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The piper must be paid
Such an item to rewrite the bylaw is not allowed for closed session...the closed session is very limited in what may be discussed there and bylaws do not make that cut. Only personnel items, legal items may be done in closed session. Check out the Brown Act for details.— June 23, 2014 7:06 p.m.
The piper must be paid
Anniej is correct. I suggest that an effective communications campaign (in addition to public comment)would be to email the four 'new' interim board members the facts of the matter regarding this proposal...something to the effect of "this bylaw change is a blatant attempt to remove a talented and committed person from the BOC. Bond oversight needs technical expertise and Mr. Marinovich has that very expertise, along with the ability to question the very items that need to be questioned. Why NOW is this proposal coming before the board, at a time when it is still getting up to speed? Is Dr. Brand attempting to take advantage of the new members with this ill-conceived proposal that might seem logical on its face but is in fact designed to get rid of a person who has asked embarrassing questions of Dr. Brand in the past?"— June 23, 2014 2:20 p.m.
The piper must be paid
Eastlaker is absolutely on the money. It takes more than a few interested citizens to watchdog our public entities. It is oversight that makes temptations less interesting to those WE have chosen to do the public's business, and we have learned that temptations are very real and all present. The upcoming elections for board members in Sweetwater and Southwestern are an opportunity for every voter to become educated about the issues and the potential public officials, not necessarily to just vote for the incumbents. The same is true for the City of Chula Vista council and mayor elections. I second Eastlaker's comments: talk to neighbors and friends, make sure they understand the gravity of their choices....none are 'minor' offices. Otherwise, we end up getting what we deserve for the electorate's apathy, and as we have seen, it is not pretty.— June 23, 2014 10:30 a.m.
The piper must be paid
As I recall, Judge Espana also cut Alioto slack because 'no one showed him how to complete the form 700'...Really???? The man was the VICE PRESIDENT OF FISCAL AFFAIRS for goodness sake! I have filled out the forms...they come with quite complete directions and one need not be a rocket scientist to comply with the law. Alioto also had legal assistance available had he been befuddled by the forms. Espana's assessment of that situation was just really full of holes. As a result, Alioto has slithered back to wherever he came from (Wisconsin I believe) where he had already been under investigation for some fiscal irregularities at the district he once worked for there. Apparently, he was not a novice at criminal manipulation and self-dealing.— June 23, 2014 9:09 a.m.
The piper must be paid
While I think it appropriate that Judge Espana FINALLY ordered some jail time in these important corruption cases, I am disappointed that Sandoval's sentence is so light. By comparison, please note that just last week the UT carried a story about a US Federal District Judge, Cathy Bencievengo, who sentenced one Jessie Mario Bryan, a DMV supervisor who participated in a DMV bribe operation for a relatively small amount of money, to six months in prison, with this admonition "People want to trust public officials that they're doing the right thing...there shouldn't be shortcuts so you can put money in your pocket." Judge Espana has yet to make any such comment about the role of public officials and what the public has a right to expect from them by way of ethics and honesty. She seems to be sentencing them for having gotten caught with their hand in the cookie jar, rather than for failure to uphold the public trust. Shame on her.— June 22, 2014 5:45 p.m.
New Sweetwater boardmembers pitch in to money pit
I agree with you Susan. The outcomes would likely have been much different if the corruption cases had been allowed to go to trial...— June 11, 2014 8:01 p.m.
New Sweetwater boardmembers pitch in to money pit
Susan: There is a post dated My 23 on the same blog.pe.com by Brian Rokos stating that Sandoval has submitted his resignation effective June 20.— June 11, 2014 5:07 p.m.
New Sweetwater boardmembers pitch in to money pit
It seems to me that Brand didn't need to 'tell' Pearlie, or others how to vote...they went along with whatever he put on the agenda. If it were otherwise, they would have asked lots of questions about district business and there is little evidence any of them actually cared what was on the agenda. It also seems to me that, the corrupt board members, were politically astute enough to know that with all that bond money, Brand would be useful in 'helping' them get reelected and garner other favors. I think there is much Brand could 'share' with the DA and the public about the connections he greased to help them in their efforts to garner contributions from the prospective vendors.... we do know that Brand testified that McCann asked him to help raise campaign contributions, don't we? It is likely a quid pro quo....Brand keeps quiet about what he 'did' for the board members, and they kept him employed with big salary, and let him do whatever he wanted with District resources. I suspect there is yet much unrevealed that none of them want made public. I also believe that Brand's henchpeople are controlled by the same process...they get to keep their jobs in return for their silence. It is a dirty cabal and Ed is still in charge.— June 11, 2014 1:24 p.m.
New Sweetwater boardmembers pitch in to money pit
It is clear to me that Ed Brand is a con artist's con man, leading the greedy trustees (McCann, Cartmill, Ricasa, Bertha, Quinones, Sandoval et al) wherever they let him take them down the primrose path of bad decisions for personal gain. I suggest the 'interim' board members insist on a moratorium of any more fiscal actions (except those absolutely necessary as a minimum to keep the district functioning) until Fast Eddy is gone and a 'real' board is seated in December. Otherwise, there will likely be yet more sleight-of-hand shell games to further line Fast Eddy's pockets. Take a look at the revealing numbers provided in Jaime Mercado's post....sigh. By the way, I see in a news report from the Inland Empire that Greg Sandoval has resigned from his $151k job as VP of Student Services at Moreno Valley College, probably in anticipation of the action that district would like take as a result of his guilty plea. Judge Espana doesn't have standing to intervene there, or she might have tried to save his butt there, too. Ricasa demoted at Southwestern shows that organization also is paying some attention. Good for them!— June 11, 2014 10:40 a.m.
New Sweetwater boardmembers pitch in to money pit
Thanks are also due to Susan Luzzaro for writing a well-organized piece to bring us all up-to-date on the status of the real estate fiasco in Sweetwater.— June 10, 2014 4:37 p.m.