CUSD Mailbox: CUSD Recall Committee In The Mail

The Committee to Reform CUSD is in the mail with this piece promoting the ABC Slate of candidates: Ellen Addonizi, Anna Bryson and Larry Christensen. It's reassuring to know there's mail going out and communicating to the large universe of voters who haven't yet tuned into the blogosphere.

Comments

[yuck]

Those trailers are so gross. Thank you ABC for taking the time to run and commit to cleaning up this mess. I had no idea it was so bad!

I remember an editorial by Steven Greenhut in the OCR when the recall started. He summed up the whole campaign, saying it would all come down to the pictures of the beautiful new admin building the trustees were building for themselves compared to the pictures of the terrible old portable classrooms they crammed the kids into. I think Greenhut was right and I'm glad the recall guys have stayed on message.

So the incumbents couldn't get their own (Republican) party to endorse them. Nice job ABC slate.

There has been a lot of campaign sign thefts going on for the last couple of weeks. Virtually all thefts have involved signs for opponents to the trustees. I understand a thief was caught Saturday night and her vehicle identified. This person was stealing an ABC sign and is a very well known supporter of the trustees.

Anybody know anything about this?

[CUSD Observer]

I understand it was one of former Superintendent Fleming's "Key Communicators." A person that Fleming relied on to spread his propoganda and act as an attack dog against anyone that dared to challenge the District.

It sounds like Fleming and the trustees really did create a culture of corruption that won't go away until a thorough house cleaning takes place.

[Seneca]

In addition to these signs, "ABC" was effective in campaigning at all the school open house programs in the past month. I observed supporters handing out flyers to each car that came in or out of the school parking lot. That was a very easy and effective method of targeted campaigning.

I haven't heard about this sign theft issue, but if it's true, I hope something is done to hold the thief accountable.

During the recall campaign, I remember how hard it was to get anyone in the school district or law enforcement to take election law violations (like interference with the recall petition gathering process) seriously, even though the violations by CUSD fanatics were blatant and expressly prohibited by law with prescribed criminal penalties.

Violators like this make a mockery of our democratic process, and they should be punished. Hopefully, this offender will be prosecuted and made an example to others. Maybe then we'll begin to see more respect for the law.

[It's good to be king.]

If you ever have issues with CUSD, one thing will become crystal clear. With the help of their attorneys, Rutan & Tucker, they are masters at bending, skirting and even violating the law in much of what they do. There is virtually no accountablility and this corrupt way of doing business has filtered down to many of their PTA and other volunteer foot soldiers, as well.

This sign theft issue is the tip of an ugly iceberg left by the disgraced Superintendent Fleming and is the kind of violation still condoned by the incumbent trustees and their avid supporters. For example, political campaigning is forbidden on school campuses and you can be sure that this rule is strictly and swiftly enforced against district challengers. However, when it comes to the incumbent trustees, different rules apparently apply.

John Casabianca was seen on campus distributing political campaign signs in the stadium, and flyers on cars in the school parking lot during a recent high school football game. Shelia Henness addressed the crowd over the PA system at another football game. I suppose with the training they received from their corrupt mentor, Fleming, the trustees simply will deny the obvious and spin these violations as merely "informational," and not "political."

This is just one more reminder of why Fleming's "retirement" has solved nothing, and the health of this sick school district will not be retored until there are new leaders willing to clean house and follow both the spirit and the letter of the law.

[Charades, anyone?]

I just received a robocall from the Shelia Henness campaign in which Henness again claims credit for the academic accomplishments of students, parents and teachers, claims to put children's interests first and, finally, claims to be an advocate of fiscal responsibility and accountability.

Incredible! Not one thing Henness said was true.

How quickly does Henness think we'll forget the second class status she and her trustee colleagues have inflicted on children by forcing them into disgusting, substandard, rat-infested portable classrooms, while she luxuriates in her new $52 million administrative Taj Mahal?

Fiscal responsibility? What a joke coming from a trustee who has driven CUSD into the ground with serial deficit budgets.

Accountability? A term borrowed from her ABC Slate reform challenger, Ellen Addonizio, and completely lost on Henness when she gave Fleming a complete pass on the most egregious offenses committed by an adminstrator in the history of CUSD while repeatedly screaming at those who revealed these offenses as "liars." The term "accountability" won't apply to Henness until her sorry rear end is kicked out of office on Election Day!

Yeah, and Ellen looks better, too!

[Inquiring minds want to know.]

I'd love to know who this sign thief is. We've certainly waited a long time to catch one of these CUSD fanatics in one of their criminal acts and it sounds like somebody caught one of them red-handed. If anyone knows, and it won't jeopardize any investigation, let us know.

[Pam]

I do know who the sign theft was, I am the one who saw it. That is, I met the woman (who may have lied to me about her name), and I got the license plate. They not only took signs (in RSM they cleaned out all but the Cutkomp signs, Cutkomp is the guy the CUSD would apparently like to get into the council to be their voice against our city), but were destroying signs, and placing Cutkomp's signs right smack in front of everyone else's.

To me this whole thing stinks. We pay good money for our signs,and it takes time to put them up. People who act like this certainly are not responsble and I don't think they deserve to be in office. We have enough corruption going on in CUSD already. It is time for a change.

[The Surreal Life]

Henness claiming she is for accountability is not only laughable, it's down right frightening.

Henness stood by and allowed the former superintendent to run a muck for years. In fact, she rubber stamped every item Fleming brought before her for at least the past four years. That's more than 1700 'Yes' votes and not a single 'No' vote.

Henness then approved taking money from the children and the classroom to pay for Fleming's $400/hour criminal defense attorney and a $395/hour criminal defense attorney for herself and the other trustees that are likely to be hauled in front of the grand jury.

For years Henness participated in illegal closed session meetings that prohibited the public from participating in the CUSD decision making process. Isn't that great for someone that supposedly has a Masters in Governance.

Recently former CUSD Communication Director, David Smollar, was deposed for a lawsuit against CUSD. In that deposition Smollar recounted one of his conversations with Henness and CUSD Trustee Sheila Benecke regarding Superintendent Fleming’s repeated lying. Smollar testified that the Trustees told him: "Sure he lies, he lies all the time. He lies about big things, he lies about little things. That's Jim Fleming."

Way to go Sheila, you must be a legend in your own mind when it comes to accountability. Now try explaining why 50% of the students in the CUSD are sitting in trailers while you and your cronnies are lounging on one of the many new La-Z-Boy couches in your spanking new $52 million Taj Mahal. That's right, we all forgot ... it's for the kids!!!

[Have you contacted the DA about Trustees campaigning on school campus?]

Charades-

Have you contacted the DA about the campaigning activities of both Henness and Casabianca on school property, especially during a school function? Isn't this (yet another) violation of the law?.

[Drama queen]

And wasn't Henness one of the trustees present on August 14th, when she and her colleagues unanimously voted to give Fleming his lucrative retirement package after showering him with accolades, ignoring the fact that just hours before, OC District Attorney investigators had raided Fleming's offices armed with search warrants and subpoenas compelling certain district employees and officials to appear before the OC Grand Jury?

Henness doesn't have a clue. Instead of investigating, her only response to those who raised the obvious and appropriate issues that night, was to go on a public tirade screaming "Liars, Liars, Liars." Well, we'll see, Shelia.

On that night, the unprofessional, vindictive and melodramatic Shelai Henness humiliated herself and the district...once again.

[Charades anyone?]

Have you contacted...

Yes and yes.

[Inquiring minds want to know.]

Pam:

Is anyone pursuing the case through law enforcement?

[Pam]

Hi,
Yes, I filed a police report in RSM, since I witnessed the car, the person doing the work (I walked right up to her and introduced myself), and I got her license plate.

Today I was contacted by an investigator, who was going to take some action today. Meanwhile, somehow 107 signs were dumped on someone's lawn. I'm not sure if they are part of the misssing signs, as all signs are still not accounted for (believe it or not, that is an incredible number of thefts.)

So, the police are pursuing it.