First, a press release from my friends at Capistrano Unified Children First, the group behind the recall of wasteful incompetent trustees Ken “Lopez-Maddox” and Mike Winsten. This is pretty spectacular, and reminiscent of back in May when they first collected signatures for this recall, and got WAY too many signatures in WAY too little time. This movement really has the wind at its back!
For Immediate Release
October 8, 2010
More than 900 individual contributions totaling more than $93,000.00 were made to the parent-led organization, Capistrano Unified Children First Inc., to support the campaign to elect five effective school board members and to pass ballot Measure H.
Donations in the amount of $5 to $25,000 have been contributed during the past year. Almost all contributions were made by residents and voters of the Capistrano Unified School District. None of this money was contributed by any outside organization or labor organization.
Unlike the current trustees, who received tens of thousands of dollars from interests outside of CUSD and have the advantage of a massive political machine, Children First is a true grassroots effort. We are looking out for all of the families in CUSD.
Children First is a political action committee and recently filed its required financial disclosure forms with the California Secretary of State’s office as required by election law. That report covers contributions, expenditures and cash on hand as of Sept 30, 2010. Additional contributions have been received since that date.
Children First successfully placed Measure H on the ballot for this November. Measure H will change the way trustees are elected to a “by trustee” voting method. This change will result in millions of dollars in election cost savings to Capistrano Unified. Children First is also supporting the recall of two of the current trustees and the election of five pro-public education community leaders to replace the current school board members.
“Our CUSD community should be proud of what we have all accomplished to help restore balance and sanity to our school board. The overwhelming show of support from all of these individuals is matched by an army of volunteers that are united to change the way we elect trustees and to elect new leadership that will benefit our children. On November 2 the community will take back our school district which has been hi-jacked by enemies of public education.” Fran Sdao, President of CUCF.
Children First is still actively soliciting financial help with the 2010 election.
www.capounifiedchildrenfirst.org
Contact: Linda Verraster, Press Relations, (949) 370‐3480,
Capistrano Unified Children First is a Political Action Committee licensed by the
State of California (FPPC# 1314460)
Meanwhile the two recall targets continue to be not just wasteful, dishonest and arrogant, but kind of bizarre. In their latest e-mail to their supporters, Winsten and Maddox – the lifelong Democrat trial lawyer who just changed parties to get on this board, and the formerly “moderate” Republican assemblyman beloved by labor despite his anti-immigrant flirtations – include a link to a story they evidently find inspiring: “Lawyer Jailed for Refusing to Recite Pledge of Allegiance.”
Do Mike and Ken really find that an edifying tale? It sounds pretty fascist to me. Some bizarre Mississippi Judge “Littlejohn” throws a cranky old defense attorney into jail for refusing to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in his court. I mean, we’re all patriotic, but that is extreme, and un-American on the part of this judge, don’t you think? What sort of people are Mike and Ken attempting to appeal to here, do they really feel personally good about this case, and what does it have to do with their struggle to convince voters they should stay on the CUSD Board?
Another thing I couldn’t help noticing (because people wouldn’t stop calling me and pointing it out) was Mike’s shameless two-facedness in his Capistrano Dispatch statement here a couple days ago:
“Perhaps the real problem is the local media’s systematic choice to give more headlines to the public policy debates and political drama going on in CUSD, than on the less sensational but positive stories of how well CUSD provides a free world-class education? “
Can you believe this is the same cat who helped make the sky-is-falling video “Not As Good As You Think: The Myth of the Middle Class School,” about how terrible this same district was, back when he was wanting to get on the Board. Now that he’s been in charge a couple years, he whines about how nobody wants to talk about how great it is. And has it gotten better under his reign? Um, NO. Class sizes are larger (okay, that’s not totally their fault) they’ve lost dozens of great administrators and principals which is their fault, and there’s pretty much no way you can say they’ve improved things. So, it’s laughable for this Cassandra to whine now about how nobody sees the District as a glass half full.
I’m still tracking down – I want to finally hear first-hand from a witness before I report it as fact – the famed rumor that Mike and Ken went to the Teamsters to beg them for support. Nothing wrong with getting some Union support, it’s just SO hypocritical when their constant unvarying refrain against their opposition is “Union tools, Union thugs.” Ken particularly has had a close relationship with that Union so it makes sense. The Teamsters haven’t been returning my calls, probably realizing that this would be embarrassing to Mike and Ken. So still just think of it as an unconfirmed rumor, which Vern is trying to track down.
How much money did Capistrano Unified Children First raise? $90,000.
How many teachers are in Capistrano Unified School District? 2,200.
Anyone who can do the math knows that the recall and the demand for area voting is not a “union takeover”. The hard-working, frustrated parents, teachers and voters who were promised reform are fed up with ineffective leadership.
But if it turns out that Maddox and Winsten take union money while incessantly blaming union workers for their failures, they will never hear the end of it. Let’s get stop the blame game and get on with the business of education.
Yes on the Recall. Yes on H. Yes for Alikhani, Alpay, Hatton, McNicholas and Pritchard.
Glad to see you all are back at it. I like the science fiction aspect to your writings.
By the way vern, where is this smoking gun of evidence that shows that they linked to that judge story?
Heard it from someone I believe, who doesn’t care to be identified. I could see if I could post up a copy while deleting identifying marks, but you’d reasonably wonder if I doctored the whole thing. Anyway, what, you didn’t get that e-mail? Aren’t you on their list of supporters? It went out October 7 or so.
I don’t think I get their emails.
But I did check out beyond the blackboard and it is showing that the Capistrano Unified Children First form 460 only shows that they have raised about $51,000, not the $93,000 you reference here.
Do you know what the discrepancy might be?
Thank you Vern
The consistent truth is that Measure H was initiated and placed on the ballot by a handful of parents. There was never any union involvement.
The consistent truth is that the Recall was initiated and placed on the ballot by a handful of parents and voters. There was never any union involvement.
The consistent truth is that Children First has recruited five excellent candidates for CUSD. Four parents with kids in CUSD schools, two of each party and a Decline to State, and all of them committed to PUBLIC education. Children First hasn’t asked for or accepted a dime of outside money including help from a union. At over $90,000 a climbing in donations the trustees now have a clear message of how the community feels about them.
The supporters of the current board can’t get their arms around these facts. They point to union endorsements as proof that the unions were behind all of this from the beginning. What a Crock of Bealls**t!
As we stand in front of stores and talk to voters they all tell us the same thing almost without exception. As we go door to door the voters tell us the same thing. As we meet with voters at sporting events and festivals they seem to be all in agreement. This is what they are telling us:
The trustees have made a mess of CUSD. CUSD is too political and partisan and there is no patience for the meddling of political parties or others in our affairs. All of these trustees have to go.
21 days. This will be our Independence Day for our kids, parents and schools and will be a huge relief.
Thank you Vern for reporting the truth!!
Are we really going to rehash this whole thing again?
The above is not true. The court records showed that Duane Stiff and Erin Kutnick were the two initiators.
These two are the two union backed candidates who lost in 2008.
And, Measure H was placed on the ballot by the trustees instead of the union’s desire for the district to waive the election that would cost each voter 6 of their 7 votes.
This is a bad deal for the voters.
The Capo school district was run by crooks for a long time, even the head crook has not been to trial and its been 4 years?
The reform board of trustees are the current incumbents, and it is hard to break the steel grip of corruption.
This doesn’t look like a new reform group trying to fix things as much as a counterattack by the prior crooks trying to take back the prize.
You’re wrong Cook, take a deep breath and step back. A LOT of the people involved in this year’s recall were also involved in getting rid of Fleming and his gang. I know that for a fact. Remember my metaphor – recent Iranian history – sometimes you need more than one revolution because the first one brings in a crowd that’s just as bad if slightly different.
Maybe, I hope the voters there don’t get fooled into tossing 6 of their 7 votes away in the process.
Maybe the capo school district should be disolved instead.
Vern, this Cook person is pushing the same argument the reform supporters are. Same song and dance. It’s the lies they are trying to get people to buy to keep the “reform” board in place.
It’s not working.
Yeah I know Cook, he’s a good guy from Santa Ana, I think he’s falling for a bit of propaganda there. The new candidates are certainly not a return of the old guard.
Me and Cook can agree to disagree on Prop H, as reasonable people do. What does it matter though, neither of us live down there. Good luck, real reformers!
Brother Vern. Just a quick update.
In today’s mail we received a large multi-colored flyer from the Committee to Reform CUSD.
I urge all my CUSD neighbors to use it to mark your ballots and vote NO on Measure H and NO on the recalls of Mike Winsten and Ken Lopez Maddox.
Vote YES for Addonizio, Bryson and Christensen.
I thought you would welcome this public service announcement from someone who actually lives in the District and has a chance to impact the outcome on Nov. 2nd.
That’s what you call an “update?” You got a mailer? You still intend to back your old friends?
That’s not what I call an update.
Brother Vern. Considering how much you have posted supporting the YES side I feel it’s only fair to promote the NO side of the debate.
I have mentioned all the signs from the opposition candidates that are plastered all over the city. In fact they are confusing the MV voters. Some signs reading recall the incumbents are directed to the council not the school district trustees.
I’ve posted that much more because I am that much more inspired by this movement, and there are that much more arguments to be made on behalf of the movement. That’s all.
Yeah. Not enough signs on the other side? I’ve heard that too. It’s a little creepy, it’s seeming right now like they’re resigned to a quiet defeat?
Vern.
How much has the YES side spent that we know about? Over $100,000.
That my brother is not chump change. And I am to believe that teachers and parents ponied up all that dough?
yup
it’s provable.
Name 3
Cook..only the names have changed. It’s time for new blood at CUSD.
My guess after receiving that beautiful flyer from CUSDReform and the robocall from OC GOP, and seeing many green signs recently stating vote no on recall and Measure H that the slate for CUSDReform has just begun to spend their war chest. Their timing is just closer to the absentee ballots is all and they missed the first reporting period. Let’s see what Oct. 21 period shows for both sides…it is all rather stupid…how much money is being spent for a school board seat…it really makes you wonder on both sides what each sides bigger picture (agenda) really is.
Don’t focus on just the money — focus on what money is coming from local CUSD constituents. Bryson is fund-raising outside the district. The OC GOP is involved in a school board race in one of the 28 district in the county. Scott Baugh embarrasses himself to protect a couple knuckleheads down here.
But the money raised by CUCF represents local residents and frustrated voters. I’d rather listen to 1,000 people willing to donate $20 to a cause than two political big wigs willing to front $10,000 until the next filing deadline.
No, the vast bulk of the union backed candidate funding is coming from the teachers union. They have reported over $117,000 already! And, there is an over $40,000 hole in the CUCF form 460.
I expect you will have to retract all of your statements about who is funding the union backed candidates.
Last election the union dropped well over $100,000 and the reform side spent about 1/3 as much.
As much as you would wish it to be, the reality is that the union side of the equation is the outside influence.
The three candidates who were endorsed by the teachers are a perfect example of small donations from local, frustrated constituents. It is hard to get people who are traditionally underpaid, and who just took a two-year pay cut, to part with their money. Yet nearly every CUSD teacher donated a portion of their dues to CUEAs political pool in the hopes of seeing better school governance in CUSD’s future.
Thank God for the teachers who are willing to put up their own money and pool it for the good of public education.
Vern
Children First sent you a press release stating that their fundraising totals covered not only what was in their filing but voluntarily what had been received since Sept 30th. That total is close to $100,000. This amount is separate from what the candidates have raised and spent and completely different and separate then what any union or other group has reported. Children First has received ZERO money from any group, organization, union, etc. ALL of this money came from parents and concerned voters and all but a few hundred dollars came from people living within CUSD. NO MONEY FROM A UNION.
There won’t be any retraction or spin put on this now or in the months to come except from the conspiracists that just can’t comprehend that the voters are tired of the current currupt board and want a change. It isn’t about unions or teachers it is about leadership and out of touch, incompetent, lying politicians.
I think everyone will be very surprised at how big a margin Measure H, the recall and the five Children First candidates will win by. Beall and his attorney friends will lose their personal piggy bank and have to find others to fund their efforts
There was an “issues forum” this morning in the Dana Point Harbor sponsored by the DP business community. The issues being discussed were Measure H and the Recall. Winsten and Bryson showed up from their side and all five Children First candidates showed up.
Highlights:
1. Winsten was embarrassing and as the hour progressed he paced around nervous because he had lost the crowd and was on defense. Bryson was her typical histrionic and bizarre self and couldn’t stay on topic.
2. Winsten had to whisper several times in Bryson’s ear to wrap it up and try to stay focused.
3. The Children First candidates and representative hammered them both on out of court settlements, their flip-flop on the by trustee-voting method issue, their out of control spending and Winsten and Maddox taking Teamsters’ support.
4. Winsten admitted meeting with the Teamsters about the election.
5. Bryson told everyone that the strike was caused by the teachers wanting a PAY INCREASE! She also told everyone that the average teacher salary is over $102,000/year!!
6. Winsten tried and failed to explain away his votes to award settlement funds to best friend Tony Beall and other attorneys.
7. Winsten disparaged the PTA several times and one point ludicrously tried to say that PTA has been at every meeting asking for a parcel tax or other tax increased. “You lie” was yelled out several times at those statements.
8. Winsten again tried to assert that the PTA was not for children by claiming that a “PTA spy” was sent to the home of Tony Beall years ago. Another total lie that was long ago proven false.
9. Bryson was almost crying explaining how the “union” has plastered signs all over south OC “littering” the area with campaign signs but her signs keep being taken down. “150 signs are missing. Why just my signs? Those cost a lot of money”. It was pathetic
This was the first and only time that the Children First candidates would face off against the incumbents before the election and it was a total disaster for Mike and Anna. No one left that forum this morning thinking that the current trustees deserved to be re-elected.
If more people would just listen to the current trustees and compare them to the five incredible candidates from Children First there wouldn’t even be an election. The best advocate for change in CUSD is Anna Bryson…..wind her up and cut her loose and her mouth will drive every voter to the Yes on H and Yes on Recall camp.