The SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT —
"[The] blog he developed was something that made the district better." - Tim Jemal, SOCCCD BoT President, 7/24/23
Dated July 7, 1974, and titled "Orange County: The Right Wing Cradle," the article shows how dramatically Orange County, and in particular my own 70th Assembly District (Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Foothill Ranch, and most of the cities of Aliso Viejo, Newport Beach, and Tustin) has changed, both politically and demographically, in the past four decades.
The article describes Orange County as “a stronghold of the John Birch Society, a former stomping ground of the Klu Klux Klan, the fastest growing county in the United States, and the home of the first drive-in church.”
Fox draws attention to how much OC has changed from it’s notorious right-wing past. In some ways, I’m sure that’s true. But we’re still the home of Birthers, Minutemen, and other Neanderthals.
From the Palm Beach Post-Times, Sunday, July 7, 1974
Orange County, the right-wing cradle A Fertile Land of Firsts, It’s Patriotic Above All
By Kay Bartlett
Just About anything will grow here. Most things will flourish.
Societies to fight income tax, counter committee to battle the “Communist infiltrated” PTA, even something called SHRIK (the Society to Harass the Reds and Intimidate the Kikes).
. . .
It’s citizenry tend to add fuel to the image. Four-star Gen. Curtis LeMay, four-star patriot John Wayne, Sen. Barry Goldwater, an Arizonian who keeps an apartment at Newport Beach overlooking a bay.
Bordered by mountains on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west, Orange County has been, among other things, a stronghold of the John Birch Society, a former stomping ground of the Ku Klux Klan, the fastest growing county in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau figures), and the home of the first drive-in church.
. . .
Currently popular bumper stickers include “CommUNism,” “Hanoi is Fonda Jane,” “Kissinger My Ass,” “Would You Want Your Daughter to Date a Kennedy,” and “Nixon is a Liberal.” The “X” in Nixon is a swastika.
Politically, Orange County has long had a reputation for its ultra conservatism, a reputation that has been the subject of national magazine articles and popular jokes. It once prompted John Schmitz, a former congressman and 1972 presidential candidate of the American Independent party, to remark that he joined the John Birch Society in get into the mainstream of Orange County politics.
Many of my neighbors were Birch members,” says Mrs. Judy Rosener, who teaches a course in Orange County politics at the University of California at Irvine (UCI). “They were almost evangelistic about it. The thing that was disturbing to me was that they were well-educated, very bright and they took this thing very seriously.”
. . .
Many residents claim the image attached to their county never was justified. And then you meet a resident like Anthony Hilder, a self-proclaimed “new rightist” and author of a book – “The War Lords of Washington” – which argues that international bankers conspired to involve American in World War II.
“I’m slightly to the right of Genghis Khan and far, far right of the Birch Society,” Hilder says. “If I was in charge, I’d bomb London, New York and Washington. That’s the seat of the international banking cartel that wishes to dominate the world.”
. . .
Many see in the Register, a Santa Ana newspaper with a circulation of 172,000, a major reason for the county’s conservative bent. Since 1905, the Register has editorialized unwaveringly against income tax, public schools and government in general. It refuses, for instance, to endorse political candidates because, as Jim Dean, the executive editor, puts it, “Government is the problem.”
. . .
Then there was the late Jimmy Utt, a dapper man who sat in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 83rd Congress until his death in 1970. Known as “Mr. Conservative,” Utt usually was cheered back to Congress with 70 per cent of the vote.
When Utt died, he was replaced by Schmitz, who continued the ultra-conservative voting pattern.
. . . James Townsend, publisher of a newspaper called the National Educator and a man sometimes called the hub of the right wing in Orange County, assessed the reduced membership this way:
. . .
“The Zionists are a powerful force, money-wise,” says Townsend. “It’s a very wealthy, very well-organized, very fanatical force. Anyone who doesn’t recognize the power of the force is naïve. It is alien and very dangerous to the people of the United States. Their goal is world control. They can buy a candidate for any office. They exert a tremendous influence on who wins the presidency of the United States.”
Townsend’s newspaper, The National Educator, is mailed across the country, but he won’t reveal circulation figures. It regularly attacks the school system, the National Education Association, abortion, the United Nations, sex education, both the Republican and Democratic parties, Darwinian theories of evolution and income tax….
Townsend, a middle-aged six-footer, describes Mr. Nixon as a “wild-eyed liberal who did more to promote the concept of one world in his first five years in office than all the Democratic presidents put together. Well, maybe, except for FDR. Nixon takes the concept further than McGovern’s wildest dream. McGovern would never have gotten away with what Nixon has.”
. . .
One thing Orange County has not been accused of being is a center of culture.
“As I’m fond of remarking,” historian [Jim] Sleeper says, “the last cultural innovation that came to Orange County was indoor plumbing.”….
Evidently, the following email was sent to the “UCI Community” today at 1:30 p.m.
From: On Behalf Of Cathy Lawhon, University Communications Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 1:30 PM To: UCI Community : Subject: Update on Aldrich Hall Activity
A group of students and labor organizers occupied the fifth floor of
Aldrich Hall at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, disrupting business and
presenting a wide-ranging list of demands.
Offices on the fifth floor were locked down and protestors were
informed that they should leave or they would be arrested. By noon,
police arrested 17 protestors inside Aldrich Hall who refused to leave
and cited them with unlawful assembly and refusal to disperse.
Students arrested will also be cited with violations of university
conduct policy.
Demonstrators outside the building blocked several exits impeding the
ability of those inside to leave. Police surrounded the perimeter of
the building and exits were cleared.
By afternoon, staff inside Aldrich Hall were evacuated to ensure their
safety.
3:15 p.m. update: While there were several reasons for the protest today at UCI, one of the factors was a break down in negotiations between UC Irvine and the UC system's janitorial union. The union was seeking to "insource" janitorial and maintenance jobs which are contracted out to ABM Industries.
Negotiations broke down because UCI management wanted to impose citizenship checks on the workers, said Jorge Olvera, a groundskeeper at UC San Diego and executive vice president of service for the local chapter of AFSCME, which represents janitorial employees at the UC system.
Allan Bartlett of Red County/OC (AD 70 Watch: Don Wagner Gets The CRA Endorsement) reports that the California Republican Assembly has endorsed our own Don Wagner in the 70th Assembly District race. Here’s his campaign’s press release:
The Orange County chapter of the California Republican Assembly, the state’s oldest and largest conservative volunteer organization, held its endorsing convention this past Saturday in Newport Beach and overwhelmingly endorsed Don Wagner for the 70th Assembly District. Wagner defeated moderate Republican Jerry Amante by a 28-3 margin. Amante was unable to hold the 5 votes of his home base, Tustin, where he serves on the City Council.
“I am very proud to have earned the support of the CRA, one of the most important organizations in our party and within the conservative movement,” said Wagner. “CRA is the conscience of the Republican Party and has always been focused on governing based on a set of principles. I have done that as president of the South Orange County Community College Board of Trustees and will continue to as a member of the State Assembly.”
Wagner is a proven conservative leader, having founded the Orange County chapter of the Federalist Society, a nationwide organization made up of conservative and libertarian attorneys, judges, and law professors dedicated to promoting the rule of law against liberal activism.
He is supported by conservative leaders like Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin, John Eastman, Jim Lacy, and the Atlas PAC. He is also proud of the support of conservative California Senators Tony Strickland and Mark Wyland….
The student government president at the University of California at San Diego temporarily froze funding for all student-financed media operations on the campus after members of a student media group made racially charged comments on a broadcast, the San Diego Union-Tribunereported. The incident, which was the second involving derogatory comments about black students in a matter of weeks, led the president of the student government to freeze student funding for all media outlets while the campus drafts a new policy on funding student media. The Guardian, the student newspaper, which does not receive student fee support, blasted the decision in an editorial entitled "Stopping the Presses Won't Heal the Hurt."
The head of the student government at the University of California at San Diego has temporarily suspended funds for all of the university's student-run media outlets after a broadcast prompted new outrage in a controversy over a party mocking Black History Month, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The broadcast was produced by The Koala, a controversial campus humor magazine, and aired over the student-run television station last Thursday. The freeze on funds, which affects 33 student media outlets, has in turn prompted complaints of muzzling free speech. Utsav Gupta, the student-government president, said he wanted the campus to craft a new policy for student media groups before lifting the freeze.
The University of California at Merced has banned from an art exhibit a student's series of photographs that mock Chancellor Steve Kang, the Associated Press reported. The photos, among other things, show the chancellor speaking into a microphone that has been covered with a condom. University officials said that the art exhibit is billed as a family event and that this series was inappropriate. A video by the student, showing and explaining her work, may be found here. She writes: "My piece is a reflection of the torn feelings students face when discovering themselves. It outlines the ability to love two different campus idols: Steve Kang, our chancellor, and Lady Gaga, a pop idol."
FULLERTON - All high school classrooms in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District will display the American flag and hold a patriotic activity on a daily basis after a 5-0 vote Tuesday by district trustees.
The new policies were researched and developed by an eight-member student advisory council in the past four months.
"The whole goal of these policies is for students to have an appreciation for the country we live in, and for all our freedoms," said Amanda Wong, the district's student board member – and a senior at Sunny Hills High School – who led the council effort.
A handful of students and residents complained to the board last July that the district wasn't following the state Education Code, and urged trustees to adopt a written policy.
. . .
"Our fear was that if the (Pledge of Allegiance) were recited every day, we could lose touch with the students," Wong said. "So, we decided that period of time could also be used to read a quote from one of our presidents, read a patriotic passage, discuss the meaning of words in the pledge or hold a moment of silence.
. . .
Ultimately, the council decided those students who chose not to participate must remain silent, Wong said….
.....The board meeting was supposed to start at 6:00 p.m., but it didn’t actually start until nearly 7:30, suggesting, of course, that the board had lots to discuss in closed session. [See Tracy's Board Meeting Highlights.] .....No noteworthy action taken during closed session was announced. .....Next came “public comments.” Said bemused Board President Don Wagner: “No requests to speak, is that true? People are learning!” .....This evoked some laughter. .....Trustee reports were unremarkable. .....Chancellor Raghu Mathur described our administrative delegation’s contributions to the recent ACCCA conference in San Francisco. He praised a presentation concerning ATEP and VC of Tech Robert Bramucci’s keynote address. (At the conference, he got people to sing. Seems like a bad idea.)
nepotism: the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, esp. by giving them jobs. (New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd edition)
.....One trustee requested a report: Tom Fuentes wanted a report on nepotism. In particular, he wanted to know how well the district board policy on nepotism is administered “to prevent nepotism.” He said he was concerned to have “the cleanest operation possible.” The report, he said, is especially important in view of our economic downturn.
.....Possibly he’s right about all that. Dunno. Still, I feel compelled to observe that Tom Fuentes is Mr. Hypocritical Politician, par excellence. I dunno about nepotism, but Tom has got to be the most cronyistic guy the world has ever seen. I won’t go into the usual examples. .....Tell me, why are the most unchristian people always noisy, pious, self-righteous Christians? How does that work, exactly? .....Tom asked that the report be as “detailed” as possible. .....Sensing that ugly politics were afoot, Don Wagner asked for clarification. What do you mean by “nepotism”? .....Fuentes turned to Mathur, who referred to the district’s board policy, which, he said, underwent a “legal review.” In his mind, that suggested that it contained legal definitions. So there you go. .....Wagner asked, “Is the report looking for violations of the board policy?” Wagner noted that the presence of relatives among employees is one thing; nepotism is something else altogether. .....Fuentes clearly wanted the “broadest” report possible. That is, he wanted to see lists of relatives. .....It’s the usual witchhunt. Why bother with a tiny list of possible cases in which employees acted to benefit relatives when one can assemble a much longer and more impressive list of, well, just relatives.
I have here in my hand a list of 205 … names. —Joseph McCarthy
.....Wagner noted that the presence of relatives in the workplace is not in itself nepotism—not in any meaningful sense. He decided to illustrate his point with the name of a volunteer that appeared in a footnote somewhere—a Michael Telson, whom, he said, is the nephew of Saddleback VP of SS Lise Telson. .....Telson was in the audience. She spoke. She has no such nephew, she intoned. .....She looked seriously pissed. I got the sense that her anger was not only about this apparent misunderstanding, if that's what it was. Emotions were running high. Naturally, there were plenty of characters in the room who could be the ultimate source of her consternation. .....Next came a discussion item: Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery Plans. Bramucci, Palmer, and Glenn took turns presenting. There were lots of warm and fuzzies. Even Mathur got slathered with ‘em. .....Next came Curriculum Review for the two colleges. As you can imagine, so riveting was this presentation that, by the end of it, trustees were speechless. There were no questions. .....A handful of items were pulled from the consent calendar. .....Item 5.5 concerned that semi-hinky business about cosmetology program review. The item recommended the payment of $3,400 to a beauty college in Lake Forest. .....We were told that Saddleback College contracts out to this business, but the contract does not include program review, which requires time and effort. And so the beauty college people must be paid for that time and effort. .....Lang suggested that paying these people to review their program involves an apparent conflict of interest. Yeah, said Saddleback College President Tod Burnett (who seemed addled), but faculty routinely review their own programs. They’re paid to do that. .....Lang offered a painful milquetoastian smile. OK, he murmured. .....Item 5.7 was the “loop road project.” I’ll spare you the details. They’re gonna go forward with the study of this road. Gotta think of the future. .....Item 5.19 was trustee requests for conference money. There was a solitary request to attend the “Campus Safety Conference” in Long Beach. .....Nancy Padberg was skeptical. She said she wanted to know which trustee made this request. (Translation: “What’s that rat bastard John Williams up to this time?”) .....There was some hemming and hawing. But Padberg did not relent. Eventually, Williams said that he’ll go, if he can--as though he had nothing to do with the request. Padberg made clear that a “request” only appears when a trustee makes a request. So who did that in this case? .....That would be John “junket boy” Williams. .....Next came the wild discussion of “Chancellor recruitment.” (See yesterday’s post.) .....Item 6.6 concerned the “Marian Bergeson” award. Fuentes grabbed the mike. He gave an absurd speech about his pal Bergeson and her values. Who among us is a paragon of Bergesonian virtue? Well, that would be John “two scathing grand jury reports” Williams! .....Eyes rolled. .....John accepted the nomination. Aw shucks, he said. .....The board voted unanimously in favor of the nomination. I stared at the tally of votes displayed above my head and to the left. .....Nobody said anything.
----"You could cut the tension with a knife." —So said a friend after tonight’s meeting of the SOCCCD board of trustees. ----Tomorrow, I’ll have a fuller report. For now, I’ll focus on the big news of the night—and the cause of all the tension. It was item 6.1: Chancellor recruitment.
PLEDGING AN "ABOVEBOARD PROCESS"
----The agenda item made reference to the relatively new Board Policy 4011.6, which outlines the “employment procedures for chancellor” and “formalizes the process for recruitment.” And though I could not find it in the agenda, a draft of a brochure outlining a hiring process—including criteria for evaluation of candidates—became a big part of tonight's discussion too. ----As you know, I have raised concerns about the hiring process (Who will oversee the hire?), since board policy 4011.6 designates the Chancellor or a “board designee” as the overseer of the process, including selection of the hiring committee membership and its chair. My fear was that the wily Raghu P. Mathur could end up as Mr. Overseer. ----Ah, but my worries are over. Tonight, it was clear that the “new board” that emerged during the stormy December meeting is still intact. It is a board utterly divided between the odd new “majority”— Don Wagner (Board President), Nancy Padberg (Vice President), Marcia Milchiker (Clerk), and BillJay—and the angry and disgruntled new “minority”—Tom Fuentes, Dave Lang, and John Williams. ----Tonight, Wagner clearly hoped to initiate the chancellor “recruitment” process. Meanwhile, Fuentes and his gang plainly sought to prevent or delay that action, by hook or by crook. It was a noisy and sometimes brutal struggle. Fuentes provided all of the brutality. He was like a caged tiger. It was way cool. ----Wagner began the discussion by referring to the Board Policy, adopted three or four years ago, and the brochure, a work in progress (something evidently intended to assist the trustees; probably composed by VC of HR, David Bugay). He suggested that, for tonight, the board could discuss who would serve as “board designee” and whether the board should hire a consultant. ----And so, from the very start, no one was thinking that lame duck Mathur would oversee the process. Maybe that was decided during the closed session (which ran over by over an hour). Dunno. ----But it was great news. ----Someone suggested that the brochure, which evidently described the hire as occurring “by July,” was overly optimistic. ----Wagner then said—well, he said all that one might hope that he would say! He explained that he was committed to a process that was as fully open and exhaustive and aboveboard as possible. Speaking for himself, he pledged that there certainly were no candidates with a "leg up." He said that he was looking for a process that everyone could get behind. He was determined that the community would embrace the process as a good and honest one. ----I carefully studied his face and the faces of his colleagues. (BTW, Mathur looked like a corpse.) He really seemed to mean what he was saying. The new board majority had evidently decided that the Chancellor hire would be a model of transparency and professionalism. ----I was impressed. What could be better! ----Bill Jay said he agreed that the process should be started right away. He indicated that he supported item 6.1 (i.e., initiation of the recruitment process). ----Nancy Padberg agreed, though she acknowledged that the July date was optimistic. She motioned to approve the item.
WHAT'S THE RUSH! they said
----John Williams pushed back. This should be done slowly, he said. Commencement is only 12 weeks away, and that time is too short to properly advertise for the position. It doesn’t make sense to “rush” the process, he said. He said that, normally, Chancellor hires start in the fall. “We’ve missed the window of opportunity,” he declared. ----Williams struck me as confused. Despite his verbiage, his point wasn’t that Wagner sought to initiate a rushed process; his point was that they need to wait for the optimal recruitment season. This equivocation caused a fair amount of confusion, I think. ----Wagner explained that the process is already defined; it is definedby the board policy. The process is what it is whenever we start it. One reason to start the process now, said Wagner, is to shorten the interim period (between Mathur’s exit and the new Chancellor’s arrival). It is best to have a short interim period for the sake of stability, he said. ----That seemed right. ----Williams then reiterated that “now” is not the optimal time to start a Chancellor recruitment process. To optimize the process, one would choose a search committee by late spring and then proceed with hiring early in the fall. Again, he said that they mustn’t "rush." ----Wagner then reiterated that no “rush” was being suggested. All that was being suggested was that they follow the policy, which essentially defines the pace of recruitment and hiring. ----Williams then repeated his point that we’ve missed the window of opportunity. Mid-year hires are not very common, he opined. He referred to some ads in the Chronicle of Higher Education. He noted the timeline of a hire in Australia. ----Freakin' Australia? That example produced quizzical and annoyed looks. ----Tom Fuentes, already in Bully Mode, then spoke. With customary Gigantor candence, he bellowed that he was very concerned about the “rush in this process.” He noted, with great and and oozing passion (rage?), that the board hadn’t had a presentation on the hiring process. Such a presentation was necessary, he said, to “expose” it to the trustees’ constituencies (i.e., the wonderful TV people out there in the dark). Oddly, he then blasted the “draft brochure,” calling it "very disappointing." It doesn’t reflect, he said, his priorities, such as the Chancellor’s responsibility to the “taxpayer.” The brochure refers to a requirement of five years of specifically community college administrative experience. Why exclude 4-year college experience? Fuentes then repeated that the board needs a full presentation from the Vice Chancellor of HR (David Bugay). Item 6.1, he said, was premature, and it was very poorly presented. ----Then Fuentean minion Dave Lang weighed in. We’re proceeding “a bit hastily,” he burbled. He said he didn’t understand quite what was being recommended by 6.1. Plus we need to consider whether people are comfortable with the process that’s in place (a reference, I suppose, to the 2006 board policy). ----Wagner then argued that revisiting the policy in the middle of a Chancellor search undermines the idea of having a policy. The policy tells us what to do when these circumstances (i.e., needing to hire a new Chancellor) arise. It would be improper to change the rules in the middle of the process. ----Wagner couldn't figure out what sort of presentation Lang and Fuentes wanted. The policy already exists (and it is pretty clear). We should now use it, he said. The brochure, he said, is not finished. It can still incorporate trustee suggestions. Right now, we need to consider who should serve as the board designee and whether a consultant should be hired. ----Marcia Milchiker then stated that hiring a Chancellor is the one thing that the board does. There is no reason to expect a presentation from administrators—unless the board asks for one. She did not object to a presentation on the process. She did not object to having a special meeting (within two weeks) in which the board could define just what kind of Chancellor they wanted to hire. We need to get the word out what a fabulous district this is and what a fabulous place this is to live, she said. But none of this, she seemed to say, is a reason not to get started right away. ----Nancy Padberg agreed. We can make adjustments along the way as necessary. ----Lang, ignoring Wagner's argument, then stated that just because we have a policy doesn’t mean it is "cast in concrete." Our starting point, he said, should be "looking at the policy." ----Williams then said that he was troubled by the lack of a “timeline” in the agenda item. We need to adequately "expose" this job in the Chronicle of Higher Ed, he said. What upset him the most, he guessed, was the July date. ----Wagner then noted that, according to the policy, 50 days (of advertising?) are specified, but that period can be extended. What I’m hearing, he said, is “not yet!”—but we can make adjustments as necessary. ----Wagner noted that the policy actually addresses some of the concerns that were being expressed. (It did seem to me that few on Team Fuentes had actually read the policy.) He said he couldn’t see a reason not to start the process. We should empower administrators to get started right away (with forming the committee, etc.). ----Bill Jay chimed in to say that there’s nothing wrong with hiring a Chancellor during the summer. He cited cases in which the board had hired Chancellors during the summer and that turned out well. He noted that the Chancellor hire is important to faculty and that they would be willing to serve on a committee even during summer. (I nodded, hoping that that would matter to someone.) We need to move forward as quickly as we can, he said. If we don’t like the first group of applicants, we can always extend the recruitment period. ----Fuentes then boomed that they were “putting the cart before the horse.” He was visibly angry. They had received a poorly written brochure, he said. We’re expected to vote on a process that we haven’t had presented to us, he repeated. Constituencies and the media deserve seeing that presentation. He said that this process shouldn’t be “railroaded.” He moved to table the matter. ----That failed: 3 to 4. ----I smelled sulphur, heard faint screams. ----Lang again suggested that it is unclear which action is being recommended. ----Milchiker then explained that nobody is ramming anything down anyone’s throat. They're merely initiating the recruitment process. We need to hire a chancellor. That's clear. So let’s do it. ----Wagner stuck to his guns. We can also have a presentation; but, in the end, we will follow the existing board policy. He indicated that trustees were assuming that the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources (David Bugay) should be the board’s designee. So we now need to consider whether they'll need the services of a consultant. We’re just trying to get the process started, he said. ----The motion was clarified: the board would initiate recruitment. Bugay would be the board's designee. There would be a special meeting within two weeks to clarify what sort of Chancellor the board wanted. ----Fuentes, now in full Bully Mode, roared: “I’ve never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life! We’re going to put an ad in the newspaper, ‘Chancellor wanted,’ but we don’t know yet the qualifications for the job.” He played the "I've been in the public sector" card. He got seriously ugly. ----“What is the rush in this!” he snarled. ----Lang then stated that he preferred Gary Poertner to David Bugay as board designee. ----Wagner then explained (I didn’t really follow this) why Bugay is a better choice than Poertner. (I think it had something to do with the possibility that some of our administrators might be interested in the Chancellor gig. Bugay was clearly not among that group.) ----Wagner again attempted to hold the vote on the item. ----But Marcia wanted to make sure that everyone had had their say. ----Lang said he had a question seeking clarification. ----Wagner said no, they were finally going to vote, goddamit. ----Fuentes bleated that the board has never done that “discourtesy” to a board member before. ----Wagner relented. Lang wanted to know if we were talking about Bugay as the “chair” or as the “board designee.” (Actually, the board policy makes clear that the board is to choose a designee, not a chair. The chair is chosen by the Chancellor or designee. Gosh, did these people bother to read the policy?) ----Finally, they voted: item 6.1 passed, 4 to 3. The process had started.
THE BIG QUESTION:
----To me, the only question here was: what does the Board Minority have to gain by delaying the recruitment process? Their arguments were weak. As Wagner said at one point, the Minority seemed determined to object to the item no matter how it was formulated. All of the Minority's worries were already addressed in the policy or could be dealt with by ad hoc adjustments. ----Why were Fuentes and his Gang desperately scraping up any reason they could think of to delay or prevent the hiring process? ----I smell a rat.
Comments:
----Anonymous said... - The rat? If the minority can get the process of a chancellor's hiring delayed and IF Don gets the nod to serve as a state political representative, then the new BOT member to replace Don might go with the current minority and reappoint—guess who? - 5:36 AM, February 23, 2010 ----Anonymous said... - yes, my thoughts exactly – they are waiting for Don to resign then they'll appoint his replacement (at the ready, no doubt, Probolsky?) and well, that's all she wrote. "gigantor cadence" – love it, Roy. ha ha ha. Thanks for hanging in there and giving us such gems—and reportage. - 10:08 AM ----Anonymous said... - Thanks for the good and bad news. Clearly they're hoping Don makes the jump to Sacramento – and then, a la their attempt to ram Norby down our throats via Fuentes – well, they'll fill Don's seat with a Fuentes' flunky and then undo what's been done. I hope the union has a candidate in the wings for Don's seat...or is prepared to recall again. (and yes, thanks Roy for this and everything you do, the recent shabby treatment by the Senate's leadership aside – what's GOT into them anyway? Or is it WHO? Dang. Can you imagine Peter Morrison acting like that? Even with his opponents? He honored the institution.) - 10:16 AM ----Anonymous said... - Raghu's laying the groundwork for his reinstatement – he was talking it up last weekend about how he signed his "resignation" under duress – watch out. They're up to something. - 10:41 AM ----Anonymous said... - Why hire a new chancellor when we have the best one money can buy right here, right now???? - 5:19 PM ----Anonymous said... - I smell a rat. Several rats. - 9:08 AM, February 24, 2010
• BOARD MEET TONIGHT.
It’s been a wild day already, and, at long last, I have ceased running and spinning, but only for a moment. Soon, I'll be headed to tonight’s meeting of the SOCCCD Board of Trustees.
So I've taken a few minutes to read the news:
• BE NOT CARNIVOROUS. The OC Register reports that
PETA2, the youth division of the PETA animals-rights group, released the results of its 4th annual Libby Awards, which include best vegan fast-food chain and best overall vegan restaurant. ¶ Irvine-based zpizza nabbed the top honor of Most Vegan-Friendly Restaurant Chain, PETA2 said Monday. … The locally-based pizza joint, which offers a variety of organic and vegan toppings, beat other nominees such as P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Johnny Rockets and Moe’s Southwest Grill. . . . In the fast-food category, Chipotle Mexican Grill nabbed the most votes….
• NOT ON THE SAME PAGE. Meanwhile, the OC Register’s College Life blog reports today that five student groups at UC Irvine “spoke out against the Zionist Organization of America [ZOA], which last week called for a boycott of the university because of on-going tension between Jewish and Muslim students.”
This “speaking out” comes in the form of a letter, which ends with:
Unfortunately the MSU [Muslim Student Union] continues to bring negative programming to campus, which continues to give UCI an undeserving terrible reputation. As proud UCI Anteaters, the rest of us will continue to build a thriving and robust campus life for our fellow and future students.
Here are the groups that signed the letter: Anteaters for Israel, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Chabad at UCI, Hillel at UCI, Alpha Epsilon Phi
• DEMON DEMS. The OC Weekly’s Scott Moxley (see) provides a nifty quotation:
"This is a battle between Christian conservatives versus deceitful, socialistic, liberal Democrats and education bureaucrats who are delusional."
According to Moxley, the quotation is an argument made two days ago at the “California Republican Assembly convention in a winning effort to get the conservative political group to oppose a recall of two Republican Capistrano Unified School District board members who want to slash teacher pay by 10 percent.”
The lawyer retained by Dr. Orly Taitz to fight against her $20,000 sanctions today issued a press release saying the Laguna Niguel dentist has appealed to the United Nations for protection from "persecution" in the United States.
Quoth the release:
The California attorney has been the victim of death threats, vandalism, false complaints, and a suspected assassination attempt. Her reports to law enforcement and the judiciary have been ignored.
The attempt is the latest manifestation of Taitz's steadily increasing belief, documented hourly on her blog, that she is being personally targeted by the vast conspiracy involving Barack Obama, the media, Saudi Arabia, China, communism, George Soros, the U.N. (?!), Glenn Beck, etc. etc. etc. ¶ We've got a call to lawyer Jonathan Levy's office for details. Levy appears to have graduated from the same unaccredited Santa Ana law school—Howard Taft University—that Taitz herself attended.
