CUSD Update

Two lawsuits resulting from Capo district administrators’ “Enemies Lists” continue to move forward. Concurrently, ex-administrators James Fleming and Susan McGill are awaiting trial for their roles in forming the lists.

Two separate groups of CUSD constituents who worked toward recalling old-regime trustees filed claims for damages last year. All were on at least one of the lists, and most have children who also made the list. The board of trustees rejected the claims.

One group includes principles in the CUSD Recall Committee (Jennifer and Tony Beall, Tom and Michelle Russell, Brad and Kathleen Goff, William and Donna Furniss, Kelly and James Villatoro and John and Juli Person). The second group is often referred to as Jill Case and others. Case unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the board of trustees in 2006. Others include Aaron Case, Helen Welch Reardon and James Reardon, Kim Lefner, Bo Klein and David and Laurel Bartholomew.

According to an article in the Nov. 21 Capistrano Dispatch, “ The two suits are similar, alleging civil rights violations and threats of retaliation against the school kids, although one names OC Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley for allowing district officials to look at recall petitions and find out who circulated and signed them.”

The lawsuit filed by Case and others names Kelley. In addition to his allowing CUSD administrators to review the lists, Kelley also had kept in touch with administrators during the time his staff members were verifying and counting signatures in December 2005, telling them “how the count was going.” Many of those who worked in the recall said from the beginning that Kelley derailed the effort by throwing out valid signatures. Approximately one-third of the 177,000 signatures were deemed invalid.