erupting- even though I was aware of the happenings of the court proceedings seeing it in print and then reading Visduh's comments put me into a 'downer'. However, after a sleepless night, and with the dawn of a new day I SEE THE LIGHT!

Chopra, the person who was so ill he could not attend some of the proceedings, the DA looking to fortify his case - throw the book at an old man or USE the old man (no disrespect to old men, I am married to one) as a witness? Hmmm,,,,,, Now the question, might the same happen on the Sweetwater side of the case, might one of the indicted be offered the carrot of a sweet deal? Might it be the false prophet, the counselor or the teacher who choose to sing like a canary?

While we are aghast at the level of alleged corruption, in truth this is considered a white collar crime. Do you really think Arlie Ricasa is being sent to the big house? Not going to happen. Besides, when I think about it rationally she and her cohorts would continue to rip us off via more tax dollars being used to house her and the others in the big house.

Erupting you are right, the money the ruin of reputations - no more Ms. or Mr. Fillipina, Latina, Latino, Pastor, Republican or Democrat of The Year for this group. All of this awards and plaques they received - not sure if they will get a tax write off for them at Am Vets.

THEY RUINED IT FOR THEMSELVES? Google will forever be the keeper of the truth - try Googling their names.

All one has to do is look at any one of them to see the strain their indictments have had on them personally. WAS IT WORTH IT?

One last thought, the missing Mello funds, is it possible Brand used them to help out his friend Cartmill, or perhaps Ricasa. Absurd you say? Think about it, how would we know? Where did the money go, Brand is not saying, so I thought I would speculate. Remember those couple of months when the PI issue was tabled, what did Brand do? He hired them any way. Let us not forget it was Ed Brand who helped Jim Cartmill out of bankruptcy to the tune of several thousand dollars, and then there were the greenbacks Tom Hassey threw in as well. Talk about a trio - Cartmill, Brand and Hassey -

Oskidoll the big hullabaloo of SBCS was like a whose who of out of date politicians. Will tell you the SouthBay folks are not happy with the negative attention and questions being raised. O'Neill and Cox been friends since we were in high school together. He is descent fellow but could see him obliging her with the job.

That is exactly the point, oldchulares!

That is why I am calling it the 'backscratchers' club, and it does not bode well for the future, if we are to have any hope of a board of trustees not obligated to the superintendent or any other interests except the good of the public schools in the south county.

Sorry to learn that ONeill has seemingly been 'compromised' by the gliz and glam of the soiree an all those elbows to rub.... how would he be able to be critical of any aspects of any proposed contract between the SUHSD and the South Bay Community Services?

Sadly inept, monumentally stupid, a cacaphonic symphony of failure--why should things get any better in Sweetwater when the downhill roll has such momentum.

And apparently none of these people are the least bit embarrassed by their disastrously muddled actions.

It does get worse and worse. Is there anyone capable of leading honestly and honorably, so that Sweetwater can emerge from this ongoing nightmare? If so, now's the time. (McCann, not you).

The section of the law about which the judge is 'unaware' also states that when the trustees are suspended/removed that their remuneration (stipend and other benefits) also cease. Wonder if Ricasa, and Quinones have been removed from the Sweetwater dole? Have they returned their electronics to the district?

Even if the lawyers are able to convince Espana (doesn't seem to be too hard to do if you are representing those charged with looting the public treasury) that the state law doesn't apply, the District's own policy does.

Good Grief! We ought to appeal to Judge Danilesen in the SD main court, who created this mess when he shipped the South County corruption cases down to South County and into Espana's lap, for immediate assistance with another judge who is at least willing to read the law.

So the silly season will continue,

I am a well known antagonist of John McCann, however in this situation I have to put on my ethics and honesty hat by saying that politics make for strange alliences.

Any perception of conflict of interest, means there is a conflict of interest, so in this case the twisted finances and cross interest associations are very troubling for me and others I have talked with.

All I can say is while I support the elimination of John McCann from local politics based on his performance, I cannot support the thought of any misconduct to his ouster.

To my fellow politically active citizens, we need to be alert to the cross purposes of funding sources in order to not get tied to a particular group or direction, especially if they may follow questionable practices.

Let's retake the politicial processes and the citizen guided aspects of the South Bay, the right way and stray towards honor, moderation, and openess.

Mr. McCann and others will slowly bury themselves in their own hubris.

Best to all, BBQ, CAVE

Maybe Coronado knows something about their school board others aren't aware of. McCannagain thanks the citizens for his "overwhelming victory", he says he's all about transparency and ethics. Something's way off. The next vote gets a bigger turnout, does it matter?

Accidentally flagged - trying to understand how so many people think all this bad behavior by brand and the board of destruction is worth expanding all over town.

Quite a crazy tea party, Alice.

The candidates in this election do not serve as a positive reflection of The Lincoln Club. Lincoln Club members and the relationship to the SUHSD board of old - you mean the one that had 4 of 5 indicted?

There is an old favorite of Kenny Rogers - 'you gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em'. Supporting John McCann, that alone should shed light on the Lincoln Club's endorsements.

John McCann who COULD HAVE sent Jesus Gandara packing - remember he did allegedly have a second legal opinion advising him of such that he failed to share with the other Board members - one that stated 'the Gandara' could have been fired for cause thereby negating that sweet huge sum of money Gandara left with.

John McCann who had legal letters sent to certain community members and news organizations advising them to cease and desist. Doesn't the Constitution protect the right of free speech?

John McCann and his infamous little red camera - who filmed certain community members who spoke out at the Hilltop meeting - kind of bizarre.

John McCann who called for the police departments assistance to come to his aid AT A FREAKIN' BOARD MEETING when a certain well respected community member had the audacity to pull one of McCann's ill placed campaign signs up and then refer to it at the Board meeting. One would think a candidate would know the rules of candidacy.

John McCann, yes the same John McCann who CONSISTENTLY voted with the pack of Jim Cartmill, Pearl Quinones and Arlie Ricasa - (hmmmm, remember all of those promises in 2010 when he vowed to clean up the SUHSD Board?). Yet he consistently found himself of like mind with them, when casting his vote.

How many reading this have asked him about the SUHSD Property situation, you know where we are giving away 33% of the profits? Those profits, are our tax dollars. While he will tell you 'when I was in the Council we cautioned the District against it' - yet try and find where he spoke up at District Board meetings PRIOR to Ed Brand being shown the door. Oh that is right McCann brought Brand back, even after Brand left the first time under the cloud of a Grand Jury conspiracy.

John McCann brags about his efforts on the Sweetwater Board and what he has done - pray tell ask him this question - 'why did you join forces with Jim. Cartmill, Arlie Ricasa and Pearl Quinones in condemning those who sought out the help of the FBI and DA - you know 'the antagonists' aka CAVE people. One would think Mr. McCann would have welcomed their efforts with open arms and JOINED THEM - I mean they and others efforts did result in 18 indictments.

And finally perhaps some of you who back Mr. McCann should ask him why he NEVER QUESTIONED Ed Brand sicking a PI on me - a 64 year old grandmother who dared to question Board and Superintendent(S) decisions regarding the Property issues. Interestingly enough even the District hired PI believed me. Hmmmmm

Just my opinions

A History and Vocabulary lesson about the Kakistocracy that is South Bay Government and Politics, weather it is Sweetwater, Chula Vista or the other elected officialdoms of the area.

The Lincoln Club and other political movers and shakers of the region (Political Elite - PE) all believe that their ideas and representation is what is best for us the Plebeian Citizenery-PC.

Where they, the PE seem to have fallen out of touch is that they all think they are leaders and intellectuals, deserving our attention and a reward for being. This is derived from the “Me” Generation of Yuppies and Yuppie wannabes who currently see themselves as the Governmental Elite in our region.

The PE have convinced themselves through their political inbreeding that the PC have lost the ability to choose wisely and monitor their doings and undoings of our governance. In some circumstances, they may be correct, however that does not give the PE the right to:

1. Pre-select the platforms and direction of our communities
2. Pre-select and financially back their “Political First Cousins–PFC” to be our candidates
3. Gorge themselves and assorted PFCs at the Public Trough.

Enough is enough, too much nepotism and cronyism within the South Bay as well as the region, state and federal Governments.

We, the PC need to decide who and what type of officialdom/government we want, and not just follow the sound bites from the Kakistocracy!!!

Oh, Kakistocracy means “Government under control of the worst or least-qualified citizens”

BBQ

Yes bbq....and we get the best government we can elect only if the electorate is informed and bothers to go to the polls. The Kak's (as you describe them above) count on the fact that only a few of the electorate care enough to do the due diligence that is so necessary. That plus their deep pockets and ability to influence those like McCann and Cartmill who are easily influenced by those deep pockets and the lure of the public trough. They are not necessarily altruistic, however, because they get their deep pockets through political connections and back-room deals. That is how David Malcolm got caught ....indicted, and convicted while a so-called public servant at the Port District. Wonder how he got that position? He maneuvered with his pals on the CV City Council to remove the person who held that appointment, one Robert Penner, in the middle of his term and appoint David instead! That is how powerful those connections are.

One good thing in the coming SuhSD elections is the shift to area seats, giving smaller individual community areas the right to elect their own representative. At large elections have perpetuated the apparent indifference of the electorate...the new format will, one hopes, bring the candidates and issues back closer to the neighborhoods they are, one hopes again, to serve.

BBQ - I will never understand how that happens - kakistocracy seems prevalent in San Diego.

I would like to recommend that all here send an email to Dr. Glover respectfully requesting that SUHSD hold forums for the upcoming election. The candidates for that area should be invited and the TOUGH questions asked.

In 1994, I believe, Chula Vista had an open seat for Mayor. Shirley Horton was the underdog, in terms of supporters. Her only known supporters were David Malcolm and Cheryl Cox. But thanks to Malcolm's tactics, Shirley won the election. Soon after taking office, she led the effort to unseat the incumbent, Robert Penner. She then appointed David Malcolm as Chula Vista's Port Commissioner. Malcolm eventually made a secret deal with Duke Energy (for $20,000 a month!) to put Duke's interest ahead of the city's and port's interest. These are the "silent players" you need to be watching.

It is no accident that David/Annie Malcolm, SDG&E, Duke Energy are all listed as 'partners' on the South Bay Community Services web page....because Shirley Horton is the highly-paid so-called director of community relations and development for that organization that siphons hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars each year from our public coffers....the Sweetwater District, City of Chula Vista, City of National City, County of San Diego, etc., in addition to big government grants. While the work of SBCS might be noble, lots of people in the top ranks make lots of money -- the director gets nearly $200,000 per year. It must be nice to be so well connected.

What is the old saying, " Scratch my back"...??? This gang must give each other back scratchers for Christmas!