CUSD Recall Focus Of Local News Program

This came over he transom a little while ago from the CUSD Recall Committee:

CUSD Corruption Highlighted In TV News Investigative Report Local Elected Officials Demand Reform at Scandal Ridden School District

Was your child on the CUSD Enemies List?   Were You?

Did you know the leaders of our school district are being investigated by the Orange County District Attorney and Grand Jury?

Did you know that investigators armed with search warrants recently raided the new CUSD administration building?

Would you like to see for yourself what’s really going on in CUSD?

If so, then watch this!

Full Disclosure-- an Emmy Award winning, nationally recognized, independent news program has just released two blockbuster investigative reports on the corruption and mismanagement that has plagued our school district for years. 

In these compelling programs, the elected leaders involved in the effort to reform CUSD give you their behind-the-scenes personal accounts of what’s wrong with the current leadership at CUSD.

Among the leaders and elected officials featured in the latest installments are:

•     James Fleming, Former Superintendent, Capistrano Unified School District
•     Shelia Henness, CUSD Board of Trustees
•     Tony Beall, Mayor Pro-Tem, Rancho Santa Margarita
•     Gail Reavis, Council member City of Mission Viejo
•     Patricia Kelly, Council member, City of Mission Veijo
•     Gary Thompson, Councilman, City of Rancho Santa Margarita,
•     Neil Blais, Councilman City of Rancho Santa Margarita
•     John Paul Ledesma, Councilman City of Mission Viejo

You can also watch these compelling investigative reports on-line and learn more about these important issues by visiting the Full Disclosure website.

Click here to watch these programs now:

Preview:    http://www.fulldisclosure.net/Programs/476-477_preview.php

Part 1:     http://www.fulldisclosure.net/Programs/476-477_part1.php

Part 2:     http://www.fulldisclosure.net/Programs/476-477_part2.php

In South Orange County, Full Disclosure also airs every Wednesday on Cox Communication's Public Broadcasting Channel:

Wednesday, October 25, 2006, 6:00 PM, Cox Channel 31 - PART 1                         

Wednesday, November 1, 2006, 6:00 PM, Cox Channel 31 - PART 2

Comments

[What gives?]

I turned on the Cox channel at 6:00 tonight expecting to see the CUSD stories. Instead, there was a story about LA Sheriff Leroy Baca. It was intersting, but not what I wanted to see. What gives?

Since the CUSD reports can be viewed online, I watched Part 1 there. Pretty eye opening and well worth the time to view it. I hope Part 2 is as good.

Wow. I watched both parts on the website. One thing's for certain, there's no love lost between CUSD and the city council members Dutton featured from Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita. Obviously, there are a lot of long histories and resentments. If what they say is true, no wonder the DA and the Grand jujry keep investigating them.

["...when their lips are moving..."]

Boy, what an embarrassing clip of Shelia Henness loosing it in part 2 with her liar-liar-pants-on-fire tirade. What exactly was our distinguished CUSD trustee so upset about?

[You've Got to See This]

This is amazing stuff. I can't believe these shows. I think I see what all the fuss has been about. I especially enjoyed watching Shelia Henness blow a gasket up on the dias during the second show. Very entertaining and informative -- well worth watching both parts.

[In Denial]

The Shelia Henness clip was taken from the August 14th CUSD board of trustees meeting, Superintendent Fleming’s last meeting before retiring. The trustees packed the house with district friendlies and tried to honor Fleming for 15 years of “service” to CUSD. But things didn’t go as smoothly as the trustees expected.

Just hours before, the OC District Attorney conducted an embarrassing raid of the new CUSD administrative offices (focused on Fleming’s office) and during the board meeting, several public speakers reminded the trustees about the DA raid and all of the front-page scandals caused by the Fleming administration.

The last speaker was RSM Mayor Pro Tem, Tony Beall, who delivered a well-written speech reminding the trustees that the DA investigators raided the CUSD offices with search warrants based upon findings by the DA and an independent judge that there was probable cause that crimes had been committed in Fleming’s offices. Beall told the trustees that Fleming already demonstrated enough unethical conduct and had embarrassed the district sufficiently to justify his immediate termination for cause. As an alternative, he asked the trustees to at least put Fleming on administrative leave pending an independent investigation of the allegations of Fleming's unethical and illegal conduct.

Beall’s delivery and logic were flawless, and the reasonableness and logic of his request were obvious. With the sting of the previous scandals and the DA raid so fresh, this was just too much for some of the trustees to handle. Both Marlene Draper and Shelia Henness exploded into vicious tirades that humiliated themselves and the district. Of course, they summarily denied everything, indignantly called their critics liars and completely ignored the damning reality of the DA raid earlier that day -- in other words, they conducted business as usual. To top things off, they then proceded to approve Fleming’s lucrative retirement package without raising a single question...unanimously, of course.

[Re: Draper & Co.]

Hey Councilman Thompson, tell us what you really think.

[Sorry Jimbo...BUSTED!]

I also like the video clip where Fleming makes a big show of denying any knowledge about the now-famous CUSD "enemies" list. I guess he didn't expect the OCR to later publish "District confirms creating recall rosters" on Wednesday, July 19, 2006.

[Crocodile Tears]

It was good to see Mission Viejo Councilwoman Trish Kelly, who has a long record of supporting CUSD and James Fleming, exercise real leadership by stepping forward and telling some of the the ugly truths about CUSD. I found her story about Fleming tearing up when he first saw Newhart Middle School especially interesting. Too bad the tears weren't real.

Thanks, Trish.

[Steve Burt]

Sorry about the CUSD show not airing on Cox Channel 31 Wednesday night at 6:00. We're investigating what went wrong at the station tomorrow. They were given the correct tapes and had agreed to air them. We've been through the politics and government sandbagging. Nothing suprises us anymore. You can be sure we'll have our monitors at the Registrar of Voters office when the ballots start coming in.

Thanks to all who believe in and support our efforts to rid the CUSD of corruption, staighten out the books and discover how were going to pay for the long term debt... and to begin planning schools for the 14,000 homes that will be built in Rancho Mission Viejo by 2010.

We could also use a little help on the San Juan Capistrano city council elections... Mark Nielsen, Lon Uso and The General would be good selects so we can rid ourselves of the lifetime good-ole-boy politians and the SJC-CUSD connected culture of corruption.

VOTE OUR A-B-C SLATE OF CANDIDATES FOR CUSD TRUSTEES.