Don Wagner hired B*ner Boy—er, Bondage Boy

Today, Chris Prevatt of The Liberal OC (More Erik Brown OC Consulting Connections) describes GOP Party Boy (Bondage Boy?) Erik Brown’s connections with some local politicians, including Chuck DeVore, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, and—Don Wagner!

… South Orange County Community College District Trustee Donald P. Wagner … is running for the GOP nomination in the 70th Assembly district. … Mr. Wagner has availed himself of $2, 392.49 in services from this guy, paid for on March 9, 2010.

Prevatt provides a helpful graphic. Check it out (last item).

Meanwhile, The Hill’s Ballot Box reports that DeVore is trying to “downplay” his relationship with Brown, calling it “brief and straightforward.”

Ah, but

state and federal records show DeVore has spent more than $70,000 with Brown's company, dating back several years. That's hardly insignificant. Moreover, Brown served on the board of the Orange County Young Republicans – a group that DeVore has courted.

For more on DeVore/Brown, go to Chuck Devore did not have a guy-night boner with Erik Brown

Naturally, as a fellow widely known for his high regard of Don Wagner (he's "an anti-union, liberal-bashing, prayer-making right-winger. But he’s smart," I enthused), I’m more interested in the latter’s connection with Bondage Boy of Voyeur fame. DeVore? Who cares.

BB produced some “campaign literature and mailings” for Don. Earlier today, somebody slipped some campaign literature under my door. Don shoulda known better. (See Erik Brown's "Young Republican" praise of Wagner here.)

Gosh, do you suppose this is what Don had in mind?

The wallpaper at Voyeur. Family scenes, I guess.

Heck of a job, Brownie

High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame (Chronicle of Higher Ed)

"Grading homework is so fast when they all cheat and use the illegal solutions manual," quipped Douglas Breault Jr., a teaching assistant in mechanical engineering at Tufts University. After all, if every answer is correct, the grader is left with little to do beyond writing an A at the top of the page and circling it. Mr. Breault, a first-year graduate student, ended his tweet by saying, "The profs tell me to ignore it."….

Some Students Want 'Our Lord' Removed From Diplomas (Inside Higher Ed)

Some students at Trinity University, in Texas, want the phrase "our Lord" removed from the institution's diplomas,The San Antonio Express-News reported. The students note that not everyone at the university views Jesus as their lord….

'Math wars' over national standards may erupt again in California (San Jose Mercury)

Hold on to your graphing calculators: The passionate, contentious debate over how California students should learn math is ready to erupt again. ¶ While math formulas and properties may be delightfully precise, how best to teach them to children is not. As the United States prepares for the first time to adopt nationwide K-12 "common core" standards, mathematicians and educators are split….

ERIK BROWN:

You know who Erik Brown is, right? He's the local guy at the center of the latest Republican scandal. He’s also the President of Dynamic Marketing, Inc. here in Orange County (Rancho Santa Margarita).

He’s listed as the “Political Director” of the OC Young Republicans.

Well, I visited his Facebook page. And guess what? Listed there are his friends. Only one friend appears.

It’s our own Adam Probolsky! Adam has lots of connections to our district and to IVC.

Adam's connection to our district goes way back. He was the large fellow in the room helping Tom Fuentes engineer replacing Steve Frogue on our Board of Trustees back in 2000. He’s a member of the so-called OC Republican Mafia.

I'm trying to determine just how close Erik and Adam are. One thing for sure. Members of the power group of which Probolsky is a member are uniformly special. Gosh, anything's possible.

O.C. man billed Republicans for event at sex-themed club (Total Buzz/OC Reg)

A man who billed the Republican National Committee almost $2,000 for an event at a sex-themed West Hollywood nightclub runs a political consulting business in Orange and is listed as a member of the Orange County Young Republicans’ executive board. ¶ The Associated Press reported Monday that the RNC is seeking repayment from Erik Brown, the owner of Dynamic Marketing Inc., who was reimbursed for $1,946.25 spent on Feb. 4 at Club Voyeur. ¶ The club is described by Club Planet, a nightlife directory, as a place where “the female employees disrobe, pornographic pictures double as wallpaper, and patrons are advised to be ‘uninhibited’ in the photo booth.”….

The Red County blog has much to say about this Erik Brown brouhaha. Check it out:

Michael Steele's Bondage Party Has an O.C. Connection (The Hammer)

…DMI President and Gen Next member, Erik Brown, was who picked up that tab and ended up expensing it to the RNC.

According to sources who were in attendance that night, the "official" part of the evening started with 50+ person dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel, then carried on throughout the evening, eventually ending up at Voyeur. While RNC employees, who were in town to recruit members to its "RNC Young Eagles" program, did participate throughout the entire evening and did find their way to the bondage-themed club, Michael Steele himself was "not in attendance" for any portion of the evening. Brown, by the way, is reportedly a "Young Eagle" himself, a fundraising sub-group of the RNC which targets larger donors based on age group.

Presumably, the Daily Caller (which broke this whole story on its website earlier today) is continuing to pour through RNC disclosure documents. If so, it will likely find significant sums spent by the RNC on services rendered by DMI; not only do local politicos report that Brown liked to brag about his ties to this and other state-wide and national organizations and campaigns, but it would seem consistent with someone who would think he could get away with running through such a large expense….

But the story doesn’t end there. Later, Chip Hanlon wrote about the snafu, placing the blame not on Brown but on GOP chairman Michael Steele:

One Little Bar Tab Should Put Michael Steele at Risk

“Take us to the hottest nightclub in town.”

Those were the instructions given to Orange County’s Erik Brown by RNC staffers and in L.A., that’s one heavy-duty request. On Grammy weekend, it’s an even taller order, one which led to the now-infamous night at Voyeur in February, 2009 which was first reported on by the Daily Caller yesterday.

After a follow-up Red County post reported exclusively on some of the details missing from that original DC piece, for the rest of the day I found myself in contact with a number of that night’s key attendees, some of whom I know personally. After speaking with multiple sources I understand how the whole night went down but for the sake of putting the focus back where it belongs—the RNC—in my opinion there is only one moment from that night that matters….

Is Mr. Williams accountable? Apparently not

Remarkably, trustee John Williams is also Orange County’s Public Administrator/Guardian. As you know, two "scathing" recent Grand Jury reports have accused the fellow of gross inefficiency (his area became top-heavy with new managers), curious and worrisome promotion practices, and whatnot.

This led to a dire moment of decision by the OC Board of Supervisors, his bosses. Williams didn't show for that. But his lawyer, Phil Greer, did. You know Phil Greer. He was Chris Street's lawyer. He represented Raghu Mathur to get 'im the best deal for his "resignation." He's had some ethical lapses over the years.

But here's the thing: Phil Greer has also represented four of the five Supes. Conflict of interest, anyone?

So, naturally, the Supes took a look at Williams the County Officer and pronounced him okey-dokey. Remarkably, he kept his job. Amazing. Appalling!

And utterly predictable.

Still, some of Williams’ employees and former employees at the county refuse to play the OC GOP Crony Mutual Support Game; they persist in drawing attention to Williams' abuses and misconduct. One motif in the litany of criticism is the notion that Williams often seems to be somewhere else than at work. (As we've recently noted, Williams has spent weeks in Orlando on the district's dime—in just one year!)

One such critic contacted me back in January. I'll call him or her "Pen Pal." In that email, he (or she) described his former position at the Public Guardian/Administrator Office. He (or she) then wrote:

I am interested in obtaining the dates John Williams traveled out of town on SOCCCD business. My intent is to then do a public records request from the County to see if he used personal leave time or as my gut tells me falsified his timesheet and went out of town on the County dime.

He hoped that I would have the needed data concerning Williams' SOCCCD travel. I informed him that, regrettably, I did not have that data. But I encouraged him to get in contact with the OC Reg's Jennifer Muir who had recently made a documents request (as it turns out, he had already done that) and suggested that he do his own public records request with the district (SOCCCD).

He responded in a friendly way. He informed me that Williams would have competition come the next election. That turned out to be true. He said that he would keep me posted on his efforts.

I told him who to contact to acquire info from the SOCCCD. “Good luck,” I wrote.

A couple of weeks later, various events inspired Pen Pal to finally pursue the request with the district. He explained that he would compare the data from the district with County timesheets (these are signed “under penalty of perjury”). He felt confident that he could find evidence of fraud on Williams’ part if he could get to the relevant data.

In early March, he (or she) heard back from the district. District officials provided records of Williams’ district travel from 2007-09. Unfortunately, said the district, records prior to 2008 exist, but are hard to get to.

Two weeks later, I heard from him (or her) again. Pen Pal reported that the County was “stalling” regarding his requests for Williams’ timesheets. The data he requested are electronically filed, and yet, somehow, this information was taking forever to sift through.

Pen Pal informed me that, evidently, at least 19 people had read his request for Williams’ timesheets. Hmmmmm. What’s that all about?

A few days later, I put some of Pen Pal's data (re district travel) on the blog.

Today, Pen Pal sent me a quick note. He had received one timesheet from the County. He wrote:

There are two incidents on the one timesheet [that the County] sent me that shows how Mr. Williams spends his time at SOCCCD on the County of Orange time.

On the [information] that I received from SOCCCD concerning 4/20/2007, it states that Mr. Williams had a meeting from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. with the OC … Public Education [official] with then assemblymember Walters.

His timesheet for that day stated he worked 8 hours.

The SOCCCD [information] shows [that, on 4/23/07, Williams] had a special board meeting at 3:00 p.m.

His County of Orange time sheet shows 8 hours worked that day.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to [see a problem here]. Even though he is not required to submit a timesheet, he is still required to put in his hours is he not?

The county states that he does not have to fill out a timesheet, but I know for a fact that he submitted a time sheet every pay period, at least to the PA/PG HR manager. I will have to revise my request and resubmit.

Can’t wait.

Pen Pal is very concerned that some of the people at the county are—how shall I put it?—south of ethical. He's worried that timesheets are being shredded.

It's FuentesTown, Jake.

Enough with the lowlights! Here's the HIGHLIGHTS

Tracy’s always scintillating—and colorful!—“SOCCCD Board of Trustees meeting highlights” are now available here.

Tracy reports that the following actions were taken at the March 25 meeting:

• all consent calendar items, academic and classified personnel actions (except for 6.9….)
• retaining Community College Search Services as the hiring consultant firm in our district's search for a new chancellor, following interviews with five firms.
• accepting a $551,724 grant to IVC from the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCO) for Career Development Work-Based Learning Linkages to Professional Organizations.
• accepting a $79,000 grant to SC from the for the CCCO Community Collaborative Grant.
• agreement with R2A Architecture for $109,000 from basic aid funds for architectural services for the SC bridge replacement.
• SC certificate and degree revisions for the 2010-11 academic year.
• contract for independent auditing services to Macias, Gini & O'Connell….
• second and third year faculty contracts.
• resolutions approving the elimination at SC of two categorically funded classified positions through layoff, due to the completion of the 2008-10 enrollment growth for nursing AA grant and termination of funding.
• acceptance of the SOCCCD Faculty Association proposal for review and study, and set a public hearing on the proposal at the April board meeting.
• nominations for the California Community College Trustees Association 2010 Board of Directors.

Also included: “Reports and Comments”

Jody/Board meet

The last couple of days, I’ve been remembering Jody Hoy. I recall “repairing” her Mac computer (a simple fix that, she insisted, proved my expertise), enduring her advocacy of alternative medicine (she browbeat me until I took her homeopathic goop), working with her to try to recall trustee Frogue (we wrote a letter together and clashed over the spelling of “anti-Semitic”), and a hundred other things. We were utterly different people, but somehow we always laughed a lot together (her laugh was somewhat lusty) and we always fought on the same side of every serious battle, and there were many. She was a great person.

I Googled her name and came upon her photographic website. There, one finds this biography:

Jody Hoy grew up on the east coast and came to California in 1968. She has a doctorate in Romance Languages and Literature and recently retired as a professor of French at a college in Orange County. For four years she worked as a lecturer in Provence for the Smithsonian Museum International Tours. She is also the author of a book of interviews (in English) entitled The Power to Dream: Interviews with Women in the Creative Arts. Two things drew her to photography: the beauty of the light in Southern California and the birth of her son, whom she photographed with endless pleasure. She studied photography with Jerry McGrath and Jeff Minton.

It is plain that many people greatly valued her book of interviews of strong women. I came across many references to it, including this review (from 1996) in the LA Times:

A Revealing Private Eye: Book review: Interviews with creative famous women offer memorable looks at personal lives. (Cathy Curtis)

Thursday's board meeting:

I’ve got some notes from Thursday’s board meeting. Nothing much.

Don Wagner did the invocation, and he seemed to lay it on pretty thick. “Dear Heavenly Father,” he said, we’re standing here in this “Land dedicated to liberty”; and our blessings aren’t the product of mere mortals, nope, he said. They “come from You, our Creator.”

During public comments, there was considerable talk of teapots. Somebody said that Michael Shermer had been invited to talk about “Why Darwin Matters.” Bob Cosgrove said something about ATEP, accreditation, and the leadership of President Burnett (did I hear that right?). A woman who described herself as a “perpetual student since 1984” asked a series of mostly reasonable clarificatory questions about the board agenda. It was a like a scene from an old Frank Capra movie.

Trustees prepared for a long meeting, what with the five presentations from consulting firms who seek to help with the Chancellor hire. Some gave no reports, and the rest gave brief ones.

References were made to Burnett’s illness which kept him away—don’t know any details. Tom Fuentes referred to Saddleback College’s veterans’ memorial and once again thanked veterans. Dave Lang noted that the “tea party” was in fact a ceramics display, which he personally eyeballed. Ms. Baily didn’t have anything really to say, though she was very fetching saying it.

A passionless Chancellor Mathur, who spent the entire night doing a fine impression of a dead toad, noted the enrollment and FTES increases and the full-time faculty hires of the last three years. He quoted numbers, they seemed meaningless.

The board roared through the consent calendar, pulling only trustee travel requests, including a pricey trip to Washington. One can go to that sort of thing “locally,” said Nancy Padberg, who offered the sole vote against it. “Bing.”

Next came the consultant presentations, which I described here Thursday night. Surprisingly, the presentations weren’t tedious. In fact, listening to these consultants was kinda fun. It was clear that, whether or not they can help us hire a chancellor, they sure can sell themselves.

These consultant firms were apples and oranges. The slickest one comprised two natty guys and their love of whiz-bang technology. Another comprised over thirty consultants strewn across the country. Some emphasized their vast contacts and their network of people-who-know-people (some transparency). Others emphasized their skill wheedling on the telephone. One guy wore a shitty suit and tried to bland us to death. (I think Fuentes planted him.) Others were snappy dressers, including one fop who resembled Mr. Dirt (Mobil detergent gasoline commercials, 1970s). Some would spend weeks living at the colleges, while others would do their work from Texas or worse. An older lady noted her organization’s credibility. Somebody else said his company gave discounts.

Throughout these presentations, I kept wondering about the fit—or lack thereof—between these organizations and ours. The SOCCCD has a detailed Chancellor hiring policy—essentially set in concrete—and a stated commitment to do things thoroughly, professionally, and on the up-and-up.

But these firms (all of ‘em?) come with their own ways of doing things that don't obviously match our procedures and principles. One firm was accustomed to handling just about everything up to finalist interviews. The woman from ACCT spoke of trustees on the search committee(!). One consultant said that having a cool webpage (“pretty, attractive pictures”) is the key; others were all about the brochure—that they wanna help write. (Ours is already signed, sealed, and delivered.)

Fuentes, who seems committed to some sort of “running out the clock” strategy, kept asking, So, are we rushing things? These consultants did not converge on a single answer. Some seemed more comfortable with slow processes, but others said that finishing the process by fall was doable. Some conceived of hires in relation to August and January only while others seemed perfectly happy to pull somebody out of the middle of their semester somewhere.

Is there a Chancellor hiring season? Yes. And no.

Well, Padberg motioned to hire one of ‘em and that’s what they did, 4 to 3.

Pictured: TigerAnn, cat, this afternoon

A “pick-up” for Don’s competitor; Uncle Fester carps and bleats

The always uninspired Matt Cunningham reports that Don Wagner’s Republican competitor in the 70th Assembly race, Jerry Amante, has been endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association. (See.)

Naturally, Amante, who declares that he “is the leading candidate in the 70th Assembly district,” is making the most of the endorsement.

Opines the always mediocre Cunningham, “This is a great pick-up for Jerry Amante, and helps secure his right-flank vis-a-vis primary opponent Don Wagner.”

Meanwhile, Don, who not long ago amputated an inflamed and fetid chunk of his own right flank--and who has yet to send me a thank-you note for my positive-negative endorsement (used in his campaign statement)--declares on his campaign website that “we need more faith in public life.”

Still included under “Latest News” on Don's website is a press release entitled Fuentes Endorses Wagner For 70th Assembly District.

Oh yeah? At the SOCCCD board’s meeting two days ago, Fuentes noted the “strained relationship” between the two factions of the board (Fuentes is now in the minority; Wagner leads the majority; hatred and snipery fill the room) that has been “festered and fostered” with “rash decisions” such as the decision to move forward to replace the resigning and universally reviled and illiterate and corrupt and increasingly silent Raghu Mathur (in June).

As I recall, Marcia responded to Fuentes’ unpleasant remark by saying that she was unaware of any festering. She looked around her. Nope. No festering.

But it should be acknowledged that her view of Tom’s plainly festering face was blocked by an enormous red, white, and blue pumpkin lolling atop board president Don Wagner’s besplintered gavel.

Following Marcia’s lead (sort of), I shall henceforth call Tom “Uncle Fester.”


Fester is the handsome fellow in the middle.

John Williams' empty, spinning head

As you know, several faculty and students—including atheists, agnostics, and believers—are challenging the SOCCCD's embrace of prayers and religious messages during public occasions such as “opening sessions” and commencement ceremonies. It is, we believe, a violation of the principle of separation of Church and State.

The 2009 Fall “Chancellor’s opening session” (for video, see end of this post), which occurred in August, is cited in the case for at least two reasons.

First, after trustee John Williams was introduced as one who will offer the invocation, he paused to tell a "Biblical" joke-story:

Before the invocation, I thought I’d tell a little Biblical story. Today’s story is about Jonah. In grade school one day, a little girl spoke to her teacher about Jonah and how he was swallowed by a whale. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though they’re a large mammal they have very small throats. The little girl said, “But how can that be? Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and the Bible says so.” Again the teacher said it’s physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human. Undaunted, the little girl said, “When I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah.” To this the teacher replied, “What if Jonah has gone to hell?” The little girl replied, “Then you can ask him.”

Second, at the end of the session, the Chancellor played a video that showed numerous patriotic images to the sappy country song, “God Bless the U.S.A.” Toward the end of this video (or slide show), some such words as these are displayed:

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you—Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

Well, all of this came up in my recent depo. Here are some excerpts.

The questioner is the district’s attorney, Mr. V. Naturally, I am answering the questions. Occasionally, I’m referred to as the “witness.”

DID TRUSTEE WILLIAMS WRITE HIS LITTLE JOKE?

Q …Do you know who wrote this joke? Do you know if Trustee Williams actually wrote this joke?
. . .
A I would be very surprised if he could string two sentences together without screwing them up. So, no, I don't think he wrote it.

Q … When did you begin holding that belief?
. . .
A Well, I was joking when I said that, but he, I don't think, is a person I would ever expect to be able to produce this paragraph.

Q Okay. So you understood at the time that Trustee Williams was not the author?

A That is my belief.
. . .
Q When did you hold the belief – when did you form the belief that Trustee Williams was incapable of producing a paragraph such as this?

A I have seen much of his writing. … I remember looking at his writing during the suit of 1998 and he's a very poor writer and he often engages in malapropism during meetings. You know, “don't stay in your ivory castle,” … things like that. And so I have a pretty good idea of what he's capable of.

… I would just say that this is so much the kind of joke that is said in those settings [church] and when I combine that fact with the, oh, lack of imagination with this particular fellow, I'm guessing he found this on some Christian site. … Or maybe he heard it at his own church.
. . .
Q Okay. Is there anything that John Williams could say to you that would affect your religious beliefs, Professor?

A Well, I will acknowledge that he is not an authority for me, so I don't know exactly what you're asking.

Q You think John Williams is an idiot?

A Well, only in the loose sense of idiot….

Q So do you believe an idiot could affect your religious views, Professor?

A It's unlikely.

Q Probably would be impossible, right?

A If his head started spinning I'd be interested.

Q Okay. Short of that?

A No. … But, you know, the situation is that I'm sitting in this room where suddenly we're all told to stand without any sensitivity to the possibility that there are people who do not wish to invoke the Lord, but nevertheless he does that, and I find that offensive even though it is unlikely that anything he says will change my mind about the issues of religion.

THE “GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.” VIDEO:

Q … Okay, let's go to the video, the “God Bless the U.S.A.” video. … Have you ever heard -- well, you saw the video; right, you were there [for the opening session]?

A I did see it.

Q And what was the song that the video was -- the slideshow was set to?

A I believe it is a song by a well-known country singer. I don't know who that is but I think the song is called “God Bless the U.S.A.”
. . .
Q In fact, you've heard that song at, you know, Republican or Democratic Conventions?

[Yes]

Q Now, and the slideshow was largely patriotic?

A Yes.

Q But then you get to the – your problem is with the last slide?
. . .
THE WITNESS: If I had the opportunity to do a critique of the video, it would not restrict itself to the last slide but with regard to issues of religion and prayer pretty much it was the last slide.
. . .
Q And were you offended by any of the other slides when you saw them?

A I don't know if “offense” is the right word. I don't – I feel uncomfortable with the kind of sappy patriotic display involved in that kind of video.

Q Let me ask you this: Would you be objecting to this slideshow in this case if it wasn't for the final slide in this presentation?

A Probably not. … Except to say they have very bad taste in music.
. . .
Q Do you know how the district got a copy of the “God Bless the U.S.A.” slideshow?

A I have no idea.

Q Do you know who the author of the slideshow was, who actually prepared the slides?

A I do not.

Q Do you know who the speaker of the slideshow – who do you view the speaker to be of the slideshow?

A Do slideshows have speakers?

Q That's my question, do you view the district itself to be the speaker or one of my clients?
. . .

THE “OOPS” THEORY:

[The district’s attorney begins to push the idea that the video had not been previewed, and so the “Jesus” message was inadvertent.]

A I'm aware that these opening sessions are taken very, very seriously by the chancellor and some members of the board and that they are usually very careful about how they choreograph it and what they do in it. So my guess is they were involved in – at least one or two trustees and the chancellor were involved in choosing the elements, including the video.

Q Do you – have you ever been involved in the planning of a chancellor's opening session?

A No.

Q Have you ever attended meetings where a chancellor's opening session was planned?

A Never been invited.
. . .
Q Do you know if any of my clients watched the slideshow before it was played? … Do you have any factual basis to say “yes, I know that this person watched it before it was played”?
. . .
A I don't – I don't know that. I do know that they are very careful usually about what they present and so it would surprise me if they hadn't viewed it.

Q Do you know if – let's leave Chancellor Mathur aside, do you know if any of the other defendants in this case besides Chancellor Mathur, had seen even a second of the slideshow before it was played? …

You don't know how my clients got a copy of the slideshow?

A I do not.

Q Okay. Any basis, in fact, to say they got it – someone from the community, Orange County community sent it to a whole bunch of people including Chancellor Mathur on the Fourth of July?

A I did not know that.

Q Okay. And do you know if the e-mail that was sent to Chancellor Mathur and 25 other people said "A fitting video for the Fourth of July"?
. . .
THE WITNESS: I'm not aware of any of these facts.
. . .
Q …Do you know what day Fourth of July was in 2009? Do you know if it fell on a workday or on a weekend?

A I don't recall.
. . .

Q Do you know what he did, assuming Chancellor Mathur got an e-mail that was sent to him and 25 other people on a Saturday, the Fourth of July with a subject line, "A fitting video for the Fourth of July," and it had the attachment “God Bless the U.S.A.,” assuming all of those facts to be true; right, do you know what Chancellor Mathur did at that point? … Do you know if Chancellor Mathur ever viewed the entire “God Bless the U.S.A.” slideshow?

A No, I don't know that. I know that he's historically, obviously, very very careful about what he presents during these opening sessions and, of course, it's possible that he slipped up once.

Q All right. Do you know what religion Raghu Mathur is?

A I – I think he is – I'm sure he is religious. I couldn't tell you what religion it is.

Q Do you know if he's Hindu?

A I don't know that.

Q Do you know if – do you know if Raghu Mathur believes that Jesus Christ died for his soul or anybody else's soul?

A I don't – I really don't know. I mean, I have some factoids available to me about his religiousness but they don't paint a very clear picture. I know he is religious but I couldn't tell you anything beyond that.

Q Okay. But my question is do you believe that Chancellor Mathur believed that Jesus Christ died for his soul or anybody else's?
. . .
THE WITNESS: I have no idea.
. . .

BAUER’S CASE AGAINST THE “OOPS” THEORY

Q Were you ever informed that the showing of that slide, the final slide of the “God Bless the U.S.A.” presentation was unintentional?

A I have heard the claim made, but at the board meeting immediately after the August opening session there was reference made to the video. And as I recall it was discussed and praised, and there was an opportunity to explain if it was a mistake and no one took [that opportunity]. All of the board members were there, Raghu was there, and as I recall people expressed the idea that it was very good opening session, and they had only praise.

And when they made those comments they had already heard from, I think, Karla Westphal and possibly Margot who had objected to that video. That's right, that's what happened. They had already objected to the video and that “Jesus” line in particular and after that when the board discussed the opening session, they had an opportunity to explain any error that might have been made. They did not say anything about failing to preview the video. They didn't say they made a mistake. They heaped praise on the session and that was it. So at that point I believed that they were endorsing that video.

Q And they didn't do anything else…after the board meeting?

A Yes, at some point after that board meeting. mysteriously, we hear about a mistake, an honest mistake made. Well, the problem with that is they were at a board meeting in which explicitly Karla and Margot, who are very articulate people, explained the objection to that very video and that very slide. And if ever there was a time to say “sorry we screwed up,” it was just a few minutes later when the board did its reports and Mathur does his report. And they did bring up the opening session, but all they had to say was praise. If there had been a mistake, why didn't they say it then?

So, yes, I did hear about a claim that it was some kind of honest mistake. It does not in my mind fit with the fact they had an opportunity to explain their mistake and, if ever there was an opportunity, that was it and they did not take it. On the contrary they only praised the opening session.

Q Do you know how resolutions are passed by the Board of Trustees?

A I think so. … I think that they have to be agendized.
. . .
Q In fact, … a resolution was agendized [as it turns out, for a subsequent board meeting] and passed concerning that video?

A Yeah.

Q Do you still want an apology or is the resolution not good enough?

[Note: I don’t recall ever asking for an apology. It is possible that, at the aforementioned board meeting, Karla or Margot had demanded an apology.]
. . .
THE WITNESS: I honestly don't remember when the resolution was. My memory was it was the next meeting or the meeting after, but, you know, it would be typical of me to conflate these. [No, my memory was correct.]

But I do remember that the meeting right after that opening session they had just heard very clear, very strong objections to that video during the opening session and I believe they objected to Williams' comments too. … They had just heard these objections, and if you have something to say in response like, well, “we can understand your – that you're upset but we are here to assure you that it was only an honest mistake,” that's when you would say it, but they did not say it….
. . .
…So, you know, in my memory it was a later date that, you know, “we need to come up with an excuse for what happened” and then there's this claim that it was an honest mistake.

Q Do you know when the wheels got rolling on generating a resolution addressing that video?

A I have no idea.

. . . I have every reason to believe that what happened is they showed this video, then very soon after, they had a board meeting where vociferous objections were made to what happened during the opening session. And a few minutes after that, the board gave its reports and Mathur gave his report and they did comment on the opening session. And they said nothing about a mistake and seemed to be uninterested in saying anything but positive things [about the opening session]. And you can watch the video yourself and see for yourself. And at that point I had absolutely no reason to think that these people had made a mistake. On the contrary, they must have thought – they felt pretty good about how it went and what happened.
. . .
Now, I know how the situation works. It probably became clear to them thereafter that they were in trouble now, because if they're going to come up with some kind of excuse after-the-fact it's not going to look too good and that's exactly what happened.
. . .

Q Do you know what religion Marcia Milchiker is?

A I do.

Q What is she?

A I believe she's Jewish.

Q How about Trustee Lang?

A I believe he's Jewish.

Q You believe that Trustees Lang and Milchiker believe that Jesus Christ died for anybody's souls?

A I'm confident that they do not believe that.
. . .


Q …When you saw the “God Bless the U.S.A.” video did you for a second believe that Jesus Christ died for your soul?

A That's a very very odd picture. You're asking me if I had this moment of belief that Jesus Christ died for my soul?

Q Yes.

A I did not.

To see video of the Chancellor’s Opening Session (August 2009), click here.

Williams’ “Jonah” story/invocation: go to 07:20. (video)

The “God Bless the U.S.A” video: go to 2:47:20. (video)

The message about Jesus Christ: go to 2:50:10. (video)

Don, having just seen the video, betrays no indication that anything is amiss with the video:   2:50:31. (video)

Colleen Callahan for Public Administrator