pdf documents concerning the LRP.

Tustin’s July 23 (08) letter:

I recommend perusing these documents. I skimmed through the lengthiest of them, where I found a letter from the City Manager of Tustin, William A. Huston, to Chancellor Raghu Mathur, dated July 23, 2008.

In it, Huston writes:

Dear Dr. Mathur:

Thank you for the opportunity provided to the City of Tustin to review and comment on the Preliminary Draft Long Range Academic and Long Range Facilities Plans for the Advanced Technology Education Campus dated June 26, 2008…. City operating departments have been briefed on the documents, reviewed the documents and provided specific technical review comments…. In addition, we received and reviewed the District’s updated schedule provided by your counsel…. However, …given the lateness of receipt of the drafts from the District, City staff has not yet been able to agendize and receive specific direction and concurrence on any of our comments from the City Council.
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Section 4.3.1 of the Conveyance Agreement requires SOCCCD to consult with the City in preparation of the Long Range Academic and Long Range Facilities Plans, share the preliminary plans with the city for review and comment prior their release to the public, and also requires SOCCCD to give consideration to all comments received from the City on such plans. Unlike the Short Range Plan, where SOCCCD did not positively respond to specific corrections and issues raised by the City and moved forward on adoption of the Short Range Plan despite remaining city issues and concerns, the City would strongly encourage the District to address the issues that have been raised by the City on the Draft Long Range Academic and Long Range Facilities Plans prior to any Board action on the Long Range Academic and Long Range Facilities Plans.

…[F]ailure to address issues raised in this letter may result in potential future conflicts and delays in the ability of the City to make conforming determinations and be in a position to take positive action ….

Tustin’s August 8 letter:

Two weeks later (August 8), Huston writes again:

Dear Dr. Mathur:

Thank you for providing the City of Tustin with an opportunity to review the Initial Study for the ATEP Long Range Academic and Facility Plans (LRP). As a “responsible agency” on ATEP, the SOCCCD has a legal obligation under the California Environmental Quality Act [CEQA] to consult with the City and obtain the City’s recommendations on the scope of environmental review for ATEP. To date, this consultation has not occurred even though the City must approve various components of the LRP….

The City received the Initial Study on July 17, 2008 with a request [for] comments [to]…be provided by August 4, 2008. The City requested from the SOCCCD an extension…until August 8 to permit the City Council’s review of the comment letter…. We believe our request for more time was reasonable, but we have not received a response from the district….

…[T]he City believes that the District is improperly tiering off of the Final Joint Program EIS/EIR for the Disposal and Reuse of the former MCAS Tustin…because ATEP is a significantly different project than the one that was contemplated for the site in the FEIS/EIR. On July 23, 2008, I sent you a letter identifying numerous significant issues and corrections relating to LRP, which is incorporated herein for reference…. Until the issues discussed in the June 23, 2008 letter are resolved, the City strongly advises the District’s Board of Directors [sic] not make any CEQA obligation and consult with the City on the scope of environmental review of ATEP.

In addition, the city has identified numerous flaws in the Initial Study’s analysis, data and findings for the reasons set forth in the attached documents….

The City again urges the district to consult with the City on its CEQA determination and the requirements of the applicable regulatory documents affecting build-out of this site….

The DISTRICT later responded, somewhat testily. See p. 352 of the large pdf document, where one finds an elaborate response to each of the City’s points. (See at end of this post for a sample.)

Tustin’s Sept. 24 letter:

In a letter dated September 24, 2008, Tustin’s Assistant City Manager, Christine Shingleton, writes Vice Chancellor Gary Poertner (see p. 460):

The City appreciated the opportunity to meet with representatives from the District on September 17, 2008 and September 24, 2008 to discuss the status of the ATEP project. As requested by the City Manager, I think it is important that the City clarify a number of issues as a result of discussions held at these meetings.

At the Sept. 17 meeting, City staff were informed that the District intended to bring forward on October 27, 2008 the Long Range Plan as well as a proposed Addendum…for final approval of its Board of Trustees. The District indicated that it would not provide responses to original City comments on the ATEP Long Range Academic and Facilities Plan dated August 5…and on the Initial Study for the ATEP Long Range Academic and Facilities Plan dated August 8, 2008 until October 16, 2008. City staff voiced concern… [--Is it] the District’s intent to move forward with the City in a cooperative spirit to resolve issues….
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Given the non-substantive review of major issues to development of the ATEP campus at our meetings on September 17 and September 24, the city would request that the District cooperate in allowing adequate time for City review of any redrafted ATEP Long Range Plan or environmental document.

I haven’t had time to explore the entire pdf document. Who knows what else is in there. But this much is clear: things have not been going smoothly in the district’s dealings with the City of Tustin.

From the district’s response to city comments:

19. ATEP planning process, Page 18, paragraph 2. It is stated that the vision for ATEP was formulated with input received from government. Unfortunately, as these comments indicate much of the input previously provided by the City to the District has been rejected or ignored.

SOCCCD’s Response:

This paragraph in the LRP describes the recent visioning session, surveying and discussions with community, business and civic leaders to help shape the ATEP Campus. The District serves many communities in addition to the City of Tustin, such as Lake Forest [et al.]…The input of all of these communities are important to the District. The city of Tustin was one of several government entities invited to attend and provide input; however, whether representatives of the City attended and provided meaningful input that was integrated into the vision and goals for the ATEP Campus is unknown since the outreach meetings and stakeholder discussions occurred in 2005-2006 and the originators of the ideas presented at these meetings were not recorded.

Since these meetings, the City has also been thoroughly involved for the last several years while the District has been planning the ATEP Campus. The City’s specific involvement has been well documented in letters from the District and District’s Counsel to the City and City’s Special Counsel. Furthermore, all City comments on the SRP, LRP and ATEP Campus have been fully considered and responded to, and incorporated where appropriate, pursuant to the Conveyance Agreement.

The District has consulted with the City regarding the CEQA documentation and the LRP were discussed at the following ATEP meetings between the District and City staff:

[The district next bullets dates and times of meetings starting in December of 2002 through late September, 2008]....

Two more "culprits of the collapse"

Anderson Cooper presents two more entries in CNN’s “10 Most Wanted: Cuprits of the Collapse.”

#6 Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve Chairman
Reagan's boy: market forces, not more regulation!


#5 Beazer Homes USA (CEO Ian McCarthy)
Ridiculous mortgages

Previously:

#10 AIG (Joe Cassano)
#9 Lehman Brothers (Richard Fuld)
#8 Chris Cox, SEC head (former OC Congressman)
#7 Former Senator Phil Gramm (McCain’s economic guru)