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Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
SB - Perhaps you are right about the social media, but a solid idea from the community will speak louder than I will. You list issues, I agree, but many, are symptoms of the overall disfunction and while not as appearent as they should be to the public, they will clean up with a change of Board and Adminstration. The bigger issues come down to what the citizens/public want in their school system, what they want in their neighborhood school, ideas on how to fix the schools on probation. I am a believer that there are solutions to these issues that no "Expert" has thought of yet. It's an idea sitting in some lay-person's mind, how to touch our kids in a different way. Give the students pride and drive to succeed in whatever field or occupation they desire. Give the communities a rallying point and identity. Nothing the Sweetwater District is doing right now accomplishes those goals. This is all about Community/Communities, Living the Diversity we have in this Region and District; Asian, Islanders, African, Hispanic, European, Middle Eastern, just a few.... For the umpteenth time open communication, between ourselves, our district and especially our kids is the best way to fix the SUHSD situation. BBQ, CAVE, Citizens Active for Value in Education.— January 20, 2014 11:23 a.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
SB, I do not do those things, What I would rather do is plan a public meeting in the next few weeks... kind of a Starbuck's Whistle stop tour and stump, stay tuned. Perhaps we can invite Mr. McCann and Mr. Grossman, and Mr. Shinoff. Dialog is good. BBQ— January 20, 2014 10:29 a.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
TKMACoach, Thanks, I got a good chuckle.... I know what you mean.... I am just trying to be civil and prompt more thought and discussion... BBQ— January 20, 2014 10:25 a.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
TKMACoach, While firing Ed, would be quick, I think it would be expensive, as stated in my previous comment, better would be to take over the board with "Thinking" Trustees, not the self-important followers we have currently, sorry for Bertha fans, she falls into the group not as deeply but she's part of the problem. You will notice I did not say Like-thinking, I said "Thinking", I prefer to have active thinkers with varied background and ideas, with different prespectives on Education and the business of education, to that of a homogenious group of "Rubber Stampers". Coach, I do not know where you live or stand on the East/West divide but the issue here is not either side, it's the fact that our whole public education system at Sweetwater is dysfunctional! "Open boundaries" has put "Education Flight" on the front Burner! The movement Eastward because of the perception of "better" facilities, Better Teachers, etc. all it does is thin the required resources out, away from the Neighborhood school, diminishing the local school environment, School Spirit, etc. The planning or lack of planning for Common Core and the I-pads are evident that our Adminstration is big on Words/Ideas but is weak on Follow-up. They focus on frills when the issues of Failing Schools is right in front of us. The Band wagon approach of "Charter Schools" is BS, with proper leadership every school in the district can succeed. At this point the Genie is out of the bottle and I do not know an easy method to restore faith in the Neighborhood schools, look at Lincoln High in the SDUSD, a great facility with no faith in the program. I believe a District wide approach through proper Leadership is better than a single school at a time (Charters), spend resources ($$$) to change and fix the weaknesses, not buy more stuff ie Admin Building... Sorry to rant, but please, drop the labels ie "the Eastlake guys" there are many of us on the East who want what everyone wants, Quality, Honest and Value in Education. So rather than worry about where a candidate lives, look for what he/she stand for, what they bring to the board and if they represent your ideas and goals. Best to you, BBQ, CAVE, Citizens Active for Value in Education.— January 20, 2014 9:43 a.m.
Picket at Sweetwater trustee Cartmill's home
Eastlaker, et al, This board and upper adminstration, what's left of it, has become so single sighted, self-important and protective, that Ethics, Integrity and rational thinking has gone out the door. They are all in self-preservation mode and as a group rounded up the wagons. It would be great if while out on vacation Ed would re-evaluate his tenure at Sweetwater and walk away before more damage is done, not likely as he has so much to gain by completing his contract or being fired. There is no doubt that our Board of Trustees not only let Gandara out on a sweetheart deal, but they negociated a sweetheart deal to get Ed back! To quote Homer Simpson "DUH". I am sure that Ed will not stand up to his pledge/threat to resign if the Board stopped Rubber stamping his Agenda at Meetings, like last Tuesday. Again he will not resign due to his lack of ethics, his blustery oratory, and pompas ego. Oh Well another Promise/threat not completed by Ed. As for some of the middle/upper adminstration, I do not feel they are completely caught up in the Ed Method, but I can see some of them starting to worry "what's next?" and trying to get some of Ed's Golden apple.... To "normal" School site staffers (Not Ed's chosen one's, CPM comes to mind), other staffers and teachers, my heart goes out to you to have to cow-toe to a bully with no real protection or recourse as provided by an open Board, you are just pawns in the Ed rage at the public or anyone who questions his plan or logic. As I have said before it is now time to organize, obviate the disfunction of the Adminstration and Board, and take back the District, fix the fundimental issues, try to fix the recient scandals, provide value to education in the District, and mostly teach our and our neighbor's kids how to succeed in a rapidly changing world. CAVEperson, BBQ Citizens Active for Value in Education.— January 20, 2014 5:45 a.m.
No process yet to replace Sweetwater trustee Ricasa
So here it is Friday, wasn't there an action from the Special Board meeting to set-up a telephone conf/meeting with Pearl and the Board? I looked at the board calendar and see nothing, what's up with that....? (I am not a Teacher so no fault, no foul). It looks more and more like the special election route of Mr. McCann will win out by default, A win by the Gipper, (Old Movie and Ronald Reagan Quote...). When are the next court dates for the remaining three? If the other cases are concluded prior to an election could all of the vacant seats be filled? Just wondering? As you may have noticed I like to know the direction and get to solutions, it's just the Engineer in me. The MBA in me wants "show me the money" because with everything the money speaks the truth... So Board of Trustees, the ball is in your court and the clock is ticking and your currently down by 1, soon to be 3 or 4, what's your plan, take your best shot.... (It's Basketball Season, sorry for the sports analogy) It's time to lead or get out of the way (no option to follow).... CAVEperson, BBQ— January 17, 2014 9:41 a.m.
No process yet to replace Sweetwater trustee Ricasa
Ladies and Gentleman, I'd like to introduce you to **CAVE - Citizens Active for Value in Education**, not the Ed *CAVE*..... I attended the meeting and had to watch the black comedy of the "Mini-Board" and the "puppet(s)". Mr Cartmill should get the Best actor Oscar for his performance, Ms. Lopez should get a community activist award, and Mr. McCann, best supporting actor in a Comedy for supporting Ed..... As part of the "Public Comment" I mentioned the support for a Board selection of the replacements using the Board By-law as refined by Mr. Shinoff, the rationale for that is while the board is suspect in both ethics and values, they were elected by the public and thus have the right and responsibility to perform this process. I did state that this process, Selection of replace board member(s) has nothing to do with the District Staff or Adminstration and any recommendations or statements from Staff or the Superintendent becomes a conflict of interest. I urged the sitting Board Trustees to review their own Ethics and Values, to select the best candidate to perform the public's business, not a selection of the superintendent (who is not a voter in this district). When pressed later in the meeting about influence or advice of Dr. Brand, an obvious gesture of Mr McCann looking at Dr. Brand with a "quizical look which I interpreted (sp) as "now what"" Maybe the puppet just let the cat out of the bag. As they say It isn't a secret once more the one person knows.... At some point this week a "secret" well "select" meeting should take place to determine the process, now is the time to be involved and as we move towards the real election in November. BBQ An aside... with the number of questions posed about budget issues... to the staff and Dr. Brand, might I suggest that in your requests for funding you actually include real information ie the who, what and where of the allocation... Also if you have a requirement to monitor projects and tax monies should you not have staff doing that, not a consultant? Finally, the audit contract which 202 Requests went out and only one was returned, the contract was for approx. $21,000 @ $100/hr (Cheap by the way) is 200 hrs of work, less than 5 weeks by one auditor, plenty of time to rebid and complete by the end of March, if you jumped on it. Looks like **"The way we've always done it aroung here, with the rubber stamp of the Board, may be ending and you'll just have to work harder.....** Again best to you, CAVEperson, BBQ— January 16, 2014 6:21 a.m.
Protest over Mission Trails mountain-bike trail closures
Dalumart, Before you go on a; you are worse than us because rant..... Organizations do exist in the Four wheeler and motorcycle camps that advocate responsible use of their vehicles and do patrol and maintain trails, examples are ther Rubicon Trail in Colorado, and the tread softly campaign. A bicycle or horse create equivalent damage as a Motorcycle if used in the wrong location or overly agressively, just as hikers that do not respect pack it in, pack it out leave trash and such.... These things are not the issue, the main issue is responsible use and division of the needs of all users and the environment/nature. Surely there are reasonable solutions to the closures, development and or protection of nature. A through review of the situation, and reasonal response is warranted; Some closures for erosion or immediate issues, Some temporary use until final plan can be enacted, and finally response and penalties equal to the transgression. This is the right way to solve the current issue, along with reasonable response time to schedule the final plan. BBQ— January 13, 2014 10:41 a.m.
Protest over Mission Trails mountain-bike trail closures
But if there are no Pedestrians, what will the indiginous Trail puddle mesquito use to spawn (No Blood available)? Again where does common sense fit into any plan? I understand the need to protect but if we cut off all access to our recreation facilities we will just enhance the virtual world of excercise. Hey let's build more Family Fitness Centers or the like... The aforementioned organizations are excellent keepers of the environment and they should be utilized as a solution, not the problem. So Environmentalists, let's let everyone that pays for the land share in the use of the land, not just what you think the land should be used for... BBQ— January 13, 2014 9:08 a.m.
No tough justice for former Southwestern College official
I have been thinking about the process of Board member replacement and keep following up on the Ethics and conflict of interest issues. I wonder did Ed Brand sign a conflict of interest agreement when he was hired or as I have to do every year? If so isn't there a conflict of interest if he recommends or indorses candidates to fill open board slots? These are the people that not only pay him, but evaluate him. One would think that whenever he puts or recommends someone for a committee he is influencing the outcome of that committee's decision, or at least having someone from his inner circle reporting back to him of committee discussions, ie a fly on the wall so to speak. The same thing holds true whenever he himself sits on a committee that is to decide one of his decisions or proposals, where is the open unbiased public decision or forum? No doubt he should present his vision and rationale for a proposal but to have him part of the debate or discussion is a questionable practice. Basically the tenents of the board and the board rules or at least the current interpretation of the rules are stacked up against the public and transparency, they are all in favor of the Superintendant and adminstration. I recommend that we, as a public show up at Tuesday's meeting and strive to strike or remove any adminstration or superintendant input to the Board Replacement or future Committee make up. Other than the previous manipulation of elections and the weak ethics of our current Board, it is time to take back SUHSD. See you Tuesday, BBQ, CAVE, Citizens Active for Value in Education, (What do you think Ed?)— January 13, 2014 6:09 a.m.