Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Brouhaha or foofaraw at San Diego Junior Theatre?

Lawyer taking complaint to Mayor Faulconer, city council

Pinocchio at the Junior Theater. "The student's father indicated that he had picked up the student that day, the student had not raised any issues with him..."
Pinocchio at the Junior Theater. "The student's father indicated that he had picked up the student that day, the student had not raised any issues with him..."

A brouhaha is a public clamor over a critical matter. A foofaraw is a clamor over a petty matter. At Balboa Park's Junior Theatre, a group of parents and attendees believe there have been serious — perhaps even criminal — actions by the board of trustees and administration that began over an incident last year when the executive director allegedly grabbed and shook a teenage female cast member after charging unannounced into the girls' dressing room.

Board members and other parents authorized an investigation of the matter, proclaimed it an innocent one. The incident happened "offstage," they say.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The indignant group says the investigation was a whitewash and the board consists of a clique of long-time friends, including attorney Gil Cabrera, vice chair of the convention center board, and his wife Krista Cabrera, a lawyer.

Attorney Matt Valenti, head of the protesting group, will send a letter and a 110-page, detailed complaint to the mayor and council next week. He says that Jimmy Saba, executive director, is guilty of charging into the girls' dressing room and shaking the student. Two key employees, production manager Tony Cucuzzella and artistic director Rayme Sciaroni were fired after reporting the incident to the board, Valenti says.Two other key employees were victims of "targeted intimidation" for resisting the board on the matter, Valenti maintains.

The complaint charges numerous insiders with conflicts of interest, possible financial irregularities, and unethical behavior.

Cabrera refused to comment and asked that his name not be used in the Reader story. However, this is impossible since his name is all over the complaint which was sent to the state attorney general March 15 and also was sent recently to district attorney Bonnie Dumanis and city attorney Mara Elliott. He has been quoted in the media on the matter.

I will honor Cabrera's complaint not to be quoted. He pointed to a statement the organization made to the media last fall. It stated that a independent investigator concluded that Saba "did not act inappropriately." The statement referred to "false rumors" about the incident. Said the report, "The attorney that conducted the review interviewed all of the employees that had witnessed or heard about the incident and spoke to the student's father asking permission to speak with the student. The student's father indicated that he had picked up the student that day, the student had not raised any issues with him, and that he doubted "[the student] considered it a big deal."

One wonders, however, who wrote the trustees' statement. One sentence began "The employee placed their hand…" Another statement explained, "When the employee was done with this discussion, they were personally disappointed with themself…"

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Pinocchio at the Junior Theater. "The student's father indicated that he had picked up the student that day, the student had not raised any issues with him..."
Pinocchio at the Junior Theater. "The student's father indicated that he had picked up the student that day, the student had not raised any issues with him..."

A brouhaha is a public clamor over a critical matter. A foofaraw is a clamor over a petty matter. At Balboa Park's Junior Theatre, a group of parents and attendees believe there have been serious — perhaps even criminal — actions by the board of trustees and administration that began over an incident last year when the executive director allegedly grabbed and shook a teenage female cast member after charging unannounced into the girls' dressing room.

Board members and other parents authorized an investigation of the matter, proclaimed it an innocent one. The incident happened "offstage," they say.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The indignant group says the investigation was a whitewash and the board consists of a clique of long-time friends, including attorney Gil Cabrera, vice chair of the convention center board, and his wife Krista Cabrera, a lawyer.

Attorney Matt Valenti, head of the protesting group, will send a letter and a 110-page, detailed complaint to the mayor and council next week. He says that Jimmy Saba, executive director, is guilty of charging into the girls' dressing room and shaking the student. Two key employees, production manager Tony Cucuzzella and artistic director Rayme Sciaroni were fired after reporting the incident to the board, Valenti says.Two other key employees were victims of "targeted intimidation" for resisting the board on the matter, Valenti maintains.

The complaint charges numerous insiders with conflicts of interest, possible financial irregularities, and unethical behavior.

Cabrera refused to comment and asked that his name not be used in the Reader story. However, this is impossible since his name is all over the complaint which was sent to the state attorney general March 15 and also was sent recently to district attorney Bonnie Dumanis and city attorney Mara Elliott. He has been quoted in the media on the matter.

I will honor Cabrera's complaint not to be quoted. He pointed to a statement the organization made to the media last fall. It stated that a independent investigator concluded that Saba "did not act inappropriately." The statement referred to "false rumors" about the incident. Said the report, "The attorney that conducted the review interviewed all of the employees that had witnessed or heard about the incident and spoke to the student's father asking permission to speak with the student. The student's father indicated that he had picked up the student that day, the student had not raised any issues with him, and that he doubted "[the student] considered it a big deal."

One wonders, however, who wrote the trustees' statement. One sentence began "The employee placed their hand…" Another statement explained, "When the employee was done with this discussion, they were personally disappointed with themself…"

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Next Article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.