Thursday, January 30, 2014

Mary Salas proposes unifying Chula Vista Elementary and Sweetwater Union High school districts


Mary Salas with Hillary Clinton

I'm pleased that Mary Salas and others want to clean up Sweetwater Union High School district, but simply turning the place over to Chula Vista Elementary School District isn't going to accomplish that. CVESD has ethics and performance problems, too.

Voters need to take responsibility for the way their schools are run. CVESD isn't as bad as Sweetwater, but it's performance is nowhere near what it should be. Voters don't like to think that the policemen who guard them or the educators who teach their kids are less than completely trustworthy, but citizens should screw up their courage and demand transparency from public agencies. Once problems are exposed, they can be solved, or at least prevented from becoming more serious.

Schools have too much secrecy. Wrongdoing thrives in darkness; sunshine alone will go a long way to preventing future abuses of the public trust. If CVESD and SUHSD do combine, transparency must be required of the new district.

But what if exposing CVESD and SUHSD secrets would result in too many people being exposed as corrupt? How will you run the new district if too many people must resign or be fired? Where would you find trustworthy people to take their places? Will you go to districts that are carefully guarding their secrets? That doesn't make much sense, does it? You won't have any real basis to think that those people would be any better.

It's sort of like the war in Iraq: Bush's big mistake was disbanding the Iraqi army. Instead of getting rid of everyone with a history, you keep them on board to keep doing the job, and watch them carefully. The US should have followed the advice of its own experts and kept the Iraqi army intact. Give amnesty, then keep discussions and documents out in the open, not behind closed doors.



Corruption is widespread, and most of it is in schools whose officials have NOT been indicted. There's no reason that the people of San Diego County should have to foot the bill for a slew of prosecutions. The new district should tell the voters the truth, release information and documents--perhaps redacting names--and then make sure that bad acts are not repeated.

Voters need to know exactly what went wrong when they weren't looking, so they'll know what to watch out for in the future.

Proposal: Combine Chula Vista School Districts
The proposal would place elementary schools and Sweetwater high schools in Chula Vista under one district
By Rory Devine
NBC San Diego
Jan 29, 2014

Students in Chula Vista go to schools in the Chula Vista Elementary School District for grades K through 8, then high schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District. A city councilwoman is proposing the two districts combine amid the Sweetwater scandal. NBC 7’s education reporter Rory Devine has more.

A Chula Vista City Councilmember has presented an idea that would change the way school districts in the city look.

Students in Chula Vista go to schools in the Chula Vista Elementary School District for grades K through 8, then high schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District.

Councilmember Mary Salas wants to unify elementary schools and those Sweetwater high schools located in the city of Chula Vista under one district.

“A lot of parents have expressed extreme satisfaction with the elementary school district. Yet by the time they get to middle school, then they start shopping around for different options,” Salas said.

“The continuing of education is the number one priority,” she said.

The idea of merging the school districts has come up before, but has taken on renewed importance in light of a corruption scandal brewing in the Sweetwater Union High School District.

National City Mayor Ron Morrison says the shuffling would impact schools in surrounding areas.

“That’s going to be my biggest concern, how the finances are going to work out on this,” Morrison said.

On Tuesday, Salas told the council that details of a potential merger would be worked out by the San Diego County Office of Education. But she says the process must begin, especially given the ongoing scandal in the Sweetwater Union High School District.

“I don’t think it should be looked at as a complete answer, but certainly if the high school district has been mired in conflict and dysfunction for years and years, it does affect a lot of things,” she said.

Sweetwater board member John McCann supports this idea.

The Chula Vista Elementary School District says this is a complicated process and more research is needed.

If the proposal does move forward, Salas says she thinks it could be done in a year.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Advice to Doug Luffborough: don't go down the same path as CVESD trustees Pam Smith, Larry Cunningham and Bertha Lopez


Chula Vista Elementary School District
board member Dough Luffborough

Doug Luffborough's photo from attorney
Peter Fagen's Google+ page on Jan. 17, 2014.
The page seems to have been taken down since then.

I got interested in Mr. Luffborough when he was attacked for his work promoting Common Core. I believe that criticism was caused by teachers who simply didn't know how to teach basic concepts, and who transferred their anxieties to their students. Common Core is a carefully-designed approach to education to help the United States compete with countries that already use these successful methods.

But there is something about Mr. Luffborough that troubles me: his "friendship" with lawyer Peter Fagen of Fagen Friedman Fulfrost.


Attorney Peter Fagan of
Fagen Friedman Fullfrost;
also, see posts on education attorneys.

I worry that Mr. Luffborough may be headed in the unethical direction of Pam Smith, Larry Cunningham and Bertha Lopez (yes, that Bertha Lopez). Smith, Cunningham and Lopez maintained an unethical relationship with Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz for many years.

In 2005 Smith, Cunningham, and Bertha Lopez apparently authorized public CVESD funds to be spent on protecting the law firm from obstruction of justice charges in a lawsuit to which CVESD was not a party! What law firm was used to protect Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz? Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz!

Pam Smith, CVESD board member and
Director of San Diego County
Department of Aging

Then in 2009 Pam and Larry spent public funds again to protect themselves from having to testify in a private defamation lawsuit brought by their pals at Stutz law firm against this blogger (Maura Larkins). They hired lawyers to quash deposition subpoenas they had received. What law firm was used? Once again, to Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz.


Larry Cunningham

It should be noted that public entities are not allowed to sue for defamation; obviously, they also should not use public money and their status as public entities to support private defamation suits.

But wait, you say. How do I know that CVESD actually paid Stutz? Is it possible that Stutz filed secretly on behalf of CVESD in the first case above, pretending that CVESD was supporting the firm, without ever asking for money from CVESD for filing the paperwork? Well, that would be quite outrageous--are you suggesting that Stutz not only fraudulently filed the papers, but also fraudulently used CVESD's status as a public entity to avoid paying the court filing fee for those papers?

I was curious, so I did a public records request for San Diego County Office of Education--JPA's billing invoices for the case.


SDCOE Risk Management Director (and former
lawyer with Stutz law firm) Diane Crosier
did not provide ANY billing invoices for 2005.

Here's how Diane Crosier responded:

Invoices for the Stutz firm relative to work done for Chula Vista Elementary School District from January 1, 2005 through January 1, 2006 - we have no documents responsive to this request.


It appears that Stutz did not make a request for payment through San Diego County Office of Education JPA. And how could it? The school district was no longer a party in the case.

So I did another public records request, this time to CVESD, to find out if CVESD had paid Stutz directly, rather than through its liability insurer SDCOE-JPA. CVESD did not provide any record showing that it had paid Stutz for the work.



Bertha Lopez (indicted as Sweetwater
trustee in 2013) should have stayed
at CVESD, remaining safely under Bonnie
Dumanis' radar along with
Pam Smith and Larry Cunningham.

But if Stutz had secretly used CVESD's name to perpetrate a fraud on the court, why would CVESD continue to do business with Stutz? I provided all this information to CVESD years ago, but CVESD has continued to offer contracts to Stutz.

It's hard to figure out, isn't it? I have a couple of thoughts. First, any obstruction of justice by Stutz would have been done on behalf of CVESD. So CVESD would have an interest in keeping any such question from being examined in court. Also, perhaps Smith, Cunningham and Lopez were anxious to shut down my website. Stutz may have pleased them enormously when it filed its private defamation lawsuit against me. And friends don't expose friends' wrongdoing, right?

WHY DIDN'T PAM SMITH, LARRY CUNNINGHAM AND BERTHA LOPEZ SIMPLY COME FORWARD AND DISCUSS THE ISSUES VOLUNTARILY?

One might ask why Smith and Cunningham did not simply come forward and willingly testify on behalf of Stutz law firm in the defamation case. (See all SDER blog posts about the case HERE.) Clearly, they were afraid that wrongful actions by themselves and Stutz would come to light.

Pamela Smith was so afraid of being deposed that she refused to come out and take her seat at the CVESD board meeting when she learned that board members were being served the deposition subpoenas at the meeting. The public waited and waited for Ms. Smith to appear, and finally David Bejarano left his chair and went into the back room. Perhaps he explained to Mrs. Smith that it is illegal to evade service of a subpoena, and it is especially unbecoming in a public official, and that the subpoena could simply be served on CVESD after three failed attempts to serve Ms. Smith in person. A short while after Mr. Bejarano returned, Mrs. Smith came in and was served.

WHEN BOARD MEMBERS AND PUBLIC ENTITY LAWYERS ARE PALS

School board members who are pals of law firms can be a huge asset to those firms, but not necessarily to the public. Board member Kelli Moors in Carlsbad recently caused a scandal when she received a huge reward--a cushy job-- shortly after voting to renew the law firm's contract. The district ended up rescinding it's decision to rehire Fagen, Friedman Fulfrost. Yes, that's the same firm that has made "friends" with Doug Luffborough. What exactly is it that caused Mr. Luffborough to make friends with CVESD's lawyer? A genuine, personal connection? Or something else?

Another possible service that can be provided by friends on school boards is back-channel communications of messages that a lawyer would never dare utter on the record during a meeting, even a closed-door session. (Unless, of course, the lawyer had first advised the board NOT to record the session even though the district attorney had requested that the session be recorded, as Dan Shinoff did HERE.)

I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT DOUG LUFFBOROUGH

I'm still trying to figure out how Dough Luffborough fits into all this. According to his website, "His core values and belief in faith, discipline, action, and hard work" account for the recognition he has received.

But what are his core values?

Clearly, Dough Luffborough is successful. And he is a role model for how to rise in this world. But besides his own success, and his efforts to help other individuals follow in his path, what exactly are his goals? There are lots of different types of success. For example, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have both been successful, but their goals were very different. In fact, their goals were almost diametrically opposed.

Seriously, what are Doug Luffborough's goals?

From Doug Luffborough's website:


Doug Luffborough is an over-comer! Raised by his mother, a housekeeper, Doug grew up in an impoverished environment. As the oldest son in a single parent family, he was thrown into the role of father figure to his three younger siblings while lacking a strong male role model for himself. Doug’s greatest ambition was to become the first member in his family to attend college – a dream challenged when his family became homeless during his senior year in high school. Despite homelessness and discouragement from his guidance counselor to attend college, Doug continued to work hard and was eventually accepted into Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts to pursue a Business and Human Resources Management degree.

Five years later he was chosen as the Student Commencement Speaker for his class and preceded then President of the United States, Bill Clinton. President Clinton was so impressed with Doug’s tenacity and drive that he invited him and his mother to the White House.

After working with a national community service organization, Doug went back to school to receive his master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a concentration in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy. After Harvard he was chosen to receive a Fellowship degree from the prestigious Center for Social Innovations at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders. Currently, Doug is getting his PhD at the University of San Diego School of Leadership Studies with a concentration in Nonprofit Management and Leadership Consulting.

Doug has spent over 20 years working with organizations as a leadership consultant, social entrepreneur, and advocate for social change. Extremely devoted to youth development and family empowerment, he has created and directed social service programs throughout the United States and Asia.

Doug was recently recognized as a recipient of the esteemed San Diego Channel 10 Leadership Award as a caring resident “who goes above and beyond to make San Diego a better place to live by improving the quality of life for those who need it most.”

His core values and belief in faith, discipline, action, and hard work led to special appearances at the Fleet Center (formerly the Boston Garden), the White House, the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, and the Crystal Cathedral’s “Hour of Power” television broadcast. Doug’s life is a tale of inspiration and hope for the American dream which has impacted hundreds of institutions and thousands of young people across the world.

Today he lives in Chula Vista, CA with his wife Claire, daughters Faith Lily, Makenna Joy, Micaela Elsa and Meilani Lea, and son Douglas Dante. Currently, Doug serves as Chief Managing Consultant and School Board President with the Turning the Hearts Center and the Chula Vista Elementary School District.


Partial Client List

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Iota Alpha Omega Chapter, Poughkeepsie, NY.
Antelope Valley Youth Mentoring and Education Task Force, Lancaster, CA.
Aroma Housewares, Co., San Diego, CA.
Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA.
City Year, Inc. (Nationwide), Boston, MA.
Communities In Schools, McAllen, TX.
Cornerstone Church of San Diego, National City, CA.
Crystal Cathedral “Hour of Power," Garden Grove, CA.
Education, Training & Research Associates, Santa Cruz, CA.
Fleet Center, Boston, MA.
Francis Parker Upper School, San Diego, CA.
From the Barrio Foundation, Chicago, IL.
GEAR UP (Nationwide), San Diego, CA.
Gear Up for Excellence, Phoenix, AZ.
Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.
Holy Name High School, Worcester, MA.
IDEA Public Schools, Donna, TX.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, Boston, MA.
LA Conservation Corps, Los Angeles, CA.
Los Angeles Unifield School District, Beyond the Bell Afterschool Programs, Los Angeles, CA.
Maine State GEAR UP, Rockport, ME.
Mesa College, San Diego, CA.
National Univeristy Academy, San Diego, CA.
Northeastern University Residential Life, Boston, MA.
Office of Family Planning of Health Services, Sacramento, CA.
Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC.
Pine Street Inn, Boston, MA
Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester, MA.
Renaissance Learning, Inc. National Conferences, Orlando, FL.
San Diego City Schools, San Diego, CA.
San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, CA.
San Diego State Upward Bound, San Diego, CA.
San Diego Urban League, San Diego, CA.
San Diego County YMCA, San Diego, CA.
Simon Scholars Program, Santa Ana, CA., and Atlanta, GA.
S.T.E.M. Summer Bridge, Mt. San Jacinto College, Menifee, CA.
Seeds Training, La Jolla, CA.
Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders, Palo Alto, CA.
Sweetwater Union High School District, Chula Vista, CA.
Teach For America, McAllen, TX.

U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC.
United Way of Dutchess County, Poughkeepsie, NY.
UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA.
University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA.
Walnut Hill School for Performing Arts, Natick, MA.
Warm Springs Middle School, Murrieta, CA.
Western Wyoming Community College, Rock Springs, WY.
Woodcraft Rangers, Los Angeles, CA.
Worcester Public Schools, Worcester, MA.
Young Presidents Organization, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia

William J. Clinton
Remarks at a Meeting With Doug Luffborough and an Exchange With Reporters
July 1, 1993

The President. Hello, everybody. Those of you who travel with me regularly will, I think, recognize the young man on my right, Mr. Doug Luffborough. He was the student speaker at Northeastern University in Boston the other day. This is his mother, whom I introduced from the audience; got a big hand. He's here with President John Curry of Northeastern and Senator John Kerry, his Senator. I invited him and his mother to come visit me in the Oval Office, so they didn't wait long to take me up on the invitation. [Laughter] I'm glad to see them here today.

You may remember also that he brought the house down. He not only gave a great speech, but he sang at the beginning of his speech. I thought to myself, if I could sing like that I wouldn't be giving speeches today. [Laughter]

Mr. Luffborough. Well, it was a wonderful opportunity for me and a wonderful opportunity for my family and especially for my mother. I've been waiting for an opportunity like this, and I'm just really thrilled. And I'm really glad that Northeastern was the place you decided to come. It's been a pleasure and an honor to be here today. Thank you.

Q. Mr. President, what was it about Doug that impressed you so much?

The President. First of all, that he had come from such humble circumstances to go to college and to stay in college and that he had made the most of it. He obviously never felt sorry for himself. He obviously had a mother who helped him to believe in himself, as many others do. And the fact that his fellow students picked him to be the spokesperson for their class showed that they identified with the values and the inner strength and drive that took him to the success that he enjoys. I was very impressed. And I just thought it would be neat if they could come down here and see me.


HERE'S AN ARTICLE THAT DOESN'T DEAL JUST WITH MR. LUFFBOROUGH, BUT WITH THE ENTIRE BOARD AND TOP ADMINISTRATORS OF CVESD


Left to right: Left to right: Russell Coronado (moved out of town and was replaced by Glendora Tremper), Former superintendent Lowell Billings, Larry Cunningham, Pamela Smith, David Bejarano (came to board in 2007, replaced by his daughter in 2012), Doug Luffborough (came to board in 2009); four out of five current members came to office without running for election.

Chula Vista school board: Pre-meeting sessions raise questions about open meeting violations
Donal Brown
First Amendment Coalition
September 2010

The Chula Vista Elementary school board says that their gatherings before board meetings in the superintendent’s office to eat take-out food and to ask one-on-one questions of the staff are open to the public and not in violation of California’s Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. -db

San Diego Union-Tribune
September 2, 2010
By Ashly McGlone

Chula Vista Elementary school board members have been gathering in the superintendent’s office before their public meetings, asking questions about agenda items and eating restaurant take-out food paid for by taxpayers.

State law generally requires elected officials to post public notices so citizens can attend when public business is discussed with three or more board members. But district officials say the pre-meeting sessions are not subject to those requirements.

The practice raises the possibility that a consensus could be reached in private, depriving the public of the right to know what went into board decisions.

The Watchdog reviewed minutes of all board meetings from December 2008 to the present. Of 130 motions, 129 passed unanimously. The one split vote, in February, concerned the order of agenda items.

Records obtained by The Watchdog under the California Public Records Act reveal $2,035 in meals have been billed to the district’s general fund since December 2008.

According to board vice president Larry Cunningham, food is “always there. If we have a board meeting, it’s there.” He said the meals have been standard practice since he joined the school board more than 16 years ago and no one has ever raised a concern.

The informal gatherings give board members a chance to grab a bite to eat and get their questions answered by staff members, Cunningham said.

“If you have a question to ask staff, you have a chance to go ask staff about that. It is nothing. We don’t meet with closed doors. The doors are always open,” Cunningham said. “We find it is easier to do that than ask a lot of questions at board meetings. We feel the board meetings are there for input for the public.”

Max Batangan, assistant to the school board and the superintendent, distributes meeting agendas and notifies members of any changes, according to the superintendent and board members.

Superintendent Lowell Billings, who is set to retire in December after nine years as superintendent, said, “It is a staging for the main board meeting which is held in open session. Meaning, you gotta have a place to show up, and I hold it in my office, so I am the gatekeeper.”

Generally, board members said the meeting allows them to ask one-on-one questions of staff members for clarification.

“I read the packet myself. The protocol is to take any questions to the superintendent or other district staff for more verification or information,” board member Douglas Luffborough said.

The idea of one-on-one questions may be a key distinction, experts said, as any group discussion of issues in the pre-meeting would be forbidden under the state’s open-meetings law, known as the Ralph M. Brown Act.

[Maura Larkins comment: How can it be one-on-one, Doug, if all your fellow board members are present?]

Dan Hentschke, a former Oceanside, San Marcos and Solana Beach city attorney and current general counsel for the San Diego County Water Authority, conducts trainings for elected officials on open-meetings law. Briefings on changes to the night’s agenda could be an issue, he said.

“Updating collectively, that’s a problem,” Hentschke said. “If they are hearing collectively information, that should be held in an open meeting.”

“These kinds of meetings are ones that we use as an example of ones that can be very problematic,” Hentschke said. “The law is very clear that gatherings of a majority of a legislative body have to be open-noticed and public if there is any discussion among the board members of public business. Gatherings of this nature can be held in compliance, but it is very difficult because they cannot talk about matters of agency business.”

Attorney Michael Jenkins, chair of Brown Act Committee for the League of California Cities, also said that a notification of agenda changes would be considered school business.

“Under the Brown Act they are not allowed to hear, discuss or deliberate on any matter of district business. That’s a problem because that’s business that pertains to the school district. It’s just not a good idea to have them all together,” he said. “I can’t say if their particular practice is a violation. I will say it could be under certain circumstances that they need to avoid.”

Theresa Acerro, president of the Southwest Chula Vista Civic Association and a retired teacher, said, “I would be really concerned about that. I think those questions should be asked in a public meeting because it is likely that members of the public would have those same questions.”

Former district board member and retired economics professor Peter Watry, 79, also expressed concern over the board dinners. Watry — who said the meals were not present when he served on the board from 1976 to 1980 — currently serves as vice president and acting president of the nonprofit Crossroads II, aimed primarily at monitoring land use decisions by the Chula Vista City Council.

“If they are following the Brown Act, they shouldn’t be doing it,” said Watry. “Even that one-on-one gets tricky. If you talk to a third person, you violate the Brown Act. My guess is they are just not paying attention to the strictness of the rules, but they should not be doing it.”

A favorite meal for the board sessions was the $110 large kabob pack from Daphne’s Greek Cafe. Other meals came from China China restaurant and Pat & Oscar’s. Some food was also prepared by the district’s Child Nutrition Services.

The spending on meals comes despite the financial issues facing most school districts in the state.

At Chula Vista, managers are taking seven furlough days this academic year and next, while classified staff will take two to six furlough days and teachers will take 5.5 furlough days, two of which are class days shortening the school year. No furloughs were in place last year.

Also, this year is the first year the district’s 20:1 class size cap has been removed. Average class sizes this year are 19.9 children for kindergarten through third grade, and 28.9 children for fourth through sixth grade. Last year’s average was about 18 students.

Billings said the food is for board members and other district staff but members of the public could come to the pre-meetings.

“Anybody can walk in and see them and I am there to be the sergeant of arms of board members,” Billings said.

[Maura Larkins' comment: This means, and I speak from personal experience, that anyone can walk in, but Billings will tell them to leave if he doesn't want them to hear what's going on--or he doesn't want the visitor to be heard.] But Acerro countered, “That’s no public meeting, and besides they have to have publicly notice meetings, and if it’s not a meeting, they shouldn’t be all together discussing school business,” she said.

Billings contends there is no Brown Act violation.

“Everybody in the work knows that these meetings take place. They are really not meetings, but a gathering place,” Billings said. “If a board really wanted to violate the Brown Act, they would be more secretive or subversive or meet in a covert matter.”

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

No process yet to replace Sweetwater trustee Ricasa


Arlie Ricasa. See all posts on Arlie Ricasa.


Daniel Shinoff

No process yet to replace Sweetwater trustee Ricasa
Only three board members show up at special meeting
By Susan Luzzaro
San Diego Reader
Jan. 15, 2014

No one was surprised to see that the Sweetwater Union High School District board failed to agree on a process to replace former trustee Arlie Ricasa at a January 14 special meeting. (Ricasa pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor December 18 and was obliged to resign). However, many who attended the meeting wondered if the lack of agreement was the usual dysfunction — or orchestrated dysfunction.

Only three board members were present at the meeting — trustees Jim Cartmill, John McCann, and Bertha Lopez. According to Cartmill, trustee Pearl Quiñones could not attend due to a trip to see her ailing mother in Texas.

The meeting began with the district’s attorney, Daniel Shinoff, outlining a process in which an ad hoc committee might be composed of the board president, vice president, and the mayors of Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, and National City. Following a review of applications, the ad hoc committee would interview candidates and forward prospects to the board. Public comment would be integrated into the process.

Trust in the district is so low that many speakers argued against anyone in the district office handling the applications; some suggested that all applications pass through the attorney’s office.

Lopez, a consistent critic of schools superintendent Ed Brand, argued that she was neither president nor vice president, so the proposed process excluded her. She suggested an alternative selection process that had been used by Southwestern College, one that she felt was more inclusive of all stakeholders.

The twist in the evening came when McCann called for a special election —which he said he favored in the interest of democracy. When McCann campaigned in 2010, his website declared that he “stands for Fiscal Responsibility” and that he “will require a balanced budget for the District and ensure that District Bond money is spent wisely.”

McCann’s insistence on a costly vote seemed inconsistent — and foreshadowed the direction and possibly the way the replacement process will go.

The district must fill the seat within 60 days from the time of Ricasa’s resignation — they are already 27 days into the countdown. There are only two choices: get a selection process going or hold a special election.

A special election would cost more than a million dollars for a position that would last less than a year. Former chief financial officer Albert Alt and former interim CFO Rick Knott have expressed concern about the district’s continued deficit-spending.

On the heels of McCann’s statement, Cartmill stated that it was obvious that three votes could not be attained for a selection process. He appeared to be shepherding the dais to option two: a special election.

But before Cartmill could close the discussion, Lopez stated she felt “cheated.” She said that the district knew beforehand that Quiñones would not be attending the meeting; why had they not made every effort to arrange for Quiñones to weigh in via Skype or telephone, she asked.

Then the meeting teetered out of control, with the attendees calling for a vote, for clarification, and for a process.

Cartmill made a motion in favor of the process Shinoff had outlined but warned the other trustees that only a dissenting voter could ever return this proposal to the board. The motion died for lack of a second.

Finally, Lopez urged that the board make every effort to reach Quiñones by Friday and find out if there is a way she can participate. Lopez said a special election would rob the district of resources needed for the students.

The district has until February 17 to fill the seat. Ricasa pleaded out exactly 60 days before the corruption trial is due to start. Curious timing, according to some.

Stakes are high for the vacant seat and possibly highest for Brand.

School superintendents often move their agendas forward by relying on the vote of three trustees. Sweetwater superintendent Ed Brand has enjoyed the fairly consistent support of trustees Jim Cartmill, John McCann, and Arlie Ricasa.

In September 2011, Brand told the Reader that his staying on as superintendent is conditional. He said: “If it ever gets to the point that they stop accepting my recommendations, then the good news from my perspective is, I have the wherewithal to say, ‘Thanks, it’s been fun.’”

Monday, January 13, 2014

CVESD principal (and former lawyer) Monica Sorenson leaves in the middle of the school year


Why did Monica Sorenson depart CVESD suddenly in the middle of the school year?

I noticed a few days ago that a law firm in Los Angeles was reading up on Monica Sorenson (on my blog). Is Monica thinking of returning to the practice of law--and leaving education altogether? Well, she might return to the practice of law, but that does not necessarily mean she'd be leaving the field of education entirely. The law firm that was looking at my blog, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, employs education attorneys.


Tiffany principal Charlie Padilla also left
in the middle of the school year

I also thought it was odd that Tiffany principal Charlie Padilla left in the middle of the year in December of 2010. It seems somewhat a dereliction of duty. What exactly would propel a principal to make such a move?

In case anyone is wondering, Monica Sorenson was on the Chula Vista Educators board of directors when this grievance was filed. Even though she was a lawyer, CTA was able to keep her in line, assuming that she ever objected to illegal actions. I think she was wrong not to blow the whistle on serious wrongdoing by teachers and the district. But I'm sure her ascent at CVESD would have been curtailed if she'd reported the illegal actions to the authorities. The original, unhacked grievance that Monica ignored can be seen here.


Del Mar district names new principal for Torrey Hills
By Michelle Breier
SDUT
Jan 10, 2014

DEL MAR — The Del Mar Union School District has named Monica Sorenson as principal of Torrey Hills School.

Sorenson comes to the Del Mar district with five years of experience as a principal, most recently at Chula Vista Hills Elementary, officials said. Before that, she was a teacher for 10 years.

Chula Vista Hills Elementary, under Sorenson’s leadership, received numerous awards and accolades for its academic and wellness achievements.

The Del Mar district said Sorensen is known as a principal who works well with parents, teachers and the greater community to create positive and dynamic learning environments in which students excel.

Sorenson takes the place of Barbara Boone, who left Torrey Hills to take a position as director of curriculum and instruction at the San Diego County Office of Education



Here is the hit on my blog from Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton

IP Address 12.146.203.# (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter& Hampton)
ISP AT&T WorldNet Services
State : California
City : Los Angeles
Operating System Microsoft WinNT
Browser Internet Explorer 9.0
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)
Javascript version 1.3
Time of Visit Jan 8 2014 8:45:03 am
Last Page View Jan 8 2014 8:54:06 am
Visit Length 9 minutes 3 seconds
Page Views 2
Referring URL http://www.google.co...
Visit Entry Page http://cvesdreporter...-sorenson-hired.html
Visit Exit Page http://cvesdreporter...-sorenson-hired.html
Visit Number 34,339

Saturday, January 11, 2014

My Happy Hacker: he (or she) takes orders from lawyers, but also seems to have a sense of humor


I'm awarding good humor points to my hacker, who has become quite playful during the past week. He (or she) is having fun, but doing no harm.

Less than a week ago I discovered that this page in my related website had been hacked.

HERE IS THE HACKED IMAGE OF A GRIEVANCE I SUBMITTED TO CVESD:



I published this blog post, which the hacker must have read. In the post I wrote that California Teachers Association (CTA) director Jim Groth, who had been Chula Vista Educators (CVE) grievance chair at the time, had turned up unexpectedly at the grievance meeting and said that the union did NOT support the grievance. The grievance merely asked that the district RESPOND to an earlier grievance. It appears that CTA was quite desperate to cover up illegal actions of pals of CVE President Gina Boyd.


Former CVE President Gina Boyd at her deposition.
This blogger has awarded to Gina the Alberto Gonzalez
CRS award for her amazing lack of knowledge and
substantial memory loss: "I don't know"--25 times and
"I don't remember (or recall, etc.)--35 times;
total cognition lapses: 60.


Sometime during the past few days, someone went to work on my grievance image again. But this time, my hacker did NOT hide any information. He (or she) just moved black boxes around! It's actually quite entertaining to examine his (or her) handiwork.

He (or she) enlarged the black box to cover EMPTY SPACE on this page:




and moved the black box sideways on this page!



I actually like my hacker now, but I'm still not terribly fond of the lawyers who ordered the hacking.


It should be noted that CTA isn't the only party trying to hide these events. Current CVESD board members Pam Smith and her faithful ally Larry Cunningham were involved in the criminal actions, and they also have paid tax dollars to lawyers to support efforts to shut down my website.

Update Jan. 14, 2014


Robin Donlan relied on the help of attorney Kelly Angell Minnehan to avoid answering deposition questions.
I just discovered that a section ofmy webpage containing Robin Donlan's deposition had been deleted. Part of the transcript in which Stutz Artiano Shinoff & Holtz attorney Kelly Angell (now known as Kelly Minnehan) stopped Donlan from answering a question about how Donlan felt when the principal discontinued programs without the approval of the staff was removed. Ms. Angell then proceeded to question the witness herself! I suspect there are other deletions in the deposition that I am not yet aware of.

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Channel 6 San Diego: Teen files lawsuit against CVESD teacher accused of sexual molestation


John Raymond Kinloch (Photo from Crime Voice.com)

CVESD wants to blame someone else for not warning them ahead of time about Kinloch. But what about all the years that Kinloch spent at CVESD? After a few years, it simply makes no sense for district officials to claim they had no idea what was going on--unless the district also admits that it actually has very little clue about what is going on in most classrooms. Teacher evaluations are a joke, but not a very funny joke.

The district has a policy of letting school politics guide personnel decisions. And the policy is hurting a lot of kids. It's time for administrators to start showing up in classrooms, and to start talking to ALL staff members. When it comes to what kind of people are running classrooms, the blissful ignorance of administrators needs to end.

See SDER teacher evaluation plan.

See also "California Teachers Association protects child molesting teacher."

See all posts about arrested CVESD teacher John Kinloch.


Exclusive: Teen files lawsuit against teacher accused of sexual molestation
By Derek Staahl
Channel 6 San Diego
08 Jan 2014

CHULA VISTA – A Chula Vista teenager who testified that he was sexually exploited by his former second grade teacher has filed a lawsuit against the man and the school district.

The boy, who is now 17, accuses John Raymond Kinloch of childhood sexual assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Kinloch is being held on 36 felony counts involving five alleged victims, according to Deputy District Attorney Enrique Camarena. The charges include lewd acts upon a child and possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, Kinloch taught the boy at Feaster Charter School and the two developed a close bond. The boy considered the 42-year-old San Ysidro man to be a father figure. The child was in third grade, but still regularly spending time with Kinloch, when the lewd acts began, Camarena said.

Kinloch is accused of improperly touching and kissing the boy, along with asking him to remove his clothes and taking pictures of him naked, according to court documents. Kinloch has pleaded not guilty to the charges and a trial is scheduled for April 1.

“Mr. Kinloch was in his classroom at school, disrobing this child with the door locked. That's negligent supervision in my mind,” Elaine Heine, the boy’s attorney, told San Diego 6.

The boy’s lawsuit, filed in August, also argues that the Chula Vista Elementary School District negligently hired Kinloch because he was a known distributor of child pornography.



In 1998, Kinloch agreed to testify in Great Britain about his involvement in a child pornography ring. In exchange for his testimony, the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed to offer Kinloch immunity, and he was never charged, Camarena said. Kinloch was hired by the school district two years later.

Heine has filed claims against the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing on the boy’s behalf, and plans to add those agencies as defendants in her lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

The Chula Vista Elementary School District has filed a lawsuit against the federal Department of Justice, trying to determine why Kinloch’s background check raised no red flags.

HACKED CVESD GRIEVANCE: Who doesn't want you to read what's beneath the black box?

UPDATE JAN. 11, 2014:

My hacker has turned playful! He (or she) is moving black boxes around, but not hiding any information. See the story HERE.

ORIGINAL POST:

More than 10 years later, hackers are still helping to conceal the 2001 actions of CTA director Jim Groth

HACKED CVESD GRIEVANCE: Someone doesn't want you to read what's beneath the black box. (See original image below)


Yes, I've been hacked again, but things are getting better. This time the mysterious black box does not quite cover the targeted image on my related website.

More than 10 years later, hackers are still trying to conceal the 2001-2002 actions of former CVE president and current California Teachers Association (CTA) director Jim Groth, who worked on behalf of disgraced asst. superintendent Richard Werlin and board members at Chula Vista Elementary School District. Or was it the reverse? Were Werlin and CVESD working on behalf of Jim Groth? It's hard to unscramble the egg.

Jim "No response needed" Groth

In 2002 Chula Vista Educators' grievance chair Jim Groth unexpectedly came to a meeting at Chula Vista Elementary School District and announced that Chula Vista Educators did NOT support a grievance that merely asked that the district RESPOND to a teacher's grievance.

Why didn't Jim Groth (now a member of the state board of directors of California Teachers Association) insist that the district respond?

Well, that question seems to answer itself. Obviously, CTA and CVESD were covering up something. It appears that Groth's CTA directorship may be linked to his otherwise inexplicable decision to get in his car and drive to the district office to say that it was fine with him if the district ignored my June 9, 2001 grievance.

The original, unhacked grievance can be seen on my website. This is what it looks like:



The CTA website says that Jim Groth "is the past chair of the CTA State Council of Education Communications Committee." Perhaps that committee is in charge of hacking teacher websites?



Teflon trustees?

CVESD board members Pam Smith and Larry Cunningham, who spent tax dollars to cover up crimes, are still on the CVESD board, although the careers of several administrators have ended.

It seems that crime pays, as the saying goes, but only for teachers, union officials and board members--apparently not so much for administrators.

But now that I think about it, I realize that school board members are no longer quite so invulnerable. Bertha Lopez, who went along with the criminal actions of Pam Smith and Larry Cunningham at CVESD, is currently charged with criminal actions by the Public Integrity Unit. Maybe I should say that WASP school board members tend to be teflon.

It should be noted that this same case was investigated by school attorney Daniel Shinoff. A large number of documents he collected at Castle Park Elementary School have gone missing, as Mr. Shinoff and his partner Ray Artiano explained in this deposition.

Chapter 1: Is it wrong that I'm smiling?

Events similar to some of those recounted below have happened to me, and in such cases, I have changed the names of the people involved to protect the innocent and the guilty. Many, if not most, of the events are purely fictional. All the characters are fictional; I have made them up out of the bits and pieces of people I have known and read about and heard about, as well as people I have imagined.


In the beginning, I had no hint that Brightwell Elementary School would be transformed by a small man who arrived a month after the start of the year to replace the acting principal.

But perhaps there was a harbinger of what was to come when Leo announced at his very first staff meeting that he was changing the school starting time to half an hour earlier. All the important teachers were transported into cries and gasps of delight. They'd been asking for this for years! And here was Leo, giving them exactly what they wanted before they even asked him for it.

He seemed exactly the right person to lead Brightwell School. He stood in the middle of the teachers lounge, basking in the admiration of everyone who mattered.

Tippi said, "But what about the buses? They won't let you change the buses! It would mess up the schedule."

Leo smirked. "They'll change. I've already talked to them."

"If you can do that..." Tippi said.

"Then I can walk on water?" asked Leo. His mouth spread into an enormous smile.

"Yes!" The verbal teachers nodded their heads.

Leo looked happy and proud, as if he'd benefited mankind or won an election.

But I was struck by a memory. Wasn't that "walking on water" phrase used by Tippi just a month earlier, during a staff meeting with the acting principal? Had the acting principal told Leo that he would be placed, by the teachers who mattered, in the same category as Jesus if he simply changed the school starting time to make certain teachers happy?

Now that I think of it, there was another intimation of trouble to come on Leo's first day as principal, but at the time, it seemed to be just a fluke, a coincidence.

Leo decided to come on strong with a misbehaving sixth-grade boy who was sent to the office during the morning hours. Apparently, he really went hard on the kid. I guess he wanted to make an impression as a tough guy. It seems that the kid also wanted to make an impression. That afternoon the fire alarm went off, and we all filed out to the field. But as time went by and we were still out on the field, the word went around that there had been a bomb threat and the fire department would have to search all the rooms before we could go back in.

It was impossible at that time to know if we had a really weird kid in the school, or a really weird new principal--or both. Only time would tell.

Leo does not deserve all the credit for the transformation of Brightwell School. He was more of a catalyst, an agent who swam about happily in the stew of personalities that was connected to him. He seemed skilled at triggering chemical reactions in the brains of those he spent time with. Leo simply threw things off balance a bit, and what happened next was pretty much beyond his control. Some of the most important players in his drama had more degrees of separation from him than they did from Kevin Bacon, but they couldn't have achieved their goals without him.

One person Leo probably never met was the pothead who lived on Mariposa Street. When he wasn't smoking, the man liked to stand out in front of his house and keep an eye on things. He didn't have a job, so that gave him a lot of time to do his watching. His reports, delivered by a mutual acquaintance, became very important to Leo and the trio of teacher leaders who guided him. One staff member referred to these influential women as "the three holies", but most of the staff saw the three as an unexceptional feature of a typical principal's office.

Leo was vaguely aware of Beryl, a small, blonde young woman who spent hours and hours every night making lesson plans. It was lucky that she had already decided to separate from her boyfriend, because she had absolutely no life at all outside her work, and no man would have put up with it. But Leo didn't notice that she worked late every night, and came in on weekends. She wasn't on his radar. He never visited her classroom.

At least, not until the California testing. There were two rounds of standardized tests in the early 90s: the third grade tests in March, and the all-grades testing in May. The third grade tests were important because they were used by the state to give each school a rating. And Leo wanted a good rating. He hadn't been able to improve his old school, and he was going to do things differently this time. He was going get his allies to understand how important it was to change things. He was going to get them focused on his goals. 011313







Friday, January 03, 2014

More than 10 years later, hackers are still helping to conceal the 2001 actions of CTA director Jim Groth

UPDATE JAN. 11, 2014:

My hacker has turned playful! He (or she) is moving black boxes around, but not hiding any information. See the story HERE.

ORIGINAL POST:

More than 10 years later, hackers are still helping to conceal the 2001 actions of CTA director Jim Groth

HACKED CVESD GRIEVANCE: Someone doesn't want you to read what's beneath the black box. (See original image below)

Yes, I've been hacked again, but things are getting better. This time the mysterious black box does not quite cover the targeted image on my related website.

More than 10 years later, hackers are still trying to conceal the 2001-2002 actions of former CVE president and current California Teachers Association (CTA) director Jim Groth, who worked on behalf of disgraced asst. superintendent Richard Werlin and board members at Chula Vista Elementary School District. Or was it the reverse? Were Werlin and CVESD working on behalf of Jim Groth? It's hard to unscramble the egg.

Jim "No response needed" Groth

In 2002 Chula Vista Educators' grievance chair Jim Groth unexpectedly came to a meeting at Chula Vista Elementary School District and announced that Chula Vista Educators did NOT support a grievance that merely asked that the district RESPOND to a teacher's grievance.

Why didn't Jim Groth (now a member of the state board of directors of California Teachers Association) insist that the district respond?

Well, that question seems to answer itself. Obviously, CTA and CVESD were covering up something. It appears that Groth's CTA directorship may be linked to his otherwise inexplicable decision to get in his car and drive to the district office to say that it was fine with him if the district ignored my June 9, 2001 grievance.

The original, unhacked grievance can be seen on my website. This is what it looks like:



The CTA website says that Jim Groth "is the past chair of the CTA State Council of Education Communications Committee." Perhaps that committee is in charge of hacking teacher websites?



Teflon trustees?

CVESD board members Pam Smith and Larry Cunningham, who spent tax dollars to cover up crimes, are still on the CVESD board, although the careers of several administrators have ended.

It seems that crime pays, as the saying goes, but only for teachers, union officials and board members--apparently not so much for administrators.

But now that I think about it, I realize that school board members are no longer quite so invulnerable. Bertha Lopez, who went along with the criminal actions of Pam Smith and Larry Cunningham at CVESD, is currently charged with criminal actions by the Public Integrity Unit. Maybe I should say that WASP school board members tend to be teflon.

It should be noted that this same case was investigated by school attorney Daniel Shinoff. A large number of documents he collected at Castle Park Elementary School have gone missing, as Mr. Shinoff and his partner Ray Artiano explained in this deposition.

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

Southwestern College police chief who fired gun at head level in his headquarters is back without explanation


Update: Two employees who escaped police chief's bullet are still out on stress leave, but police chief is back on the job

I was right that the investigation of Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore would not embarrass the Southwestern College. The law firm, which represents school districts, apparently found absolutely no problem with an upset police chief pulling out his gun and letting a bullet fly in police headquarters at Southwestern College. See updated story at bottom of this post.

"After his reinstatement, Cash dropped in on the office of The Sun and said he would be willing to talk to student journalists about the episode and subsequent events. During a two-and-a-half hour interview Cash again apologized for the gunfire and said the campus community did not need to worry. He refused to say why he was holding his gun that morning, why it was pointed at head level or why he pulled the trigger, citing 'personal confidentiality.'”

"Personal confidentiality"?" I don't think it's a confidential matter when a public employee shoots a gun in his office. The Chula Vista Police Department is failing, in this case, to fulfill its duty to protect the public. It does NOT need a "request" from the college before it investigates.

ORIGINAL POST:

The firm of Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore represents school districts. I would assume that their investigation will not embarrass Southwestern College.

Police chief on leave following gun fire in HQ
David McViker
The Southwestern College Sun
10/09/2013

Campus Police Chief Michael Cash has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of an incident at police headquarters where a gun Cash was holding discharged and a bullet narrowly missed hitting a SWCPD clerk.

College officials have released very little information about the incident, but several sources have informed The Sun that the firing of the police handgun was part of what one described as a “scary and dangerous” situation.

Sources said Cash entered the SWCPD offices and removed his district-issued service weapon from its holster for reasons unknown and the weapon discharged. A single shot penetrated the wall, narrowly missed campus police clerk Grace David and lodged itself into an adjacent wall in the campus police reception area. Sources said it was unclear whether Cash fired the weapon intentionally or whether it was an accidental discharge.

Following the incident, sources said, Cash “had to be talked down” by SWCPD officers. Cash then surrendered the gun and collapsed to the ground, sources said, demonstrating “shock-like symptoms” and was taken away in an ambulance to a nearby hospital for evaluation. He was subsequently released.

David has been placed on medical leave and has not returned to work since the incident. SWCPD Sergeant Robert Sanchez was named acting chief while an investigation is being conducted.

Sources said the college originally planed to ask the Chula Vista Police Department to investigate the discharge, but CVPD spokesperson Captain Gary Wedge said the college has not requested CVPD assistance. Lillian Leopold, SWC Chief Public Infrmation and Government Relations Officer, said the college has asked the law firm of Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore to conduct the investigation.

Leopold said college officials are not able to discuss the incident while the investigation is pending.

“We want to make sure that there is a thorugh investigation and that both the campus community, and any personnel matter involved with it, are looked at as thoroughly as possible to ensure that there is no attempt to hide any information. Once the investigation is over, it will depend on what we can and cannot release (due to privacy issues.)”

Some college employees, however, expressed frustration that a dangerous incident has been dealt with so quietly and without sharing information with the public. A number of college employees said they have been ordered not to discuss the episode.

“We literally dodged a bullet on this,” said a source that asked not to be identified. “We are very lucky no one was hit by gunfire that day. That was a very serious situation.”

A number of sources said that they felt it was important that a full accounting of the events that preceded and followed the shooting be made public. Sources also said that the event was “highly irregular” as district policy stipulates that weapons are to remain holstered when in an officer’s possession, except in the case of a threat.

“Police at all levels are carefully trained about gun safety,” said a source who asked not to be identified. “That’s like the first lesson on the first day of police academy. For an officer to discharge a weapon, that’s bad news.”

SWC campus police officers carry .40-caliber Glock handguns issued by the college. Glock handguns contain the “Safe Action” system, a fully-automatic safety system consisting of three passive, independently operating, mechanical safeties, which sequentially disengage when the trigger is pulled and automatically reengage when the trigger is released, according to information provided by the Glock Corporation. A Glock’s safety serves as a “drop safety” to discourage accidental discharge.

“To make a Glock fire you pretty much have to pull the trigger,” said a law enforcement professional who asked not to be identified. “I mean, guns are dangerous and things can go wrong, but we are trained to make sure things don’t go wrong.”


Secrecy surrounds return of police chief
Lina Chankar / Senior Staff Writer
The Southwestern College Sun
12/03/2013

Campus Police Chief Michael Cash was reinstated to his position by the college following a pair of investigations of an Aug. 23 incident where a handgun he was holding in police headquarters fired at head level and narrowly missed three employees in an adjacent room.

A preliminary investigation conducted by SWCPD Sgt. Robert Sanchez concluded that Cash was negligent and that the discharge of his district issue Glock handgun was not accidental. A subsequent investigation conducted by a retired San Diego Harbor Police chief called the gunshot an accident and recommended that Cash be reinstated. SWC president Dr. Melinda Nish announced in an Oct. 30 campus email that she was reinstating Cash.

“We are pleased to have Chief Cash returning to work today,” Nish wrote. “The district fully supports the return of Chief Cash as the head of the police department.”

Scores of campus employees and many students said they did not support the return of Cash. Many expressed surprise and “shock” at the decision to reinstate Cash and to allow him to carry a loaded weapon. Professor of Anthropology Dr. Mark Van Stone said the episode “doesn’t make any sense.”

“The story demands details, I want more details,” he said. “Why are the details a secret?”

Professor of Philosophy Alejandro Orozco agreed.

“Our administration is not being clear and forthcoming, and that is creating anxiety on the campus,” he said. “Our employees and the public need an explanation.”

Nish and other campus leaders refused to provide any information about the shooting and the chain of events that multiple eyewitnesses have called “bizarre,” “frightening” and “a very serious situation.” Some employees said they were ordered not to discuss the situation and were compelled to sign non-disclosure agreements. Public Information Officer Lillian Leopold acknowledged that was true.

Though neither the college nor investigator Betty P. Kelepecz will release any information about what happened the morning of the gunfire, several eyewitnesses have recounted virtually the same version of events. Only one of the employees, carpenter Billy Brooks, was willing to speak on the record.

Brooks said he arrived just before 10 a.m. Aug. 23 for an appointment with Cash. The chief was not in his office, Brooks said, so he stood in an adjoining waiting room. Campus Police Officer Jesse Osuna was sitting in the room and SWCPD Clerk Grace David was using a copy machine when they heard gunfire and a bullet whizzing through the room. Brooks said the bullet penetrated the wall and flew “head level” two feet behind him as he stood waiting for his appointment. The bullet flew about three feet behind the head of David, he said.

Brooks said he took a few steps toward the door so he could go into the locker room to see what had happened when Cash burst into the room.

“He was hysterical and kept hollering ‘Accidental discharge! Accidental discharge!’” Brooks said. “He became more and more hysterical and soon couldn’t hardly talk. He just kind of stuttered and went ‘da, da, da, da, da, da, da.’ He looked freaked out like he was going to faint.”

SWCPD employees told Cash to put down his gun, witnesses said, and he did. Cash then “went to the floor” on his hands and knees, Brooks said, and then rolled over on his back, apparently hyperventilating.

“He looked really sick and just kept trying to talk but all he did was stutter,” Brooks said. “Grace and the cops in the room were asking him ‘Are you alright, Chief? Are you alright?’ Someone called an ambulance and they took the chief away.”

Witnesses described Cash as demonstrating “shock-like symptoms” and looking like he was having an epileptic seizure. Leopold said Cash was examined at a local hospital and released. Nish put Cash on administrative leave for what turned out to be about five weeks.

Following the incident Chula Vista Police Department officials said they were “standing by” to study the situation and conduct an investigation. It is illegal to fire a gun within the city limits of Chula Vista or on a school campus anywhere in the state of California. SWC, however, never contacted CVPD about conducting an investigation, according to CVPD spokesperson Capt. Gary Wedge.

Leopold said Wedge was correct and that the college wanted to “avoid the appearance of the brothers in blue protecting one of their own.” Nish authorized SWC’s law firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore to hire an independent investigator. Kelepecz, a retired police chief with a law degree, was selected.

Brooks said he was interviewed by Kelepecz and surprised by something she said during the course of the conversation.

“I asked Betty about the possibility of the chief coming back and she said, ‘Oh he’s coming back, that’s for sure. The chief is definitely coming back,’” Brooks said. “I thought it was weird that she had already made up her mind before the investigation had ended.”

Kelepecz was contacted multiple times for comment, but has not returned phone calls to her Orange County office. Multiple attempts by The Sun to obtain a copy of the report have been rejected or ignored by Nish and the college governing board. In a letter to Nish, Sun Editor-in-Chief David McVicker wrote that he and the editorial board rejected the college’s assertion that the information related to the gunfire was a confidential personnel matter.

“It is our belief that Southwestern College is now in violation of California Public Access and Media Law by refusing to divulge basic, routine information about the Cash incident and by covering up evidence, applying a gag order on employees and refusing to share reports paid for with public funds with the public that paid for them,” read the letter. “It is our position that the college is misinterpreting the ‘Personnel, medical and similar files’ clause of the Government Code section 6254(c) as justification for hiding the investigator’s report from public view.”

In an email to McVicker, Nish denied the college had ignored requests for the report and said she had turned the letter over to the college’s legal counsel.

Cash has been the center of controversies in previous positions. In 1987, while he was a member of the San Diego Police Department, Cash was suspended after a Municipal Court judge ruled that he had used excessive force during an arrest. Cash acknowledged the charge and said he was trying to help his partner arrest a suspected drug dealer named Terry Garrett.

“I’m trying to get in close to help my partner,” Cash recalled. “I slugged him (Garrett) right in the face, broke his nose, blood was everywhere. He had a bag of cocaine in his mouth.”

Cash reflected on the episode.

“Did I not punch anybody in the face after that?” he said in an interview with The Sun. “I don’t know. I have to be honest with you. I may not have for a while.”

In 2007 Cash was fired from his position as Director of Security of the San Diego Chargers when several players were determined to have been out past curfew prior to a game against the Minnesota Vikings. Cash also worked security for the NFL and had a leadership role in preparing for the last San Diego Super Bowl in 2003. Spokespersons for the NFL would not comment on Cash’s performance or why he left his position.

Cash said he was very sorry about the gunfire in campus police headquarters and wrote a Letter to the Editor to The Sun.

“I take full responsibility for the action, for it was I who accidently discharged my duty weapon, he wrote. “I am upset with myself for the events of that day, and I want to apologize to the entire Southwestern College community.”

After his reinstatement, Cash dropped in on the office of The Sun and said he would be willing to talk to student journalists about the episode and subsequent events. During a two-and-a-half hour interview Cash again apologized for the gunfire and said the campus community did not need to worry. He refused to say why he was holding his gun that morning, why it was pointed at head level or why he pulled the trigger, citing “personal confidentiality.”

Cash said he did not have any medical conditions, including diabetes or epilepsy, that may have caused him to fire his gun. He insisted he is in good health.

Two college employees who were in the room [WHEN] the bullet passed through are out on medical stress leave. Campus Police Officer Jesse Osuna and Clerk Grace David are on leave and neither has a scheduled return date.
Former SWC Vice President of Human Resources Albert Roman said the cases of Osuna and David were confidential under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). When challenged that HIPAA did not apply in Cash’s case, Roman said that he “did not feel comfortable” commenting on the findings of the internal and external investigations or the whereabouts of Osuna and David. Roman also declined to comment on possible lawsuits.

Brooks said he had no plans to ask for stress leave. As a former United States Marine, he said, he grew used to being around gunfire.

With contributions by David McVicker