Fireside Chat #2

     South Orange County Community College District Chancellor Gary Poertner has issued yet another of his “Chancellor’s Perspectives,” which, coming within memory of his predecessor's 8-year reign of (essentially) Republican misrule (see The Wrecking Crew), come across like goshdarn Rooseveltian fireside chats. I present an abridged version. (Do use the link to read the whole thing.)
     The upshot is that, in the last year, substantial steps have been taken to remove obstacles (apneas?) to what I’ve called the “ATEP dream," i.e., the flowering of fancy and impressive technical whizbangery, including partnerships with Big Money People, out where the Marines used to keep their helicopters in Tustin. 
     Perhaps most crucial were the two acts of clarification—regarding ATEP “ownership” (between the two colleges)—that occurred at Monday’s meeting of the SOCCCD Board of Trustees. 
     For IVC, it was a "good news/bad news" development. On the one hand, the notion nurtured at the college that IVC has special ownership of ATEP is now, officially, toast. On the other hand, Poertner's Solomonic decision to cut ATEP in half--each college gets half of the baby, including matching pink and blue buildings of equal square footage!--really favors IVC, given that Saddleback College is twice IVC's size. (On the third hand, there's so much space out at ATEP, each college can pretty much pursue its own projects and programs; but the money's still gotta come from the district, and it's hard to imagine that that moola will be equal. It'll likely go to whoever's got the tastier plans to sell to the BOT. Am I wrong?)

CHANCELLOR’S PERSPECTIVE:

     It has been 13 months since I became Chancellor and promised in my first opening session to facilitate a resolution on issues related to ATEP, including what its focus would be and whether it would involve one or two colleges. Over the past several years, the district and colleges have struggled with ATEP issues that caused unnecessary friction district-wide. I have worked diligently to facilitate discussions with the college presidents and board of trustees in order to resolve these issues that impede progress. I am happy to report the following accomplishments and outcomes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND APPROVALS
     There were many policy decisions that needed to be made in order to pave the way for progress. Over the past year, the board of trustees:
     Reaffirmed their values and commitment to all students in the SOCCCD service area by reiterating that ATEP is, and always was, intended for both colleges to develop career technical education, workforce development and advanced technology training in order to meet the priorities set by the Board of Governors and State Chancellor’s office and contribute to the economy. At the board meeting earlier this week, the board approved two agenda items related to this. The first was to re-affirm the colleges’ original service areas and to identify ATEP as an independent service area for use by both colleges for career technical, workforce development and advanced technology training. The second agenda item specified that the land at ATEP would be available to both colleges in equal proportions.
. . .
     Reallocated and approved $12.5 million in basic aid to help pay for the next buildings.
. . .
     Supported discussions with the City of Tustin and County of Orange to facilitate land swaps of equal proportion that will provide an improved land configuration and allow for increased square footage build-out and better traffic flow. It is estimated that we could build between 900,000 and 1.7 million square feet on the 68 acres. That is enough square footage for the two colleges to do just about any programs they want, and it will also provide the district with ample land to develop partnerships to help pay for it….
     Heard presentations from the colleges in September and December about proposed programs and partnership development for the site….

No fireside chats for Mathur, unless
he was roasting someone on a spit

DELINEATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES
     At this point, policy decisions have been made, barriers have been removed and the board has signaled its support to accelerate the development at ATEP. Who will be responsible for what? District Services will continue to oversee site development, facilities planning, future partner ground and space lease agreements and funding efforts as is the case with other district/college development projects. The colleges will be responsible for identifying instructional programs, developing curriculum and offering classes at ATEP through their own planning processes. The college presidents are providing leadership to collaborate on a mutual agreement that will define the programs each college will offer at ATEP. As soon as this is accomplished, architectural programming, site planning and pending funding pursuits for the next buildings can continue.
     The work that was appropriate for District Services, putting the foundation in place for the project to proceed, has been accomplished for the initial college building phases. Now the responsibility lies with the college presidents, academic senates, faculty and staff to make this goal and board direction a reality.
     Everything is now in place for real progress to be made at ATEP and I hope that resolving these lingering issues will pave the way for increased cooperation and collaboration district-wide so we can move forward to better serve the needs of our community….

p.s.
     In his “OC Politics” blog, occasionally self-destructive and routinely off-the-wall local politico, Art Pedroza, has written a semi-critical (and vaguely laudatory) “good-bye” to Tom Fuentes: O.C. Republicans Fuentes and Royce, Sr. wrap up their political careers. You might find it semi-amusing. Probably not.

Smouldering, anyway

     We got a couple of favorable mentions today in our pal Vern’s piece in today’s OC Blog (Is the OC’s tumor John Williams leaving or not? Carlson out in AD-74).
     He notes our involvement in early (and persistent) effort to draw attention to John Williams’ incompetence and corruption.
     Then he turns to Frank Mickadeit’s recent hagiographical crap about Tom Fuentes asking Keith Carlson to drop out of a race:

     ...Well, Schroeder lost that battle when sainted and moribund OC GOP chairman emeritus (and priest-abuse apologist) Tom Fuentes called Allan and Keith to his bedside and begged them to work this out for GOP unity. Homoerotic cigar-chomping courtier-columnist Frank Mickadeit has the whole pastel scene. Keith is out. Our tireless colleague Roy Bauer – who’s been on fire lately – reminds us of some history and what the scene was probably really like, with an appropos 15-year old passage from the Times:

     …The list of people who accuse Fuentes of trying to arm-twist them into abandoning bids for public office includes a host of loyal Republicans: Assemblywoman Marilyn C. Brewer (R-Irvine), former Newport Beach Mayor Evelyn R. Hart, former Superior Court Judge Judith Ryan and management consultant Nathan Rosenberg.
     All of them, at one time or another, sought the Republican nomination for public office. None heeded Fuentes’ advice, but only Brewer won the nomination.
     “He said my business would be ruined, and that my husband’s business would be ruined,” said Ryan, a challenger to U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan for his seat in 1992. “I was taken aback.”
     Fuentes calls Ryan’s charges “ridiculous,” but he does not deny that he tries to dissuade people from running against GOP officeholders.
     “I am staunchly loyal to incumbents,” Fuentes said. “I make no excuses for that.”….

     Yeah, Frank. What about that?

Greer v. Supes (whose attorney is, um, Greer)

Williams Staying Put, Vows Court Battle (Voice of OC)

     Arguing he is an independently elected official, Orange County Public Administrator John Williams threatened a court battle this week unless county supervisors relent and allow him back into his office.
     County supervisors have locked Williams out, arguing he effectively resigned last March when Williams offered to retire in exchange for a reprieve from recall efforts over his mismanagement of the office.
     Earlier this week, Willliams' attorney [Phil Greer]* advised CEO Tom Mauk that he had simply changed his mind and no longer intended to retire. Supervisors, through their county counsel, have advised Williams that his resignation is final saying there's no turning back.
     While Williams' bio is still prominently displayed on the Public Administrator's website, he's been locked out of his office and the county is mailing him his final paycheck.
. . .
     By early 2011, supervisors had stripped him of his public guardian role and appointed an executive manager to take over operations for the public administrator post. Finally, Williams agreed to a deal whereby he would be able would retire on Jan. 23, 2012.
     Now, Williams' lawyer, Phil Greer, is promising to go to court for injunctive relief by Friday if supervisors don't back off from their demands that he leave his job.
     "It's improper and possibly illegal," said Greer, who has represented several [in fact, 4 of the 5] supervisors in recent years. "The board doesn't have the ability under the law, the California Constitution or the county charter to do what they've attempted to do. There was no retirement or resignation on the part of the Mr. Williams."
. . .
     It's the third time in recent years that county supervisors are dealing with the unseating of a countywide-elected official, having witnessed the removal of Sheriff Mike Carona over a federal indictment and the stripping of investment powers from Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street.
. . .
     Campbell repeated numerous times in an interview that: "John Williams is an honorable man. He put it in writing to me that he intended to resign," Campbell said. "Why wouldn't we take him at his word?"….

*You'll recall that the SOCCCD paid Tom Fuentes' crony Phil Greer $25,000 to represent Raghu Mathur in his "negotiations" with the district—negotiations rendered necessary by (1) Don Wagner's desire to fire Mathur's conniving ass and (2) Fuentes and Williams' opportunity to give crony Mathur the best "deal" (i.e., fabulous cash prizes) whilst simultaneously tossing a fabulous cash prize to their Republican crony Greer, a fellow with a history of ethics issues but a nice ability to collect valuable cash prizes whilst hanging with Republicans in government (e.g., four of the five Supes of the OC Board of Supes).

Santorum attacks colleges again, doesn't know what he's talking about, is asshole

Santorum Attacks Colleges on Religion, Politics (Inside Higher Ed)

     Rick Santorum, the Republican presidential candidate, on Wednesday again bashed colleges in a campaign appearance, urging those at a campaign event to stop giving contributions to colleges, CBS News reported. "It's no wonder President Obama wants every kid to go to college," he said. "The indoctrination that occurs in American universities is one of the keys to the left holding and maintaining power in America. And it is indoctrination. If it was the other way around, the ACLU would be out there making sure that there wasn't one penny of government dollars going to colleges and universities, right?" Santorum also accused colleges of being anti-religion, and of turning students against religion. "If they taught Judeo-Christian principles in those colleges and universities, they would be stripped of every dollar. If they teach radical secular ideology, they get all the government support that they can possibly give them. Because you know 62 percent of children who enter college with a faith conviction leave without it." (Several recent studies contradict Santorum's ideas on the relationship between higher education and faith. One study in fact found that while many young adults become less religious, the declines are greater among those who don't attend college than those who do.)

Mixed Portrait of Freshman Political Views (Chronicle of Higher Education)

     New research reveals that college freshmen hold increasingly liberal views on key social issues like same-sex marriage and rights for illegal immigrants. But the progressive viewpoints haven't translated into significantly greater levels of activism or heightened enthusiasm for national politics….

OK, let's see Colantuono's report!

Public administrator refuses to leave office (OC Reg)

     John S. Williams, the county’s embattled public administrator and former public guardian, is refusing to leave office as he had said he intended to do.
     Williams in March signed a letter to Bill Campbell, who was then chairman of the county’s Board of Supervisors, stating “It is my intention to retire as Public Administrator – Public Guardian on Jan. 23, 2012.”
     However, Williams recently notified county officials that he does not intend to retire, and he reported to work on Tuesday, Jan. 24, staying at his office until about 2 p.m., said his attorney, Phil Greer. After Williams left, county workers moved in to change the locks on his office.
     John Moorlach, current chairman of the Board of Supervisors, released a letter dated Tuesday to Williams from County Counsel Nicholas Chrisos.
     “(T)he purported oral notice to the CEO and to me via your counsel that you desire to rescind your nine-month old resignation, is not effective,” Chrisos wrote.
     Moorlach said he told County Executive Officer Tom Mauk “we could change the locks and he’s off the payroll effective the 23rd.”
     Williams, 60, has served as the county’s elected public administrator since 2003. He had also served as the appointed public guardian until the Board of Supervisors fired him from that role in June amid accusations of mismanagement.
. . .
     Williams was most recently reelected Public Administrator in June 2010, when he received 204,175 votes, or 58.4 percent of the total cast in a four-way race. His term expires in January 2015.
     “They cannot throw an elected official out,” Greer said, adding that county officials are “behaving completely outside the scope of the law.”
     Williams won’t attempt to return to work while he is locked out, Greer said. “We’re not going to go in there and have some kind of confrontation. We’re trying to resolve this with the county if we can’t do that, we’ll obviously be in court,” Greer said.
     The Board made several agreements with Williams in exchange for his resignation, according to the letter from Crisos:

“(1) The Board allowed you tor [sic] remain as the Public Administrator for a one year period following the beginning of your term of office, which commenced in January 2011, at your full salary for both Public Administrator and Public Guardian, even though the Board had the power to reduce your salary when it removed you as Public Guardian; (2) The Board would not publicly release the highly critical report of your performance prepared for the Board by Special Counsel, Michael Colantuono; (3) The Board discussed with the CEO the option for the CEO to, within his authority, retain you as a consultant to the County for transition purposes.”

     Williams never formally resigned or retired, Greer said. Williams’ letter to Campbell “indicated he was considering retiring around the first of the year,” Greer said….


SEE ALSO:

• John Williams Told to Stay Away from Public Administrator Office He Was Forced Out Of (Navel Gazing)
• O.C. administrator won't step down, is locked out of office (LA Times)

Spitzer weighs in

     One of the comments that this morning's VOC article (about former trustee John Williams) attracted today is by former Assistant DA (and current Supervisorial candidate) Todd Spitzer. It reads in part:

     Is this really a shocker that the disgraced, former, PA/PG John Williams would refuse to leave despite his written promise to resign effective Monday? He should have been walked out of the County once it completed its outside audit of his mismanagement practices, pension spiking and inflated salaries. The County had to replace the locks to keep John Williams out. Unbelievable. We have had Mike Carona, Chriss Street and now John Williams when the County is supposed to be more accountable.
     Yes, I lost my job as an Assistant DA because I unknowingly called the Public Guardian on behalf of a crime victim to inquire whether the PG had an on-going investigation. I had no idea that the DA's fiance, Peggy Buff, was the Assistant Public Guardian. I had no idea until about a month later that he was involved in taking over the TapOut case and was reversed by the Court of Appeal. I did not know then that Williams's scheme was to go after decedents' estates in order to gain the court ordered administrative fees so that Williams could offset his padded and bloated budget with those fees after he was warned by the Board of Supervisors to get his fiscal mess in order about a year earlier.
     Williams was stripped of his duties; Buff was demoted and because of her political connections landed another job in another county department and the DA's staff assisted in helping Williams craft a press release to make me look like the bad guy which continues through their spin today.
     I was let go because I uncovered a needle in a haystack which led to another OC scandal involving a lot of high powered political figures…. [My emphases.]

     Gosh, what do Mike Carona, Chriss Street, and John Williams have in common?
     Each was championed (as a public official) by OC GOP kingmaker--and, since 2000, SOCCCD trustee--Tom Fuentes.
     Fuentes was instrumental in having Carona--now serving time in federal prison--receive Irvine Valley College's "Hometown Hero" designation. Carona was invited to numerous IVC events, such as 911 commemoration ceremonies.
     Fuentes arranged to have former OC Treasurer Chriss Street give occasional presentations before the SOCCCD Board of Trustees.
     Fuentes helped Williams secure the Public Administrator gig in 2003, despite Williams' utter lack of qualifications.

Williams won't leave?!

Orange County's Public Administrator Won't Leave (Voice of OC)

     [Note: Voice of OC has since UPDATED this story. Use link above.]

     Last March, Orange County's embattled Public Administrator John Williams staved off a political execution by agreeing with the Board of Supervisors to retire on Jan. 23, 2012, which was Monday.
     But despite that agreement – and an order to change the locks on his office door – Williams showed up for work anyway.
     On Tuesday, he was officially told not to come back.
     "The Board of Supervisors accepted your resignation as Public Administrator of Orange County effective January 23, 2012 up receipt of your letter of March 9, 2011," wrote County Counsel Nicholas Chrisos in a letter to Williams.
     Williams' attorney and spokesman, Phil Greer, couldn't be reached for comment.
     Williams has been a controversial figure in county government since 2009 when two scathing grand jury reports criticized his management of the offices of public administrator and public guardian, which oversee the complex estates of deceased people without heirs and those of indigent people.
     The spotlight on Williams became intense in late 2010 when high-ranking assistant district attorney, Todd Spitzer,was fired by Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas after looking into allegations that Williams was mishandling a case involving a domestic violence victim.

Enthusiastic Republican Peggi Buff

     The controversy was fueled by the fact that Rackauckas' fiance′, Peggy Buff, was Williams' second in command.
     The Spitzer affair also drew a heightened focus on how Williams ran his office. An investigation determined that the county faced potential legal liability over mismanaged estates.
     In the wake of the investigation, Buff was quietly moved into a six-figure job at the county despite a hiring freeze because of her relationship with Rackauckas.
     Meanwhile, county supervisors, like John Moorlach, who were one-time political mentors to Williams as a fellow Republican quickly turned on him. They stripped him of his public guardian role. And appointed an executive manager to take over operations for the public administrator post.
     It was the third crisis between county supervisors and a countywide elected official in recent years.
     In 2008, supervisors had to figure out how to get then-Sheriff Mike Carona to step down. By the next year, they had to figure out how to get rid of then-Treasurer Tax Collector Chriss Street. And by 2010, Williams was under pressure to leave.
     County supervisors can't remove an independently elected office holder like Williams.
     So whether it's a federal indictment in Carona's case, or a bankruptcy-related lawsuit for Street or Williams' mismanagement, these countywide elected officials can't be forced to resign. They can only be recalled.
     That was the road that Williams was on back in March until his attorney, Phil Greer, was able to broker his resignation.
     Under the terms of that deal, as described by Chrisos in his Jan. 24 letter to Williams, he was able to stay in office with his full salary of $153, 206 even though all his official duties were handled by others appointed by county officials.
     For example, Lucille Lyon was appointed Public Guardian in July.
     Supervisors also placed an initiative on the June ballot that would transform the Public Adminstrator back into an appointed position.
     On Tuesday, Moorlach said Williams – whom he once supported – had become a poster child for the campaign to turn the post back into an appointed slot.
     Yet Chrisos' letter also noted that county supervisors had previously agreed to keep a lid on Williams' mismanagement of his agency by not releasing the results of their independent investigation to the public.
     They even gave authority to CEO Tom Mauk to retain Williams as a private consultant during the transition, according to Chrisos letter.
     Yesterday, supervisors apparently ran out of patience.
     "The Board has fulfilled its portion of the obligation," Chrisos wrote. "Therefore, the purported oral notice to the CEO and to me via your counsel that you desire to rescind your nine-month old resignation, is not effective."
     "Your final salary check and any leave payout will be mailed to you at your address on file. The CEO will separately determine the need to retain your services as a consultant."