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Sweetwater's Funds for Education
Your article is the buzz of the district right now, people kept telling me about "my article in the Reader," so...without even being named, I felt somewhat vindicated when I cracked it open late Saturday. I've never followed your work as a "stringer" in City Lights before but...you've definitely a lot of journalism talent. I've got friends who walk through the press room at what's left of the UT and they say it's like a Community College cafeteria...lot of youngin's, bless their hearts, but not a one of them who could find a throat if you drew them a dotted line to it. Anytime Ms. Luzarro! 619-952-9141.— January 16, 2012 11:35 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
I will, thanks for being the tip of the spear on this with Mr. Payne, I'd like to meet with both of you gentleman at your convenience.— January 16, 2012 11:30 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
McCann? name recognition, graduated a couple years ahead of him at high school, went to a campaign fundraiser Canaris sponsored for him early in his campaign, we had no idea he would stab everyone in the back by bringing Brand back. Even without the charges...he's burnt some voter bridges there. Plus his outbursts against "you people" (on youbube) when teacher Martin Casas mentioned that he leaned a little heavily on his Vet Cred when giving pseudo campaign speeches at every high school graduation he could book. Like you, I love our vets, my 95 year old dad took some amazing vacations with the Marines in 1944 & 45 to shitty little islands like Choieseul, Vela la vela, Guadalcanal, Okinawa and one you've probably never heard of called Iwo Jima. But unlike a lot of people today his service to country wasn't the first card he'd play at the drop of the hat to defend himself against "those people." Which...we think he was referring to Educated Latinos...teachers...or Insurgents that had followed him back, we're not really sure who "those people" were. Ricassa? Married to Ed. a manager at MFCU, seriously one of the nicest guys on the planet. I think she should finally make an honest man of him and take his surname and try and wash some of this scandal off. As a board member? You're right, she's not the brains of the evil, just the vote that creates a block for them to execute their evil. Not quite the Nuremburg "taking orders" defense, but... not far though. Lopez shows backbone now and then but she singled out Jaime Mercado to run against because he won by the narrowest margin since Griego back in...92? Jaime was a thorn in the side of every douchebag at the district, it was never the easy way with him and he was also not a very "good politician." He refused to shake Ed Brand's hand and single handedly made life so uncomfortable for him that he left to...Vista? Which last a whopping 10 weeks before they axed him. I seriously considered warning their boar when they were interviewing him...but honestly...I wanted him gone. Mercado was exponentially a better champion for ethics than Bertha. She's not unredeemable, but ...she now has a platform to set her self apart and start driving some reforms, if she doesn't hit it hard at the next board meeting? She's complicit in my book. Let's hope.— January 16, 2012 11:28 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
In this proposed redistricting system Pearl would theoretically have to run against Lopez because they're both from NC, the rest live in Bonita or the close therein...so they'd be running against each other, so NO one is for it because it's actually good democracy and discomfortable for them. The Imperial Beach/South San Diego folks haven't had anyone to represent their nonexistent "district" since the days of Lorenzo Provencio, my old Little League Coach actually. One of the few board members who took time off from his day job as a teacher to visit EVERY SCHOOL- EVERY YEAR. He had polio as a child, not a super stentorian speaker, walked slowly, refused to be escorted where he showed up to a school site and he'd pop into any class he wanted to to see what was really going on. He would add about 2 hr.s to every board meeting because he went over everything with a fine toothed comb. He was obviously... not a good politician. No one shows up to sites unless their's a photo op. ribbon cutting or something. So Quinones gathered a group of her PTA buddies from San Ysidro whre she was working and other active professional Latinas from our district and beat him in ...01? Heavily supported/organized by the Inzunza machine that hadn't been blemished yet by scandals to come. When some of her supporters suggested that she should actually walk some of the precincts herself and actually work instead of schedule mini-vacations? She "let them go" for not being full supporters. In once particular case, Sarita Fuentes? Her super rising star career in the district began to wither on the vine, Pearl likes to be the only Belle at the ball. I helped with The Canaris Campaign against her in 2004? Largest school board spending match-up in the history of the district, still...she squashed Canaris 60/35%. Heavily funded by district contractors and the California Democratic party's speaker of the house (forget his name, his son killed someone then walked/pardoned by Swartz Fabian Nunez?) Anyways...so..the Districting? The Southern parts of the district really have no crusader for them. Cartmill keeps membership at several mega churches and most of the Bonita/Hilltop kids who followed him as a Campus Crusade for Christ in the 80's still remember him fondly, so he has a lot of white/middle class automatic voters. Janney who ran against him last was the better candidate, a consumate professional administrator who turned around every school she touched. I hope we get her back someday. (cont.)— January 16, 2012 11:24 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
like you in the beginning... they drank the kool aide of Brand as the fixer and Gandara as the devil. Most people are too busy for bad news or reading more than blurbs and sound bytes. How many people do you know personally outside of our district that could name the board members before this scandal broke? Southbay voters do 2 things, both kind of reprehen-sible. 1) They vote incumbent 2) They vote for surnames of the same ethnicity I think the district zone based board member idea was a good one. That's why it got tabled. ie. lost— January 15, 2012 10:05 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
btw...HOWARD Rindone and it was the 34th floor of the "University Club" on top of Symphony Towers, not the "Executive Club" as stated— January 15, 2012 9:58 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
that's right...we had to make sure and capture this winner before someone else grabbed him right out from under us. He's the guy...short of criminal charges we're going to pay him for the next 3 years regardless of his performance.— January 15, 2012 9:56 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
anniej, you have a nice wit and seem very attached to this district. Do we know each other? Jauhn Hinkle, Eastlake High.— January 15, 2012 1:24 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
chool. I asked if I could go back to the classroom at that same inner city school that I'd fallen in love with if I resigned from Administration. They said "no, the wounds are too fresh." Whose? The Sweetwater District is considered by most who graduate from, and then work there, like a family. Want to know irony? My Sunday school teacher as a kid was frequently Jim Cartmill, Brand's biggest supporter, ally, confidante and the one who privately pushed Mc Cann to bring Brand back to the district. Cartmill never once intervened on my behalf or as far as I can tell asked "What Would Jesus Do?" I don't want these people to go to jail, they have families, I've met them. And despite having done their best to ruin MY life, I just want this district to get fixed and move on. But it will not do so with them in their current positions. Every single one of them has to go. Recall and appoint Karen Janney, Stan Canaris, Jaime Mercado, Sarita Fuentes and John Devore until elections can be held. These 5 people reflect the community's values and would make for very loooong and meticulous board meetings, but at least we wouldn't need a superintendent anytime soon. Each are respected and accomplished administrators in the district, have proven track records of standing up to injustice and are very capable professionals. This COULD be the very best thing to ever happen to our district. If you're reading this Ms Dumanis? Please...increase the scope of your investigation. Thanks for your time. Thanks for that article. Jauhn Hinkle— January 15, 2012 1:20 a.m.
Sweetwater's Funds for Education
always the same little shop of "Corporate Development" chronies; Gary Zareceky first and foremost. Eventually they didn't even pretend to be looking for a great deal anymore and the kick back was the key criteria. When the 9 of us took it up with our district office "liaison," Earl Wiens, he advised us to "write it all out, crunch the numbers" and if we all "agreed to the findings put" our "signatures on it and submit it to Brand." How could Brand be against such unanimous dissent from experienced professionals who had students interests paramount in their priorities? I'm no genius but my calculations showed that the exact increase in cap and gowns being charged to the students would average out at a $20,000 increase in net profits for the company, the magically SAME quantity that the company (Jostens) was going to kick back to the district. We all naively signed our names on the document, but I was singled out as the "ring leader" to be made an example of. My job was posted without even the good decency to tell me. A Counselor who was asked to apply for my job asked me where I was going? "Straight to hell for about a year" would have been the correct reply. I was admonished repeatedly in closed quarters for not "being a team player," although never specific about what, I was told by Brand that I was "VERY, VERY DISAPPOINTING" to him, although I'd put in about 4 years of 17 hour days and flipped an inner city ASB back to the black by about $74k. When I did a great job as a summer school principal at a middle school they refused to give me any evaluation rather than give me the good one I deserved. Administrators do not have unions to protect them. When I heard about federal whistle blower protections from another colleague who was currently suing them in court for creating a hostile work environment, they gave me a lateral "promotion" to a "brand new start and school." They said it was "my last chance to prove myself." It was a trap. They drilled me with micro-managment and second guessing till I just gave up. I literally broke down. My dad's going to turn 96 this May we hope, but a lot of the light went out of his eyes after I quit, he couldn't understand why his son would quit something if he hadn't done anything wrong. He was so proud of what we'd accomplished at that first modest, but proud, s— January 15, 2012 1:19 a.m.