The San Diego Union Tribune hides the wrondoing of public officials it likes. But the SDUT did give a perfect description of how those officials go about their business in the first paragraph of an article on April 22, 2007:
"San Diego County Officials aren't actively helping the Chargers find a new stadium site--they met only once with team representatives last year--yet since September they've paid $109,787 to two consultants who specialize in stadium deals."
The SDUT article goes on to note that a "one-hour phone call at a cost of $585" was part of the bill for something the county supervisors pretend NOT to be working on.
Gee whiz, you don't think Greg Cox and the all-Republican board of supervisors is trying to steer a stadium deal to Chula Vista, where his wife is mayor, do you? These consultants, who cost an average of $506 per hour, won't steer the Chargers away from cities with Democratic mayors, will they? Well, if they do, it's probably good for the Democrats. The Chargers have a tendency to drain money from any city that builds them a stadium.
San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox pays public money to lawyers to get him what he wants, but pretends he himself is not involved. This is exactly how his wife, Cheryl Cox, operated in Chula Vista Elementary School District with her lawyers
Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz.
The Cox Collaborative sets up lawyers with an assignment, then continues to channel public money to those lawyers while looking the other way. A public employee is appointed as go-between so that the Coxes don't have to communicate directly with the lawyers. They can claim ignorance of all the dirty deeds--unless someone actually provides the Coxes with the proof of the misdeeds.
The Coxes were provided with proof that Daniel Shinoff and Kelly Angell (AKA Minnehan) obstructed justice and suborned perjury on Cheryl Cox's behalf. Rather than investigate, Cheryl Cox said that the lawyers had told her not to talk about the matter.
Cute little scheme, isn't it? Greg and Cheryl aren't as dumb as they pretend to be. They are, however, every bit as secretive and dishonest as they appear to be.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Why a new system for evaluating employees is needed
During over twenty years of teaching at CVESD, I noticed that some teachers use every available opportunity to work themselves up into a lather as they attack the reputations of innocent children, administrators, parents, and fellow teachers. These hostile teachers would do a better job in the classroom if they focused on improving themselves instead of destroying others, and on the talents and possibilities of students and their fellow employees instead of false and damaging gossip.
Principals are influenced by teachers who use every available opportunity to sit in the principal’s office and promote themselves and make demands about how children and other teachers should be treated. The best teachers spend these times working on lesson plans, but this causes them to lose political power.
In Chula Vista Elementary Schools, good teachers are sometimes pushed out of schools to please teachers who practice personal politics. For example, Luci Fowers was pushed out of Castle Park Elementary when the principal’s decision to move Nikki Perez didn’t go over well with powerful teachers. And Heather Coman was pushed out by Robin Donlan because Robin and her friends didn't think Heather supported their "Kingdoms" program. A majority of teachers voted to get rid of the program before Heather was pushed out, and again after Heather left. So why was she targeted? Because she had low seniority. They did it because they could. Robin Donlan demanded that she be allowed to bump Heather out of her position. Then, when her victim was gone, Robin "decided" she didn't want the position after all.
Good principals are also pushed out of Chula Vista Elementary Schools, because they resist the pressure of destructive teachers. This is why Henry Manriquez was pushed out of Harborside. He didn't show proper deference to the Queen Bee of the school. When I heard that Dwight Sykes was a good principal at Kellogg, I knew his days were numbered. I never heard anything bad about him, but I wasn't surprised when Lowell Billings ousted him. Billings behaved differently toward Sykes' predecessor, who did have black marks against him that were frequently discussed in the district. Billings promoted Hall to the district office.
It would improve education if personnel decisions were made without political pressure.
A new, unbiased system needs to be devised to evaluate teachers and principals. Most elementary school principals have no idea how their teachers actually perform in the classroom, and most district administrators have no idea how principals actually perform at their schools. The district administrators often rely on the same destructive teachers that principals rely on to tell them who to fire.
Principals are influenced by teachers who use every available opportunity to sit in the principal’s office and promote themselves and make demands about how children and other teachers should be treated. The best teachers spend these times working on lesson plans, but this causes them to lose political power.
In Chula Vista Elementary Schools, good teachers are sometimes pushed out of schools to please teachers who practice personal politics. For example, Luci Fowers was pushed out of Castle Park Elementary when the principal’s decision to move Nikki Perez didn’t go over well with powerful teachers. And Heather Coman was pushed out by Robin Donlan because Robin and her friends didn't think Heather supported their "Kingdoms" program. A majority of teachers voted to get rid of the program before Heather was pushed out, and again after Heather left. So why was she targeted? Because she had low seniority. They did it because they could. Robin Donlan demanded that she be allowed to bump Heather out of her position. Then, when her victim was gone, Robin "decided" she didn't want the position after all.
Good principals are also pushed out of Chula Vista Elementary Schools, because they resist the pressure of destructive teachers. This is why Henry Manriquez was pushed out of Harborside. He didn't show proper deference to the Queen Bee of the school. When I heard that Dwight Sykes was a good principal at Kellogg, I knew his days were numbered. I never heard anything bad about him, but I wasn't surprised when Lowell Billings ousted him. Billings behaved differently toward Sykes' predecessor, who did have black marks against him that were frequently discussed in the district. Billings promoted Hall to the district office.
It would improve education if personnel decisions were made without political pressure.
A new, unbiased system needs to be devised to evaluate teachers and principals. Most elementary school principals have no idea how their teachers actually perform in the classroom, and most district administrators have no idea how principals actually perform at their schools. The district administrators often rely on the same destructive teachers that principals rely on to tell them who to fire.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Chula Vista Police Department 2005-06 hoax on behalf of Cheryl Cox to cover up CVESD crimes
Chula Vista is not the place to go if you are looking for equal protection of the law. It makes a big difference to the CVPD if you're a Republican or Democrat. Republicans like Cheryl Cox get help from the CVPD in covering up crimes and other wrongdoing.
On the other hand, a Democratic employee of the City of Chula Vista who took two hours off work to spy on a Cheryl Cox fundraiser has been charged by Bonnie Dumanis with perjury for not admitting he was doing political work on the job.
There's a lot of political work being done on the job in Chula Vista, but you don't hear much about the work done by Republicans in the police department.
The Chula Vista Police Department is a friend of Cheryl Cox, who was a Chula Vista Elementary school board member before she was elected mayor. The CVPD failed for over a year to investigate a financial crime at Castle Park Elementary School reported in 2005. Why? The CVPD has a knee-jerk policy of covering up wrongdoing by Cheryl Cox and Chula Vista Elementary School District.
In 2006 I pursued a public records request for months before the CVPD admitted that it had a record of a police visit to Castle Park Elementary on April 21, 2001. When they decided I wasn't likely to go away, I finally received a copy of the Castle Park Elementary School "call" report.*
But the Chula Vista Police Department was doing a lot more than illegally hiding public records in its efforts to support Cheryl Cox's campaign for mayor of Chula Vista in 2006.
Between 2000 and 2006 a long string of crimes had been committed at Castle Park Elementary. Cheryl Cox and CVESD committed bigger and bigger crimes to prevent the exposure of earlier, smaller crimes and violations of law committed at Castle Park Elementary in 2000 and 2001.
See "Castle Park Elementary," "Teacher Reports," and "Law Enforcement" at MAURALARKINS.COM (link available on this blog's link list).
In 2005-2006, the most newsworthy crime being covered up by the CVPD and the media to protect Cheryl Cox and the CVESD school board was the embezzlement of about $20,000 from the Castle Park Elementary PTA.
Apparently fearing that this crime would eventually become public knowlege, perhaps because it was being reported by this blog and the San Diego Education Report website, the Chula Vista Police Department seems to have developed a plan in November 2006 to create the appearance that it was no longer covering up the embezzlement. Of course, by November 7, 2006, the election was over. The cover-up was successful. Larry Cunningham crowed that voters had seen throught the lies of his opponents. The truth is that the voters saw almost nothing because Larry and Cheryl had spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to cover up crimes and other violations of law at CVESD.
The police asked former Castle Park PTA president Kim Simmons to come in the CVPD office, where she was interviewed and arrested. Was Simmons arrested after a careful investigation? No, the CVPD does not carefully investigate incidents that might embarrass Cheryl Cox and the school board. CVPD arrested Kim Simmons simply to create the impression that they weren't covering up Castle Park crimes, and passed on their humble efforts to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
What did Bonnie Dumanis do? Prosecute the crime? Not likely. Just as she had refused to prosecute CVESD Assistant Superintedent Richard Werlin for obstruction of justice, she also refused to prosecute Kim Simmons.
Why? Maybe because Kim Simmons knew too much about crimes at Castle Park Elementary.
Did I mention that Kim Simmons was a close friend of transferred teacher Robin Donlan, a member of a powerful teacher clique at Castle Park Elementary that received a great deal of support form local papers when she and several other teachers were transferred out of the school?
Robin Donlan and her friends created a bizarre brouhaha, in which they and the media attacked the principal of Castle Park Elementary without ever mentioning the crimes of which Donlan had been accused. The truth was that the principal was attacked for daring to challenge the authority of the "family" that had created a crime wave at the school.
In October 2004, Kim Simmons entered a Castle Park Elementary classroom, and asked to use the school phone during class time so she could call up Robin Donlan and ask for instructions on how to proceed with her attacks on the principal of the school. The teacher gave permission, and took the opportunity to explain to her students that she was "mad at the principal." (There has been a dearth of professionalism at Castle Park Elementary since this "Castle Park Family" teacher group took over.)
Kim Simmons, along with Gina Boyd, the president of the teacher union, and school site council President Felicia Starr were working with transferred teacher Robin Donlan to get rid of the first principal who had had the nerve to stand up to the arbitrary power of the group of teachers who ruled the school.
What was Cheryl Cox's role in all this? She and all the other board members authorized the payment of hundreds of thousands of public dollars to Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz law firm to represent Robin Donlan and cover up the crimes initiated by her and Assistant Superintendent Richard Werlin and several other CVESD officers and employees in 2000 and 2001. After fostering perjury and other crimes, and using huge sums of public money to keep bad teachers in power, Cheryl Cox ran for mayor on a platform of "charater" and "fiscal responsibility."
The San Diego Union Tribune has maintained to this day a complete black-out regarding crimes committed by Robin Donlan, Richard Werlin, Cheryl Cox and others at CVESD. On November 17, 2006 the SDUT published a small article about the arrest of former PTA Kim Simmons. The story immediately went into "partially hidden" status in the Union-Tribunes archives. (If someone does a signonsandiego search for "castle park PTA Simmons," he'll get a message back saying "No articles found.) The article can only be found by leaving "simmons" out of the search. If you already know about Kimberlee Simmons, the San Diego Union Tribune doesn't want you to know more.
Of course, there has been no follow-up to the SDUT story. But there should be--because the story created the false impression that the police were actually intending to do something about crime at Castle Park Elementary. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The police waited until Cox was elected, and then they did their hoax arrest, but Kim Simmons was never charged with anything.
When wil the SD Union Tribune publish the full story, revealing Kim Simmons' close association to Robin Donlan and the "Castle Park Five"? When will the San Diego Union Tribune apologize for so maliciously attacking the honorable and decent principal of Castle Park Elementary on behalf of Robin Donlan, Kim Simmons, and the rest of their clique, after the group was found to be responsible for yet another crime after the SDUT had written so much on its behalf? How about it, Don Sevrens?
The SDUT November 2006 story about Simmons arrest was published to create the impression that Bonnie Dumanis and the Chula Vista Police Department are not covering up crimes involving Cheryl Cox and Castle Park Elementary School. It appears that Simmons wasn't really the fall guy; she was actually the pretend fall guy.
Bonnie Dumanis, why don't you investigate the use of public resources for political purposes at CVPD? Why don't you investigate crimes at Chula Vista Elementary School District, including perjury by Cheryl Cox and Robin Donlan? Or do you only use the public resources under your control to investigate Democrats?
*The police "call' report that was hidden for months by the CVPD revealed Assistant Superintendent Richard Werlin's attempt to silence a teacher who had suggested that the media might investigate what was happening at the school in 2001. The teacher clearly knew nothing about the media in San Diego. The San Diego Union Tribune, the Chula Vista Star-News and La Prensa still have not reported those crimes, although all three newspapers have long known about them. These three publications exposed their lack of journalistic ethics when they published a deluge of letters, articles and editorials defending the teacher, Robin Colls/Donlan who initiated the crime wave! All three papers were incensed when Robin Colls was transferred from Castle Park Elementary. Richard Werlin, who called the police when the teacher mentioned the media, didn't correctly estimate the power of his Chula Vista Elementary School Board bosses, including Cheryl Cox, to silence the media. Werlin did go on to achieve a certain amount of notoriety for his use of the police to silence teachers. He had second-grade teacher Jenny Mo arrested in front of her students at his new school district in Richmond, California this year when the teacher went to the media with a story about bullying at her school. Of course, Werlin didn't step up and take the credit/blame for the arrest. He let the principal sit in the hot seat. He took indefinite sick leave from his position.
On the other hand, a Democratic employee of the City of Chula Vista who took two hours off work to spy on a Cheryl Cox fundraiser has been charged by Bonnie Dumanis with perjury for not admitting he was doing political work on the job.
There's a lot of political work being done on the job in Chula Vista, but you don't hear much about the work done by Republicans in the police department.
The Chula Vista Police Department is a friend of Cheryl Cox, who was a Chula Vista Elementary school board member before she was elected mayor. The CVPD failed for over a year to investigate a financial crime at Castle Park Elementary School reported in 2005. Why? The CVPD has a knee-jerk policy of covering up wrongdoing by Cheryl Cox and Chula Vista Elementary School District.
In 2006 I pursued a public records request for months before the CVPD admitted that it had a record of a police visit to Castle Park Elementary on April 21, 2001. When they decided I wasn't likely to go away, I finally received a copy of the Castle Park Elementary School "call" report.*
But the Chula Vista Police Department was doing a lot more than illegally hiding public records in its efforts to support Cheryl Cox's campaign for mayor of Chula Vista in 2006.
Between 2000 and 2006 a long string of crimes had been committed at Castle Park Elementary. Cheryl Cox and CVESD committed bigger and bigger crimes to prevent the exposure of earlier, smaller crimes and violations of law committed at Castle Park Elementary in 2000 and 2001.
See "Castle Park Elementary," "Teacher Reports," and "Law Enforcement" at MAURALARKINS.COM (link available on this blog's link list).
In 2005-2006, the most newsworthy crime being covered up by the CVPD and the media to protect Cheryl Cox and the CVESD school board was the embezzlement of about $20,000 from the Castle Park Elementary PTA.
Apparently fearing that this crime would eventually become public knowlege, perhaps because it was being reported by this blog and the San Diego Education Report website, the Chula Vista Police Department seems to have developed a plan in November 2006 to create the appearance that it was no longer covering up the embezzlement. Of course, by November 7, 2006, the election was over. The cover-up was successful. Larry Cunningham crowed that voters had seen throught the lies of his opponents. The truth is that the voters saw almost nothing because Larry and Cheryl had spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to cover up crimes and other violations of law at CVESD.
The police asked former Castle Park PTA president Kim Simmons to come in the CVPD office, where she was interviewed and arrested. Was Simmons arrested after a careful investigation? No, the CVPD does not carefully investigate incidents that might embarrass Cheryl Cox and the school board. CVPD arrested Kim Simmons simply to create the impression that they weren't covering up Castle Park crimes, and passed on their humble efforts to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
What did Bonnie Dumanis do? Prosecute the crime? Not likely. Just as she had refused to prosecute CVESD Assistant Superintedent Richard Werlin for obstruction of justice, she also refused to prosecute Kim Simmons.
Why? Maybe because Kim Simmons knew too much about crimes at Castle Park Elementary.
Did I mention that Kim Simmons was a close friend of transferred teacher Robin Donlan, a member of a powerful teacher clique at Castle Park Elementary that received a great deal of support form local papers when she and several other teachers were transferred out of the school?
Robin Donlan and her friends created a bizarre brouhaha, in which they and the media attacked the principal of Castle Park Elementary without ever mentioning the crimes of which Donlan had been accused. The truth was that the principal was attacked for daring to challenge the authority of the "family" that had created a crime wave at the school.
In October 2004, Kim Simmons entered a Castle Park Elementary classroom, and asked to use the school phone during class time so she could call up Robin Donlan and ask for instructions on how to proceed with her attacks on the principal of the school. The teacher gave permission, and took the opportunity to explain to her students that she was "mad at the principal." (There has been a dearth of professionalism at Castle Park Elementary since this "Castle Park Family" teacher group took over.)
Kim Simmons, along with Gina Boyd, the president of the teacher union, and school site council President Felicia Starr were working with transferred teacher Robin Donlan to get rid of the first principal who had had the nerve to stand up to the arbitrary power of the group of teachers who ruled the school.
What was Cheryl Cox's role in all this? She and all the other board members authorized the payment of hundreds of thousands of public dollars to Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz law firm to represent Robin Donlan and cover up the crimes initiated by her and Assistant Superintendent Richard Werlin and several other CVESD officers and employees in 2000 and 2001. After fostering perjury and other crimes, and using huge sums of public money to keep bad teachers in power, Cheryl Cox ran for mayor on a platform of "charater" and "fiscal responsibility."
The San Diego Union Tribune has maintained to this day a complete black-out regarding crimes committed by Robin Donlan, Richard Werlin, Cheryl Cox and others at CVESD. On November 17, 2006 the SDUT published a small article about the arrest of former PTA Kim Simmons. The story immediately went into "partially hidden" status in the Union-Tribunes archives. (If someone does a signonsandiego search for "castle park PTA Simmons," he'll get a message back saying "No articles found.) The article can only be found by leaving "simmons" out of the search. If you already know about Kimberlee Simmons, the San Diego Union Tribune doesn't want you to know more.
Of course, there has been no follow-up to the SDUT story. But there should be--because the story created the false impression that the police were actually intending to do something about crime at Castle Park Elementary. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The police waited until Cox was elected, and then they did their hoax arrest, but Kim Simmons was never charged with anything.
When wil the SD Union Tribune publish the full story, revealing Kim Simmons' close association to Robin Donlan and the "Castle Park Five"? When will the San Diego Union Tribune apologize for so maliciously attacking the honorable and decent principal of Castle Park Elementary on behalf of Robin Donlan, Kim Simmons, and the rest of their clique, after the group was found to be responsible for yet another crime after the SDUT had written so much on its behalf? How about it, Don Sevrens?
The SDUT November 2006 story about Simmons arrest was published to create the impression that Bonnie Dumanis and the Chula Vista Police Department are not covering up crimes involving Cheryl Cox and Castle Park Elementary School. It appears that Simmons wasn't really the fall guy; she was actually the pretend fall guy.
Bonnie Dumanis, why don't you investigate the use of public resources for political purposes at CVPD? Why don't you investigate crimes at Chula Vista Elementary School District, including perjury by Cheryl Cox and Robin Donlan? Or do you only use the public resources under your control to investigate Democrats?
*The police "call' report that was hidden for months by the CVPD revealed Assistant Superintendent Richard Werlin's attempt to silence a teacher who had suggested that the media might investigate what was happening at the school in 2001. The teacher clearly knew nothing about the media in San Diego. The San Diego Union Tribune, the Chula Vista Star-News and La Prensa still have not reported those crimes, although all three newspapers have long known about them. These three publications exposed their lack of journalistic ethics when they published a deluge of letters, articles and editorials defending the teacher, Robin Colls/Donlan who initiated the crime wave! All three papers were incensed when Robin Colls was transferred from Castle Park Elementary. Richard Werlin, who called the police when the teacher mentioned the media, didn't correctly estimate the power of his Chula Vista Elementary School Board bosses, including Cheryl Cox, to silence the media. Werlin did go on to achieve a certain amount of notoriety for his use of the police to silence teachers. He had second-grade teacher Jenny Mo arrested in front of her students at his new school district in Richmond, California this year when the teacher went to the media with a story about bullying at her school. Of course, Werlin didn't step up and take the credit/blame for the arrest. He let the principal sit in the hot seat. He took indefinite sick leave from his position.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Cheryl Cox gets away with suborning perjury, but gets young man indicted for taking time off work
It must feel pretty heady for Chula Vista mayor Cheryl Cox to get away with suborning perjury (click here to see one such case involving Cheryl Cox) and at the same time be able to get District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to prosecute someone who tried to take a picture of her for this rarely-prosecuted crime. Cheryl has played rough for a long time, but she turns out to be more vindictive than I had imagined.
Cheryl approved the actions of her favorite law firm, Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz on behalf of CVESD. (This is Leslie Devaney's firm, to which the City of Chula Vista, of which Cox is mayor recently awarded a cozy settlement in the Madigan case.) Cheryl's decisions as school board member put extreme pressure on two law officers to commit perjury. When she received an official complaint about the crimes of Rick Werlin, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis decided it was okay for Richard Werlin to commit obstruction of justice on behalf of Chula Vista Elementary School District.
But it's a different story when the shoe is on the other foot. Bonnie kowtowed to Cox and brought felony charges against a young man who tried to photograph Cox with Cox's disgraced family friend David Malcolm. This young man's actions pale in comparison to those of Cheryl Cox and CVESD. Bonnie claims the young man committed perjury when he said he had taken leave from his job to go to the Cox political fundraiser, where Cox and Malcolm were socializing. Bonnie says the young man was actually being paid by the City of Chula Vista at the time he was at the Cox luncheon.
For Cheryl Cox, having political power means she is above the law.
It is clear that Bonnie's prosecution of Jason Moore is politically motivated. Perjury is, sadly, an extremely common crime in our legal system. Cox's former lawyers, Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz, use it as a knee-jerk perjury response to true allegations. Naturally, Bonnie Dumanis refused to investigate the felonies of Cheryl Cox and Rick Werlin.
Am I the only one who believes that Cox uses public money to achieve her own personal and political goals? Apparently not.
On November 2, 2006, the San Diego Union Tribune published these comments by Sharon Floyd:
"Candidate Cheryl Cox refuses to acknowledge the ties she has to David Malcolm, former Chula Vista council member and port commissioner who was jailed for corruption. Records show that she has taken tens of thousands of dollars from Malcolm.
"Cox has been a paid lobbyist, not only for developers who have business with the city, but also casinos, trucking companies and liquor stores.
"Cox likes high-rises. Her family had a deposit on a condominium in the now infamous Españada project."
Cox also approves of stretching the truth when she's not under oath. After wasting hundreds of thousands of tax dollars in Chula Vista to achieve her personal and political goals, including doing business with builders who channelled money to her campaign, she had the nerve to run for mayor of Chula Vista on a platform of fiscal responsibility and character issues. Clearly, Cox cares more about her own power than she does about the education of children, fiscal responsibility, or the law.
Cheryl Cox also put the Sheriff of Santa Barbara in a difficult position when she covered up crimes at CVESD. Cheryl weaved a tangled web of deceit after deciding to cover up Robin Doig/Colls/Donlan's crimes at Castle Park Elementary. Robin's brother and his boss, Commander Sam Gross, were pressured to commit perjury by Cox's decision.
Deputy District Attorney Patrick O'Toole, San Diego Union Tribune reporter Tanya Mannes and the grand jury involved in the Cox case will, if they have any interest in equal application of the law or journalistic ethics, take note of proof of perjury by the Sheriff of Santa Barbara to help Cheryl Cox cover up crimes.
They will also look at supporting pleadings in this perjury case, which was thrown out because plaintiff did not correctly plead the alteration or destruction of documents.
Did you know that there is one--and only one--crime that anyone can commit and not be liable for civil damages. It is perjury. You have to have power to get someone prosecuted for perjury. The reason for this is, of course, that perjury is committed all the time at the behest of many lawyers and by witnesses who want to cover up wrongdoing. The only time such perjury is litigatible is when documents are destroyed or altered. Such destruction of documents occurred at Chula Vista Elementary School District when Cheryl Cox voted to violate the law and cover up crimes.
Cheryl approved the actions of her favorite law firm, Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz on behalf of CVESD. (This is Leslie Devaney's firm, to which the City of Chula Vista, of which Cox is mayor recently awarded a cozy settlement in the Madigan case.) Cheryl's decisions as school board member put extreme pressure on two law officers to commit perjury. When she received an official complaint about the crimes of Rick Werlin, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis decided it was okay for Richard Werlin to commit obstruction of justice on behalf of Chula Vista Elementary School District.
But it's a different story when the shoe is on the other foot. Bonnie kowtowed to Cox and brought felony charges against a young man who tried to photograph Cox with Cox's disgraced family friend David Malcolm. This young man's actions pale in comparison to those of Cheryl Cox and CVESD. Bonnie claims the young man committed perjury when he said he had taken leave from his job to go to the Cox political fundraiser, where Cox and Malcolm were socializing. Bonnie says the young man was actually being paid by the City of Chula Vista at the time he was at the Cox luncheon.
For Cheryl Cox, having political power means she is above the law.
It is clear that Bonnie's prosecution of Jason Moore is politically motivated. Perjury is, sadly, an extremely common crime in our legal system. Cox's former lawyers, Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz, use it as a knee-jerk perjury response to true allegations. Naturally, Bonnie Dumanis refused to investigate the felonies of Cheryl Cox and Rick Werlin.
Am I the only one who believes that Cox uses public money to achieve her own personal and political goals? Apparently not.
On November 2, 2006, the San Diego Union Tribune published these comments by Sharon Floyd:
"Candidate Cheryl Cox refuses to acknowledge the ties she has to David Malcolm, former Chula Vista council member and port commissioner who was jailed for corruption. Records show that she has taken tens of thousands of dollars from Malcolm.
"Cox has been a paid lobbyist, not only for developers who have business with the city, but also casinos, trucking companies and liquor stores.
"Cox likes high-rises. Her family had a deposit on a condominium in the now infamous Españada project."
Cox also approves of stretching the truth when she's not under oath. After wasting hundreds of thousands of tax dollars in Chula Vista to achieve her personal and political goals, including doing business with builders who channelled money to her campaign, she had the nerve to run for mayor of Chula Vista on a platform of fiscal responsibility and character issues. Clearly, Cox cares more about her own power than she does about the education of children, fiscal responsibility, or the law.
Cheryl Cox also put the Sheriff of Santa Barbara in a difficult position when she covered up crimes at CVESD. Cheryl weaved a tangled web of deceit after deciding to cover up Robin Doig/Colls/Donlan's crimes at Castle Park Elementary. Robin's brother and his boss, Commander Sam Gross, were pressured to commit perjury by Cox's decision.
Deputy District Attorney Patrick O'Toole, San Diego Union Tribune reporter Tanya Mannes and the grand jury involved in the Cox case will, if they have any interest in equal application of the law or journalistic ethics, take note of proof of perjury by the Sheriff of Santa Barbara to help Cheryl Cox cover up crimes.
They will also look at supporting pleadings in this perjury case, which was thrown out because plaintiff did not correctly plead the alteration or destruction of documents.
Did you know that there is one--and only one--crime that anyone can commit and not be liable for civil damages. It is perjury. You have to have power to get someone prosecuted for perjury. The reason for this is, of course, that perjury is committed all the time at the behest of many lawyers and by witnesses who want to cover up wrongdoing. The only time such perjury is litigatible is when documents are destroyed or altered. Such destruction of documents occurred at Chula Vista Elementary School District when Cheryl Cox voted to violate the law and cover up crimes.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Castle Park Elementary must restore credibility
Castle Park Elementary teachers aren't the only people holding a public trust who cover up crimes. Today's paper says that one in four cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy would not report a colleague who committed sexual assault.
The difference is that the Coast Guard is trying to change this. It has created a task force to try to restore respect for the law. In the Coast Guard, 65% say that personal loyalty would affect their decision about whether to report a crime. The coast guard thinks this is a big problem.
At Castle Park, that figure was 100% in 2003. The CVESD board does not think this is a problem. In fact, intense pressure to keep quiet was placed on teachers by the school district and its laweyrs. Shame on board members Cheryl Cox (now mayor of Chula Vista), Pam Smith, Bertha Lopez, Patrick Judd and Larry Cunningham, and their law firm, Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz.
Castle Park Elementary teachers and other staff are still covering up crimes, including crimes by teacher against teacher. They are also keeping quiet the embezzlement of $20,000 from the PTA in 2004-2005. And the school district is doing nothing to raise the sense of moral or legal responsibility of teachers.
The real problem, of course, is how teachers treat kids.
The English-only staff at one grade level at Castle Park Elementary consists entirely of veterans of the costly teacher takeover of Castle Park Elementary which resulted in the loss of many good teachers before several problem teachers were ousted in 2004. Has the teacher takeover failed? No. Chula Vista Educators has more power than ever to protect bad teachers and get rid of good employees. And the silence at Castle Park and the district office means that nothing is being done to improve teachers' attitude that they belong to a members-only club that believes its members are above the law.
So who suffers most from teachers who are given the authority to create arbitrary rules in place of the rule of law? The kids.
The difference is that the Coast Guard is trying to change this. It has created a task force to try to restore respect for the law. In the Coast Guard, 65% say that personal loyalty would affect their decision about whether to report a crime. The coast guard thinks this is a big problem.
At Castle Park, that figure was 100% in 2003. The CVESD board does not think this is a problem. In fact, intense pressure to keep quiet was placed on teachers by the school district and its laweyrs. Shame on board members Cheryl Cox (now mayor of Chula Vista), Pam Smith, Bertha Lopez, Patrick Judd and Larry Cunningham, and their law firm, Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz.
Castle Park Elementary teachers and other staff are still covering up crimes, including crimes by teacher against teacher. They are also keeping quiet the embezzlement of $20,000 from the PTA in 2004-2005. And the school district is doing nothing to raise the sense of moral or legal responsibility of teachers.
The real problem, of course, is how teachers treat kids.
The English-only staff at one grade level at Castle Park Elementary consists entirely of veterans of the costly teacher takeover of Castle Park Elementary which resulted in the loss of many good teachers before several problem teachers were ousted in 2004. Has the teacher takeover failed? No. Chula Vista Educators has more power than ever to protect bad teachers and get rid of good employees. And the silence at Castle Park and the district office means that nothing is being done to improve teachers' attitude that they belong to a members-only club that believes its members are above the law.
So who suffers most from teachers who are given the authority to create arbitrary rules in place of the rule of law? The kids.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Bejarano continues CVESD tradition of secrecy and payback
What do you call it when members of a school board violate the law repeatedly, harming children in the process, then use taxpayer dollars to pay lawyers to cover up those crimes? What do you call it when they then appoint someone with a big name who has been close to someone at the center of district action, and who also did favors for the board during a recent campaign?
I call it a system where voters are inconsequential. How can voters throw out sleazy politicians when they don't know the truth? Larry Cunningham brags that the voters kept the incumbants for some reason other than the habit of voters to vote for incumbants, and the big money and secrecy that has marked the campaigns and official actions of the incumbants. Quit kidding yourself, Larry. If the voters knew the truth about you, they'd throw you out.
I'm not the only one who has noticed the problems with Cheryl Cox, Bertha Lopez, Pam Smith, Pat Judd and Larry Cunningham. On February 1, 2007 Miguel Ramirez wrote to the Union Tribune about the CVESD board's cozy relationship to Bejarano:
District's choice of Bejarano assailed
Regarding the appointment of David Bejarano to fill a school board vacancy:
This is so blatantly a payback that I cannot believe there has not yet been an outcry.
David Bejarano is now on the Chula Vista Elementary school board. You mean the same David Bejarano who sent me a letter urging me to vote Cheryl Cox for mayor of Chula Vista? You mean the same David Bejarano who sent me a letter urging me to vote to re-elect school board members Larry Cunningham, Bertha Lopez and Pam Smith?
Now, I don't remember much Latin from school but I do remember the term “quid pro quo” and it sure seems to be what's going on here. According to the legal definition of quid pro quo, it means a person is “getting something of value in return for giving something of value.” Lend your name to our campaigns and if we win, we will ensure we return the favor. That seems to be the board's action loud and clear.
Then I find out from the Union Tribune's Jan. 24 article, “Ex-police chief to join Chula Vista school board,” that Bejarano's wife is the “secretary of the assistant superintendent” of the school district!
There's something rotten in Chula Vista and it stinks all the way to Denmark. Why would this decorated law enforcement official move backward in his career by taking a seat on an elementary school board? Remember, Bejarano was the chief of police in San Diego followed by his presidential appointment as U.S. marshal for San Diego and Imperial counties.
That Bejarano is yet another Bonita resident is also a sticking point. The constituency and media called for a representative from outside of Bonita, where only three of the district's 43 schools are located. Instead, the board members unanimously voted to appoint their neighbor, the one who was so friendly during their campaigns that they just couldn't help but return the favor and appoint him.
This is disgusting.
MIGUEL RAMIREZ
Chula Vista
I couldn't agree more, Miguel.
I call it a system where voters are inconsequential. How can voters throw out sleazy politicians when they don't know the truth? Larry Cunningham brags that the voters kept the incumbants for some reason other than the habit of voters to vote for incumbants, and the big money and secrecy that has marked the campaigns and official actions of the incumbants. Quit kidding yourself, Larry. If the voters knew the truth about you, they'd throw you out.
I'm not the only one who has noticed the problems with Cheryl Cox, Bertha Lopez, Pam Smith, Pat Judd and Larry Cunningham. On February 1, 2007 Miguel Ramirez wrote to the Union Tribune about the CVESD board's cozy relationship to Bejarano:
District's choice of Bejarano assailed
Regarding the appointment of David Bejarano to fill a school board vacancy:
This is so blatantly a payback that I cannot believe there has not yet been an outcry.
David Bejarano is now on the Chula Vista Elementary school board. You mean the same David Bejarano who sent me a letter urging me to vote Cheryl Cox for mayor of Chula Vista? You mean the same David Bejarano who sent me a letter urging me to vote to re-elect school board members Larry Cunningham, Bertha Lopez and Pam Smith?
Now, I don't remember much Latin from school but I do remember the term “quid pro quo” and it sure seems to be what's going on here. According to the legal definition of quid pro quo, it means a person is “getting something of value in return for giving something of value.” Lend your name to our campaigns and if we win, we will ensure we return the favor. That seems to be the board's action loud and clear.
Then I find out from the Union Tribune's Jan. 24 article, “Ex-police chief to join Chula Vista school board,” that Bejarano's wife is the “secretary of the assistant superintendent” of the school district!
There's something rotten in Chula Vista and it stinks all the way to Denmark. Why would this decorated law enforcement official move backward in his career by taking a seat on an elementary school board? Remember, Bejarano was the chief of police in San Diego followed by his presidential appointment as U.S. marshal for San Diego and Imperial counties.
That Bejarano is yet another Bonita resident is also a sticking point. The constituency and media called for a representative from outside of Bonita, where only three of the district's 43 schools are located. Instead, the board members unanimously voted to appoint their neighbor, the one who was so friendly during their campaigns that they just couldn't help but return the favor and appoint him.
This is disgusting.
MIGUEL RAMIREZ
Chula Vista
I couldn't agree more, Miguel.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Richard Werlin is all the rage up in your area
Hi M. S.!
The education community in the Bay Area is certainly interested in CVESD's Rick Werlin, isn't it? I'm amazed at the number of hits my website gets from all over the Bay Area lately, mostly from searches for Richard Werlin. I get a kick out of the fact that Rick is working in the district where I went to kindergarten (Washington School in West Contra Costa Unified School District) when my dad was working at Standard Oil and taking a law review course.
My family moved back to Chula Vista when I was in first grade (Castle Park Elementary), and forty years later Werlin came to Chula Vista. Rick and I seemed to be joined by fate. The future should be interesting.
How is your friend Pixie Hayward-Schikele getting along with Rick? As a CTA board member she supported Rick's many violations of law and contract in Chula Vista, but now he works in her district, so she's in a somewhat compromised position. I'll bet she never expected her chickens to come home to roost in such a literal way, did she?
Pixie has amibitions to be a top officer at CTA, doesn't she? She's certainly good at going along with Beverly Tucker and Carolyn Doggett, so she should do well.
Chula Vista is glad Werlin is gone, of course. The board members of CVESD and CTA who went along with his illegal actions, and committed a few of their own, have done a good job of keeping the matter hushed up down here. I wonder if Rick and Pixie will be able to keep their pasts out of the newspapers up there.
But none of this concerns you. Well, maybe a little. No, more than a little, I guess. Your involvement is actually two-pronged, both personal (through me) and indirect (through your CTA connections). So I'll let you know what's happening down here, and you let me know what's happening up there, okay?
Well, you know what they say. Don't sweat the small stuff!
Love,
M. L.
The education community in the Bay Area is certainly interested in CVESD's Rick Werlin, isn't it? I'm amazed at the number of hits my website gets from all over the Bay Area lately, mostly from searches for Richard Werlin. I get a kick out of the fact that Rick is working in the district where I went to kindergarten (Washington School in West Contra Costa Unified School District) when my dad was working at Standard Oil and taking a law review course.
My family moved back to Chula Vista when I was in first grade (Castle Park Elementary), and forty years later Werlin came to Chula Vista. Rick and I seemed to be joined by fate. The future should be interesting.
How is your friend Pixie Hayward-Schikele getting along with Rick? As a CTA board member she supported Rick's many violations of law and contract in Chula Vista, but now he works in her district, so she's in a somewhat compromised position. I'll bet she never expected her chickens to come home to roost in such a literal way, did she?
Pixie has amibitions to be a top officer at CTA, doesn't she? She's certainly good at going along with Beverly Tucker and Carolyn Doggett, so she should do well.
Chula Vista is glad Werlin is gone, of course. The board members of CVESD and CTA who went along with his illegal actions, and committed a few of their own, have done a good job of keeping the matter hushed up down here. I wonder if Rick and Pixie will be able to keep their pasts out of the newspapers up there.
But none of this concerns you. Well, maybe a little. No, more than a little, I guess. Your involvement is actually two-pronged, both personal (through me) and indirect (through your CTA connections). So I'll let you know what's happening down here, and you let me know what's happening up there, okay?
Well, you know what they say. Don't sweat the small stuff!
Love,
M. L.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Kim Longo suggests runner-up Russell Coronado as Cheryl Cox replacement
UPDATE NOVEMBER 2008: APPOINT ARCHIE MCALLISTER TO FILL BERTHA LOPEZ SEAT.
Appointing trustees defeats the will of the voters.
Kim Longo's idea was good in 2006, and it's even better now. The CVESD incumbents delayed Russell Coronado's entry to the board of CVESD for two years, obviously against the wishes of the voters. Instead, they appointed David Bejarano.
The CVESD incumbents shouldn't do the same to Archie McAllister.
Mr. McAllister would have won on November 4, 2008 if David Bejarano hadn't had a spoiler (Norberto Salazar) on the ticket to split the vote against him..
ORIGINAL POST:
A letter from CVESD parent Kim Longo appeared in the Nov 16, 2006 edition of the San Diego Union Tribune. It's a well thought-out and well-written suggestion. If the board can summon up some respect for the voters, they will follow Kim's suggestion. Perhaps their slogan for the new year could be AN END TO ARROGANCE.
Here's Ms. Longo's letter:
Regarding the Chula Vista Elementary School District's board vacancy:
It seems to be too great an expense to conduct another election in order to fill the vacant seat left by outgoing board member Cheryl Cox. Rather than engage in the same path that subjected Patty Chavez to such initial negative scrutiny after she was appointed to fill a Chula Vista City Council vacancy, the CVESD existing board members should take a lesson from the outrage of the community's response, and respect the voters' wishes expressed in the board election of last week. That is, the board should appoint the candidate who received the highest number of votes from the voting public in Chula Vista. At last count, that candidate is Russell Coronado.
KIMBERLY LONGO
Chula Vista
Appointing trustees defeats the will of the voters.
Kim Longo's idea was good in 2006, and it's even better now. The CVESD incumbents delayed Russell Coronado's entry to the board of CVESD for two years, obviously against the wishes of the voters. Instead, they appointed David Bejarano.
The CVESD incumbents shouldn't do the same to Archie McAllister.
Mr. McAllister would have won on November 4, 2008 if David Bejarano hadn't had a spoiler (Norberto Salazar) on the ticket to split the vote against him..
ORIGINAL POST:
A letter from CVESD parent Kim Longo appeared in the Nov 16, 2006 edition of the San Diego Union Tribune. It's a well thought-out and well-written suggestion. If the board can summon up some respect for the voters, they will follow Kim's suggestion. Perhaps their slogan for the new year could be AN END TO ARROGANCE.
Here's Ms. Longo's letter:
Regarding the Chula Vista Elementary School District's board vacancy:
It seems to be too great an expense to conduct another election in order to fill the vacant seat left by outgoing board member Cheryl Cox. Rather than engage in the same path that subjected Patty Chavez to such initial negative scrutiny after she was appointed to fill a Chula Vista City Council vacancy, the CVESD existing board members should take a lesson from the outrage of the community's response, and respect the voters' wishes expressed in the board election of last week. That is, the board should appoint the candidate who received the highest number of votes from the voting public in Chula Vista. At last count, that candidate is Russell Coronado.
KIMBERLY LONGO
Chula Vista
Does Lowell Billings' secretary support cover-ups at CVESD?
See all posts about Lowell Billings.
Two stories about Lowell Billings:
STORY #1 JULY 2007
Billings explains why he is paid so much money
"I think a big part of it has to do with accountability,” said Chula Vista Superintendent Lowell Billings, when asked by Channel 10 News why the taxpayers give him $205,000 per year to run Chula Vista Elementary School District.
This makes me wonder all the more about Mr. Billings' approval of this document.
I'd understand the big salary better if he'd said, "I'm good at keeping the school board's secrets" or "I know better than to show up for a deposition regarding crimes committed by CVESD."
Being accountable means NOT keeping secrets, Mr. Billings. Being accountable requires transparency.
When Billings was Assistant Superintendent for Business Services at Chula Vista Elementary School District, he ignored a teacher's report that she had been tricked by a man who had been chosen by the district to go into classrooms and talk to teachers about investing. The man was Anthony Pavia.
Fortunately, the teacher was able to get her money out of the account that had been sold to her as a different type of investment.
But it turned out to be a double swindle. It wasn't until much later that the teacher discovered that money was being taken out of her paycheck every month for an account which she had specifically disapproved. Pavia presented the teacher with a form that had two companies names written on it. The teacher had never expressed any interest in the first company. She did want to invest in the second company.
Pavia told the teacher that he didn't have any extra forms, so she would have to cross out and intital the name of the company she didn't want. Then he said the company she did want would also have to be crossed out and initialed and its name had to be rewritten on the first line, above the crossed-out words.
Then came the real fraud.
Without the teacher's knowledge, Pavia (or his assistant) wrote in the name of the company the teacher did not want. Lowell Billings approved this bizarre document, and money started flowing out of the teacher's paycheck every month. She didn't notice it for a long time, because she was not in the habit of carefully examining her pay stubs.
How many such documents, with both first and second lines scribbled out, did Lowell Billings approve? How many complaints did he get from teachers? Why did he refuse to talk to teachers who complained? Did Billings have an account with Anthony Pavia that gave Billings financial advantages in return for looking the other way as Pavia swindled teachers?
When she reported the second swindle, Lowell Billings again refused to talk to the teacher. Billings even refused, until after repeated requests, to give her a copy of the document that had allowed the monthly withdrawals from her paycheck.
STORY #2 DECEMBER 2006
Does CVESD manage to keep wrongdoing secret from the Superintendent's secretary?
A short letter by CVESD Superintendent Lowell Billings' secretary appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune on Nov 16, 2006. (See letter below) Linda Robertson, whose name was misspelled as "Lidda Robertson," claims that challengers to board incumbents told "untruths." Ms. Robertson does not say what these untruths were. She apparently feels no need to back up this extremely pejorative allegation.
Perhaps Ms. Robinson is so comfortable with the status quo at CVESD that she is in a state of denial about the wrongdoing by the board. It may also be true that she is not privy to information about such wrongdoing. I have plenty of documents I'd be happy to show her, if she is interested in dealing with facts.
Ms. Robertson claims that the incumbents won because voters saw "through the candidates dishonesty." This is a completely unwarranted assumption. Incumbents always win almost ALL elections in the United States. One reason is that they are able to raise huge amounts of money from people that do business with their agencies. This was certainly the case for CVESD incumbents. Designers and builders were very generous to the board. I don't think this generosity had much to do with wanting the best for children. There were San Francisco designers contributing to a Chula Vista school board race! You don't think they're expecting to get back their investment when the board is handing out contracts, do you, Ms. Robertson?Otayranchheritage.com notes that Douglas E Barnhardt, school builder/renovator planner (Salt Creek, McMillin, Tiffany etc) gave $10,000 to support the incumbents. His design partners Ruhnan Ruhnan Clark and Assc. recently put a bid in at CVESD for work the Otay Ranch Village 7 elementary school.
Here's another reason incumbents tend to win:
Leslie T. says, "self-aggrandizing bombast and big spending on advertising ...give the name recognition so many voters (unfortunately) use to cast their ballots these days."
Here is Ms. Robertson's letter:
As an employee of Chula Vista Elementary School District and a Chula Vista resident, I was disgusted with the untruths told by school board candidates Tamara Arce, Felicia Starr and Steve Yagyagan, and Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla. For school board candidates, this election was a vindictive time. For Padilla, it was a slap in the face to call this district "failing."
I am so thankful that the voters were able to see through the candidates' dishonesty and voted for board incumbents Larry Cunningham, Bertha Lopez and Pamela Smith, and for Cheryl Cox, soon to resign from the board because she was elected mayor of Chula Vista. They have always given 100 percent for every student.
LIDDA (sic) ROBERTSON
Chula Vista
Two stories about Lowell Billings:
STORY #1 JULY 2007
Billings explains why he is paid so much money
"I think a big part of it has to do with accountability,” said Chula Vista Superintendent Lowell Billings, when asked by Channel 10 News why the taxpayers give him $205,000 per year to run Chula Vista Elementary School District.
This makes me wonder all the more about Mr. Billings' approval of this document.
I'd understand the big salary better if he'd said, "I'm good at keeping the school board's secrets" or "I know better than to show up for a deposition regarding crimes committed by CVESD."
Being accountable means NOT keeping secrets, Mr. Billings. Being accountable requires transparency.
When Billings was Assistant Superintendent for Business Services at Chula Vista Elementary School District, he ignored a teacher's report that she had been tricked by a man who had been chosen by the district to go into classrooms and talk to teachers about investing. The man was Anthony Pavia.
Fortunately, the teacher was able to get her money out of the account that had been sold to her as a different type of investment.
But it turned out to be a double swindle. It wasn't until much later that the teacher discovered that money was being taken out of her paycheck every month for an account which she had specifically disapproved. Pavia presented the teacher with a form that had two companies names written on it. The teacher had never expressed any interest in the first company. She did want to invest in the second company.
Pavia told the teacher that he didn't have any extra forms, so she would have to cross out and intital the name of the company she didn't want. Then he said the company she did want would also have to be crossed out and initialed and its name had to be rewritten on the first line, above the crossed-out words.
Then came the real fraud.
Without the teacher's knowledge, Pavia (or his assistant) wrote in the name of the company the teacher did not want. Lowell Billings approved this bizarre document, and money started flowing out of the teacher's paycheck every month. She didn't notice it for a long time, because she was not in the habit of carefully examining her pay stubs.
How many such documents, with both first and second lines scribbled out, did Lowell Billings approve? How many complaints did he get from teachers? Why did he refuse to talk to teachers who complained? Did Billings have an account with Anthony Pavia that gave Billings financial advantages in return for looking the other way as Pavia swindled teachers?
When she reported the second swindle, Lowell Billings again refused to talk to the teacher. Billings even refused, until after repeated requests, to give her a copy of the document that had allowed the monthly withdrawals from her paycheck.
STORY #2 DECEMBER 2006
Does CVESD manage to keep wrongdoing secret from the Superintendent's secretary?
A short letter by CVESD Superintendent Lowell Billings' secretary appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune on Nov 16, 2006. (See letter below) Linda Robertson, whose name was misspelled as "Lidda Robertson," claims that challengers to board incumbents told "untruths." Ms. Robertson does not say what these untruths were. She apparently feels no need to back up this extremely pejorative allegation.
Perhaps Ms. Robinson is so comfortable with the status quo at CVESD that she is in a state of denial about the wrongdoing by the board. It may also be true that she is not privy to information about such wrongdoing. I have plenty of documents I'd be happy to show her, if she is interested in dealing with facts.
Ms. Robertson claims that the incumbents won because voters saw "through the candidates dishonesty." This is a completely unwarranted assumption. Incumbents always win almost ALL elections in the United States. One reason is that they are able to raise huge amounts of money from people that do business with their agencies. This was certainly the case for CVESD incumbents. Designers and builders were very generous to the board. I don't think this generosity had much to do with wanting the best for children. There were San Francisco designers contributing to a Chula Vista school board race! You don't think they're expecting to get back their investment when the board is handing out contracts, do you, Ms. Robertson?Otayranchheritage.com notes that Douglas E Barnhardt, school builder/renovator planner (Salt Creek, McMillin, Tiffany etc) gave $10,000 to support the incumbents. His design partners Ruhnan Ruhnan Clark and Assc. recently put a bid in at CVESD for work the Otay Ranch Village 7 elementary school.
Here's another reason incumbents tend to win:
Leslie T. says, "self-aggrandizing bombast and big spending on advertising ...give the name recognition so many voters (unfortunately) use to cast their ballots these days."
Here is Ms. Robertson's letter:
As an employee of Chula Vista Elementary School District and a Chula Vista resident, I was disgusted with the untruths told by school board candidates Tamara Arce, Felicia Starr and Steve Yagyagan, and Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla. For school board candidates, this election was a vindictive time. For Padilla, it was a slap in the face to call this district "failing."
I am so thankful that the voters were able to see through the candidates' dishonesty and voted for board incumbents Larry Cunningham, Bertha Lopez and Pamela Smith, and for Cheryl Cox, soon to resign from the board because she was elected mayor of Chula Vista. They have always given 100 percent for every student.
LIDDA (sic) ROBERTSON
Chula Vista
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Voters Should Have Been Told When $20,000 Went Missing from Castle Park Elementary PTA Accounts
CHULA VISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Approximately $20,000 was discovered to be missing from PTA accounts at Castle Park Elementary at the end of the 2004-2005 school year. Since that time, Castle Park Elementary has been without a PTA. Voters in other parts of San Diego read in the newspaper about money missing from their schools. South County voters are kept in the dark.
In 2004, three local newspapers (The San Diego Union-Tribune, the Chula Vista Star-News, and La Prensa) wrote many stories about the transfer of five teachers out of Castle Park Elementary, but hid the fact that Robin Donlan, one of the teachers who was transferred, was being sued for criminal actions against another teacher at the school.
Chula Vista Elementary School District SPENT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS to defend Donlan and her close associates. Donlan’s close personal friend, Chula Vista Educators President Gina Boyd, was also named in the lawsuit.
Why did South County newspapers hide the real story? Why did they give Robin Donlan, Gina Boyd and their close associate, former Castle Park Elementary PTA President Felicia Starr, free rein to attack CVESD Superintendent Lowell Billings and Principal Ollie Matos, while refusing to print any of the many letters they received in Billings’ and Matos’ defense?
The reason is that hiding the truth from voters is more important to South County newspapers than telling readers the full story.
Now that Felicia Starr is running for school board in Chula Vista, voters need a follow-up to all the one-sided articles such as the Star-News' Sept. 10, 2004 story, "Castle Park Principal Continues to Draw Fire."
That story contained many harsh allegations by Felicia Starr, who was at that time the recent past President of the Castle Park Elementary PTA, and Kim Simmons, who was the current PTA President. Many people at Castle Park Elementary believed that Kim Simmons was chosen to replace Starr because she did whatever Starr told her to do.
Felicia Starr and Kim Simmons, as well as teacher union President Gina Boyd and teacher Robin Donlan, all seemed to be joined at the hip right up to the time that the Castle Park Elementary PTA self-destructed. The public has a right to know more about Starr, Simmons, Boyd, and Donlan, who were given a large amount of newspaper space to criticize Billings and Matos.
Matos was a dynamic and decent principal who tried to get parents involved in the school as the law requires. Starr and Simmons did not want, for various reasons, to allow some parents to run for office in the PTA. The Star-News did not give those who were attacked by Starr and Simmons a chance to respond.
It now appears that those parents who were kept out of the PTA hierarchy were lucky, since they are NOT the targets of Detective Wayne Wooten’s Chula Vista Police Department investigation into what appears to be a serious crime.
For more information about problems at Chula Vista Elementary School District and San Diego County Office of Education, see the SAN DIEGO EDUCATION REPORT at mauralarkins.com. This site was created in an attempt to remedy the culture of secrecy that pervades Chula Vista Elementary School District and Castle Park Elementary.
Since I attended Castle Park Elementary as a child, and taught third grade there until 2001, I care about this school. Candidate Felicia Starr NEVER mentions Castle Park Elementary on her website. She is covering-up her past. Voters deserve to know the truth.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Approximately $20,000 was discovered to be missing from PTA accounts at Castle Park Elementary at the end of the 2004-2005 school year. Since that time, Castle Park Elementary has been without a PTA. Voters in other parts of San Diego read in the newspaper about money missing from their schools. South County voters are kept in the dark.
In 2004, three local newspapers (The San Diego Union-Tribune, the Chula Vista Star-News, and La Prensa) wrote many stories about the transfer of five teachers out of Castle Park Elementary, but hid the fact that Robin Donlan, one of the teachers who was transferred, was being sued for criminal actions against another teacher at the school.
Chula Vista Elementary School District SPENT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS to defend Donlan and her close associates. Donlan’s close personal friend, Chula Vista Educators President Gina Boyd, was also named in the lawsuit.
Why did South County newspapers hide the real story? Why did they give Robin Donlan, Gina Boyd and their close associate, former Castle Park Elementary PTA President Felicia Starr, free rein to attack CVESD Superintendent Lowell Billings and Principal Ollie Matos, while refusing to print any of the many letters they received in Billings’ and Matos’ defense?
The reason is that hiding the truth from voters is more important to South County newspapers than telling readers the full story.
Now that Felicia Starr is running for school board in Chula Vista, voters need a follow-up to all the one-sided articles such as the Star-News' Sept. 10, 2004 story, "Castle Park Principal Continues to Draw Fire."
That story contained many harsh allegations by Felicia Starr, who was at that time the recent past President of the Castle Park Elementary PTA, and Kim Simmons, who was the current PTA President. Many people at Castle Park Elementary believed that Kim Simmons was chosen to replace Starr because she did whatever Starr told her to do.
Felicia Starr and Kim Simmons, as well as teacher union President Gina Boyd and teacher Robin Donlan, all seemed to be joined at the hip right up to the time that the Castle Park Elementary PTA self-destructed. The public has a right to know more about Starr, Simmons, Boyd, and Donlan, who were given a large amount of newspaper space to criticize Billings and Matos.
Matos was a dynamic and decent principal who tried to get parents involved in the school as the law requires. Starr and Simmons did not want, for various reasons, to allow some parents to run for office in the PTA. The Star-News did not give those who were attacked by Starr and Simmons a chance to respond.
It now appears that those parents who were kept out of the PTA hierarchy were lucky, since they are NOT the targets of Detective Wayne Wooten’s Chula Vista Police Department investigation into what appears to be a serious crime.
For more information about problems at Chula Vista Elementary School District and San Diego County Office of Education, see the SAN DIEGO EDUCATION REPORT at mauralarkins.com. This site was created in an attempt to remedy the culture of secrecy that pervades Chula Vista Elementary School District and Castle Park Elementary.
Since I attended Castle Park Elementary as a child, and taught third grade there until 2001, I care about this school. Candidate Felicia Starr NEVER mentions Castle Park Elementary on her website. She is covering-up her past. Voters deserve to know the truth.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Pamela Smith, Lozano-Smith and the Moser case
Pamela Smith
Pamela Smith and Felicia Starr have both worked to cover up serious violations of law at Castle Park Elementary. It's clear that each of them has personal priorities which they consider more important than the public interest and the education of children.
And that they support the illegal tactics recommended by district lawyers. How many school districts choose lawyers that will help them violate the law?
200 school districts have chosen the notorious law firm of Lozano, Smith. How corrupt is Lozano-Smith? All 80 members of this law firm were ordered by a federal judge in 2005 to take an ethics course. The Bret Harte Union School District near Sacramento channeled almost half a million taxpayer dollars to this firm in an effort to avoid providing student Robert Moser with special education help. U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger was so disgusted with Lozano, Smith that he wrote a scorching 83-page opinion in which he accused the district of "repeated misstatements of the record, frivolous objections to plaintiff's statement of facts, and repreated mischaracterizations of the law."
"Lozano should have told their client early this case was a loser and cut their losses, but they didn't and just got in deeper and deeper," said Judge Wanger, as reported by Pamela A. MacLean of The National Law Journal.
This is precisely the same behavior practiced by CVESD's two law firms, Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz and Parham, Rajcic. These law firm and the CVESD board have long been deeply in need of ethics training.
It should also be mentioned that San Diego County Office of Education uses the services of Lozano, Smith. I wonder if the new SDCOE superintendent, Randy Ward, has any plans to find more ethical lawyers. So far, he has ignored suggestions that he do just that.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
When will Pamela Smith and Felicia Starr talk about the money missing from the Castle Park Elementary PTA?
To: Don Sevrens
Editor, San Diego Union Tribune
I enjoyed your July 20, 2006 editorial about the Chula Vista Ethics Board.
I could tell it was you who wrote it because of the way you described Felicia Starr without even a hint of irony.
Felicia Starr was a member of the Castle Park Elementary site council, with oversight over the school, when $20,000 went missing from the PTA in 2005. Not a word of that apparent felony was whispered in your paper, the San Diego Union Tribune, although you printed many stories, letters and editorials about Castle Park Elementary. When Felicia wanted to assert her personal power, she brought the teachers union president, Gina Boyd, to observe the Castle Park School Site Council.
Felicia and the PTA president were joined at the hip, as was obvious from the stories the Chula Vista Star News wrote about them. Felicia was the immediate past president of the PTA in 2004, when the 2004-2005 PTA president was chosen. It appeared that she was chosen because she did what Starr told her to do.
I remember one school board meeting when the PTA president took pictures of me, and then Felicia and Gina huddled together over the digital camera, whispering about the pictures, as the board meeting progressed.
I was flattered by the attention. Do you think they were trying to intimidate me?
I think you and I are going to have an interesting election season. You’ll be telling lies with a straight face, and I’ll be telling the truth. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep a straight face when talking about the antics of your friends at Castle Park Elementary.
P.S. I wonder when mayoral candidate Cheryl Cox will talk about the $20,000 missing from the Castle Park Elementary PTA?
When money recently went missing from Valhalla High School, the East County Edition of the San Diego Union Tribune wrote about it. How come the South County edition of the paper keeps stories covered up? $2,000 also went missing from the Castle Park Elementary PTA in 1998! Do we have a trend here?
The Union Tribune never mentioned that Chula Vista Elementary School District had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend or represent members of the "Castle Park Five" in a lawsuit. Don Sevrens wrote about Robin Donlan, Peggie Myers, and Nikki Perez as if they were innocent teachers that were being picked on by the principal.
Editor, San Diego Union Tribune
I enjoyed your July 20, 2006 editorial about the Chula Vista Ethics Board.
I could tell it was you who wrote it because of the way you described Felicia Starr without even a hint of irony.
Felicia Starr was a member of the Castle Park Elementary site council, with oversight over the school, when $20,000 went missing from the PTA in 2005. Not a word of that apparent felony was whispered in your paper, the San Diego Union Tribune, although you printed many stories, letters and editorials about Castle Park Elementary. When Felicia wanted to assert her personal power, she brought the teachers union president, Gina Boyd, to observe the Castle Park School Site Council.
Felicia and the PTA president were joined at the hip, as was obvious from the stories the Chula Vista Star News wrote about them. Felicia was the immediate past president of the PTA in 2004, when the 2004-2005 PTA president was chosen. It appeared that she was chosen because she did what Starr told her to do.
I remember one school board meeting when the PTA president took pictures of me, and then Felicia and Gina huddled together over the digital camera, whispering about the pictures, as the board meeting progressed.
I was flattered by the attention. Do you think they were trying to intimidate me?
I think you and I are going to have an interesting election season. You’ll be telling lies with a straight face, and I’ll be telling the truth. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep a straight face when talking about the antics of your friends at Castle Park Elementary.
P.S. I wonder when mayoral candidate Cheryl Cox will talk about the $20,000 missing from the Castle Park Elementary PTA?
When money recently went missing from Valhalla High School, the East County Edition of the San Diego Union Tribune wrote about it. How come the South County edition of the paper keeps stories covered up? $2,000 also went missing from the Castle Park Elementary PTA in 1998! Do we have a trend here?
The Union Tribune never mentioned that Chula Vista Elementary School District had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend or represent members of the "Castle Park Five" in a lawsuit. Don Sevrens wrote about Robin Donlan, Peggie Myers, and Nikki Perez as if they were innocent teachers that were being picked on by the principal.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Why is it so difficult to get rid of a poorly performing teacher in California?
This question was asked by Richard Ehisen of the Sacramento News and Review on May 17, 2001. (See http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=oid%3A6202.)
The answer is: their friends protect them.
On the other hand, these same teachers who protect incompetent peers often attack competent teachers. The reason? Jealousy, competition, jockeying for control of the school.
Wait a minute. Aren't institutions run by women, as many schools are, more gentle, kind, and caring?
Maybe not.
Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, said, "I'm not a person who thinks the world would be entirely different if it was run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten what high school was like."
The answer is: their friends protect them.
On the other hand, these same teachers who protect incompetent peers often attack competent teachers. The reason? Jealousy, competition, jockeying for control of the school.
Wait a minute. Aren't institutions run by women, as many schools are, more gentle, kind, and caring?
Maybe not.
Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, said, "I'm not a person who thinks the world would be entirely different if it was run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten what high school was like."
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Fair Use Notice
FAIR USE NOTICE
Some copyrighted material is made available on this site in order to supply voters and citizens with information about public education. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, I am making no profit through this site, and am distributing information only to those who have exhibited a prior interest in receiving information for research and educational purposes. Please obtain permission from the copyright owner if you want to use material from this site for purposes beyond “fair use.”
Some copyrighted material is made available on this site in order to supply voters and citizens with information about public education. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, I am making no profit through this site, and am distributing information only to those who have exhibited a prior interest in receiving information for research and educational purposes. Please obtain permission from the copyright owner if you want to use material from this site for purposes beyond “fair use.”
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Why did CVESD protect Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz?
Susan Fahle
Assistant Superintendent for Business Services
Chula Vista Elementary School District
Dear Ms. Fahle:
I am trying to find out why CVESD defended Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz regarding my obstruction of justice lawsuit, when CVESD was not involved in the case.
When a public entity defends its lawyers for obstruction of justice, one begins to wonder just how corrupt that public entity is. It would appear that you, Ms. Fahle, as Assistant Superintendent for Business Services, authorized this action. Your actions do not pass the smell test.
Pursuant to the California Public Records act, I request that I be allowed to view the contract or contracts entered into by Chula Vista Elementary School District and Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz (STUTZ) or Stutz, Gallagher, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz, during the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Services
Chula Vista Elementary School District
Dear Ms. Fahle:
I am trying to find out why CVESD defended Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz regarding my obstruction of justice lawsuit, when CVESD was not involved in the case.
When a public entity defends its lawyers for obstruction of justice, one begins to wonder just how corrupt that public entity is. It would appear that you, Ms. Fahle, as Assistant Superintendent for Business Services, authorized this action. Your actions do not pass the smell test.
Pursuant to the California Public Records act, I request that I be allowed to view the contract or contracts entered into by Chula Vista Elementary School District and Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz (STUTZ) or Stutz, Gallagher, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz, during the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Is the San Diego Union-Tribune wrong about Castle Park Elementary?
The San Diego Union Tribune (SDUT) recently published an "editorial" about Castle Park Elementary.
The May 25, 2006 editorial said, "The uproar at Castle Park started in August 2004 and did not end until this month.""
Really? What happened this month? The editorial fails to tell the reader this crucial bit of information.
The statement, "The uproar at Castle Park started in August 2004 and did not end until this month," is a false statement. The writer knew the statement was false if he or she had any real knowledge of Castle Park Elementary. The Union Tribune has long been aware that the uproar at Castle Park Elementary began NOT IN AUGUST 2004, but WELL BEFORE FEBRUARY 2001. It began when one Castle Park teacher committed a crime against a fellow teacher. The teacher who committed the crime later became infamous as one of the "Castle Park Five."
The SDUT has also long been aware of the San Diego Superior Court case that resulted from this crime. Unfortunately, honest journalism is not a high priority at the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The violations of law by Castle Park teachers and ex-teachers, including the President of Chula Vista Educators, have been covered up by the SDUT even as it has published an avalanche of letters, articles and anonymous editorials about the "Castle Park Five."
If it's an editorial, that means that an editor at the newspaper wrote it, right?
Not necessarily. The SDUT offers certain individuals a way out of the requirement that all letters to the editor must be signed in order to be published. I found out about this policy from an individual who was asked by the SDUT to write an editorial.
Sometimes you can tell when this happens because the editorial is poorly written. Other times, you can't tell. The May 25 article seems to be well-written, but it is clear that the writer is intentionally deceiving readers.
How, you may ask, do I know that the uproar at Castle Park Elementary is not over? I know because I am planning to file suit within the next few months regarding subornation of perjury by lawyers for Castle Park Elementary teachers who were being deposed during the above-mentioned Superior Court case.
The May 25, 2006 editorial said, "The uproar at Castle Park started in August 2004 and did not end until this month.""
Really? What happened this month? The editorial fails to tell the reader this crucial bit of information.
The statement, "The uproar at Castle Park started in August 2004 and did not end until this month," is a false statement. The writer knew the statement was false if he or she had any real knowledge of Castle Park Elementary. The Union Tribune has long been aware that the uproar at Castle Park Elementary began NOT IN AUGUST 2004, but WELL BEFORE FEBRUARY 2001. It began when one Castle Park teacher committed a crime against a fellow teacher. The teacher who committed the crime later became infamous as one of the "Castle Park Five."
The SDUT has also long been aware of the San Diego Superior Court case that resulted from this crime. Unfortunately, honest journalism is not a high priority at the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The violations of law by Castle Park teachers and ex-teachers, including the President of Chula Vista Educators, have been covered up by the SDUT even as it has published an avalanche of letters, articles and anonymous editorials about the "Castle Park Five."
If it's an editorial, that means that an editor at the newspaper wrote it, right?
Not necessarily. The SDUT offers certain individuals a way out of the requirement that all letters to the editor must be signed in order to be published. I found out about this policy from an individual who was asked by the SDUT to write an editorial.
Sometimes you can tell when this happens because the editorial is poorly written. Other times, you can't tell. The May 25 article seems to be well-written, but it is clear that the writer is intentionally deceiving readers.
How, you may ask, do I know that the uproar at Castle Park Elementary is not over? I know because I am planning to file suit within the next few months regarding subornation of perjury by lawyers for Castle Park Elementary teachers who were being deposed during the above-mentioned Superior Court case.
Friday, June 09, 2006
This could be the year--or not
Chula Vista Elementary School District deteriorated over the last fifteen years, beginning about the time Libby Gil was brought in from Seattle. But Libby was not the basic problem, she was only the symptom of an underlying decay. The real problem is a board of education without imagination, courage or respect for students, teachers and taxpayers.
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