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Sweetwater's Funds for Education
Nice Job Ms. Luzzaro, Perhaps it is important to recall that Dr. Brand's 'arm twisting' MO for his so-called Educational Foundation goes back awhile. For example, in 2001, he hired Mike Inzunza (yep, youngest bro of that clan) to produce a magazine for the local high school crowd. It was to be called "BLURB" and I think there were a few issues published before it folded in 2005 and Mike was sent back to the adult school classroom. Mike may still have the printing press set up in his garage. The magazine was to become self-supporting with advertising that Mike and his 'consultant' arm-twisters wrought out of local folks. The concept itself was not bad and legitimate on its face. However but the message was clear to those of us who were 'invited' to hear the pitch. "Pony up" with what we think you should buy and you will receive greater access to the sup and to designated important people. If not, we will go over your head and get what we want. It was quite intimidating, to say the least, and perhaps influence peddling to boot. The magazine morphed into something that Mike ran, called the South Bay Review, that also solicited ads but was not under the Sweetwater umbrella as was BLURB.— January 12, 2012 7:31 p.m.
Chula Vista seeks university of its own
As a general rule, vacancies on boards of public agencies are either filled by appointment (made by the remainder of the board, as was just done in the case by Southwestern College Board when Trustee Aguilar resigned) OR to call an election to fill the unexpired term. If there is more than 50% of the term left, it is good practice to call an election if a general election is going to be held relatively soon (independent elections are expensive for the agency/district; it is considerably more economical to have an election coincide with other elections in order to avoid the extra-ordinary expense of a separate election, the cost of which the district will have to pay 100% rather than a pro-rata share of a general election ballot.) The difficulty with appointments is that they are, of course, subject to political influences. Remember when Scott Alvey was appointed to the CV City Council to fill an unexpired term and 'promised' not to run in the subsequent election...then tried to reneg on that promise? Patty Chavez was appointed to the CV City Council to fill the unexpired term of Patty Davis. That appointment was fraught with intrigue and special interests and not a pretty sight, even though the Council attempted to set up a process that appeared to have a level playing field, even though many thought the appointment was wired by then-mayor Padilla. Elections are generally seen as a more democtratic process to elected public servants.— December 31, 2011 2:47 p.m.
Chula Vista seeks university of its own
Consideration of an eventual campus for a four-year university was an integral part of the original proposal for development of the Otay Ranch. A 400-acre gift from the then Irvine Company that purchased the former Otay Ranch, on the site adjacent to Wusete Rd, was an incentive to help counter opposition from those who would likely be opposed to too much growth on what was once a vast agricultural area, and to barter for increased density in the first sections to be built on what was then referred to as the "Western Parcel". The propsed site was also seen to be environmentally sensitive/problematic and the developers believed that a desirable site for a desirable purpose would help overcome those issues. The proposal included specification that ONLY a UC campus would be acceptable, and that an eventual UCCV would be in the pipeline after UC Merced was funded and built. There was a community group formed and called something like the UCCV Advisory Commission. Financial difficulties for the developers in the early 1990's stalled the project, and there was some land trading between Irvine/Otay Ranch and McMillin and maybe other developer entities, with some of the land actually reverting back to the Foundation organized by the heirs of the last owner of the Ranch prior to its sale to Irvine. I do not know the current status of ownership of the 400 acres, which would be quite interesting. It is still prime property, adjacent to the Olympic Training Center. The City Planning Department should be able to shine some light on the ownership status of the original so-called 'gift' of 400 acres and if there are still strings attached to it. It would be interesting to see if the developers expect additional consideration on density for future projects if they are interested in 'regifting' the land to the City a second time. I believe they already have benefitted enormously from the original gift in that they received serious increases in density on their now-completed development in the Western Parcel.— December 28, 2011 1:11 p.m.
Personnel Changes at Southwestern College
That must be the same 'Johnny' Wilson who is listed in the CFFR website as drawing nearly $124,000 annual CALPERS pension. He should be donating his time, as well as some cash to the Foundation.— January 28, 2011 4:25 p.m.