Tea Partiers Protest on April 15

Approximately 600 to 700 Tea Partiers rallied in Mission Viejo on Tax Day, April 15. The event was scheduled from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., but participants began arriving with flags and signs shortly after 4:00. By 5:00, people lined up, four to five deep, along the sidewalks at La Paz Road and Marguerite Parkway.

Those who attended last year’s April 15 rally in the same location said this year’s was bigger and better. Mark Dobrilovic (city commissioner, NRA leader, Saddleback Republican Assembly board member and a candidate for the GOP Central Committee) served as master of ceremonies. Shortly after 5:00, he introduced the keynote speaker, Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute.

SRA President Matt Corrigan welcomed the Tea Partiers, who had gathered to protest wasteful spending and overgrown government. Bill Hunt, a candidate for OC Sheriff, had many supporters in the crowd when he spoke about his campaign. He stayed throughout the event, talking with individuals and small groups gathering around him.

Also speaking was South Orange County Community College District Board President Don Wagner, who is a candidate in the June 8 Primary Election. Wagner is running in the 70th Assembly District to replace Chuck DeVore, who terms out of office this year. GOP Central Committee Member Jack Anderson asked the crowd to get involved by volunteering to Get Out The Vote (GOTV) in the June and November elections. Also addressing the group was California Republican Assembly Vice President Scott Voigts.

To view more photographs of Tea Partiers and a video of the rally, check out the April 15 post on Rick Moore’s Website, http://www.holycoast.com.

Irreconcilable Differences

When a Mission Viejo Republican Club spokesman commented last week about unifying the city, a reporter from the VoiceofOC.com expressed doubt it could be done. MVRC’s publicity coordinator said the new organization could unite people with commonly held beliefs.

Perhaps the VoiceofOC.com has another idea. Following the lead of a law student, John J. Wall, who wrote about splitting the nation over ideology (http://www.conservapedia.com/Essay:John_Wall_divorce_agreement), the examples below demonstrate the concept of a property settlement. Maybe it’s time to split up.

Here’s how it might work. The two parties shall be referred to as the “residents” and the “occupants” of city hall. Most of the occupants of city hall don’t live in Mission Viejo, so there’s not much overlap.

Residents shall get open spaces, trails and roadways unencumbered with junk. Occupants shall get the pilasters, road hazards and politically correct pictures foisted on taxpayers by city administrators. Occupants must keep their stuff in their offices.

Residents shall get properly maintained streets. Occupants shall get decorative mosaics along streets, as well as the “mosaics” on asphalt (streets crumbling in a mosaic pattern).

Residents shall get to enjoy Mission Viejo’s real logo of mission bells and real slogan, The California Promise. Occupants shall get their clip-art iron tree and their very own slogan, Make Living Your Mission or Make (whatever city employees are making that day – paper chains, character posters or obelisks) Your Mission. As part of the settlement, Occupants must keep their iron trees and slogans in their offices.

Residents shall get back their quaint and quirky manual message board at the corner of La Paz and Marguerite. Occupants can take the electronic sign into city hall and write important messages to each other (e.g., “Follow us on Twitter”).

Residents shall receive schedules of events, classes, etc., printed on paper appropriate for taxpayer-funded mailers. Occupants can keep their glossy City Outlook Magazine.

Residents shall have taxpayer-owned Christmas decorations spread around the city instead of nearly 100 percent of everything within 100 feet of city hall. Occupants can keep their winter solstice banners and their celebrations involving nature worship.

After a period of six months, perhaps the occupants surrounded with the clutter, junk and distractions will understand why taxpayers don’t consider these things to be part of essential public services. If not, maybe this relationship has run its course.

PALs Update

Dear PALs,

I attended the Town Hall meeting in San Clemente on Mon., April 12. It was very informative and a way to hear directly from the teachers and three of the Capo school district board members: Ellen Addonzio, Larry Christensen and Anna Bryson. The biggest issue discussed was that the teachers seemed to be upset about the permanent nature of the imposed contract.

Members of the union board were invited to attend, but they declined. As this has been a topic of debate, I am including part of an email from the parents who worked so hard to make the town hall meeting a way to bring our divided community together.

"For the record, after attending the Board Meeting last night, we were disappointed to learn from teachers district-wide that they were being told by CUEA, that we did not invite them to our Town Hall Meeting either with advance notice or at all. We would like to set the record straight. We did indeed invite the CUEA Board and would be happy to provide the supporting records (if you are interested). Nobody was more disappointed than we were to learn that the CUEA Board would not attend.”

Respectfully,
Melinda Bienert
Dana Lush
Maria Schwartz
Mothers of CUSD kids

I also attended the board meeting on Tuesday. There was an hour of open comments. Most of the speakers were teachers, parents and a few well-spoken students who wanted the board to go back and negotiate with the union. They spoke mostly to the permanent vs. temporary nature of the contract. Some other speakers discussed that students should be in school and let the adults deal with the problem.

Right after the open comment drama, much of the audience left the board room. It was enlightening to see that some of the hundreds of people waiting outside filtered into the board room, but there were still plenty of seats. It was unfortunate that some left the room before Ron Lebs gave an update of the budget, including potential program cuts and the way the district will determine those cuts.

Mr. Lebs explained they have had to cut $50M over the past years and another $34M for the 10/11 school year. They created a list of four questions to ask a variety of district employees to help them decide what could be cut.

1. Is it mandated or essential to operations or programs?
2. To what degree is it essential?
3. Is there a better or more effective way to offer the program?
4. Is there another way to fund the program?

Readers can visit the district website to download the 4-13-10 agenda and look up item 43. There is a list of what the district is considering. Some of the items include: eliminate summer school; reduce Driver's Ed; suspend expulsions (so they can capture ADA); reduce purchase and supply and printing requests; and eliminate multi-student family discount rates for busing, to name a few.

Tuesday was also a student sick out. It was started by parents. Most teachers did not condone this. As I emailed on Monday, the ADA cut off was March 19. However, absences can affect categorical funding from the state and federal government. Here is one article:
Tue 13 Apr 10 - 3,880 Capo students take part in sickout

According to the district information:
District YTD Absence: 4.2%. April 13: 17.46%.
Elementary YTD Absence: 4.22%. April 13: 19.11%.
Middle School YTD Absence: 4.08%. April 13: 20.49%.
High School YTD Absence: 4.3%. April 13: 12.79%.

The biggest issue for the teachers is temporary vs. permanent [pay cuts]. The union wants the district to follow the fact finder's suggestion of sunsetting the cuts in 2012. The district disagrees with the fact finder because they do not know what financial place they will be in 2012. Regardless, it is a contract that will be negotiated when it ends in 2012.

Yesterday, CUSD issued a press release stating:

"Upon receipt of written communication from CUEA requesting to commence discussions. CUSD Trustees will direct staff to continue to meet with the teachers' union. This opportunity would enable both parties to reach agreement on remaining contract provisions for the 2009-2010 school year.

In addition, CUEA may make a proposal to begin negotiations for 2010-2011 school year." 

CUEA responded with the letter below:
From: "Vicki Soderberg" <vsoderberg@cuea.org>
Date: April 14, 2010 6:10:21 PM PDT

Subject: CUSD Press Release

Reps, if possible, please share the CUEA list serve with your teachers, along with this message:

From Vicki: Re recent CUSD Press Release:
Please be aware when CUEA asked the district today if their offer of “open communication with the Teachers’ Union” meant that we would discuss the imposition, the district said “no”.  The terms of the imposition, including the permanent part of it is not open for discussion according to the district. The press release by the district is clearly designed to trick not only the teachers, but parents and the community as well.

CUSD responded with another press release attached stating:

"Trustees are not interested in changing the terms (salary, furloughs, benefits, nor step/column) . . .HOWEVER, the Board of Trustees would entertain a discussion of the temporal nature of those terms, should CUEA formally (in writing) proposed to meet regarding such.

(The press release continues . . .)

"Simply put, CUEA has choices. One choice is to do nothing. Another choice is to negotiate contract elements of the 2009/10 school year . . as per the union's June 09 opener, and at a later time of their choosing, present contract openers for 2010/11 school year. Still another option of CUEA would be to propose formally (in writing) temporal language related to the terms of the Board's unilateral resolution that could be incorporated and negotiated into an MOU. Lastly, CUEA can choose to ask for a strike vote by its membership.

Hopefully, CUEA leadership will consider the even greater personal sacrifice, both emotionally and financially, they would be asking of their teachers and other members should they request a vote to strike."

PALs, this is a difficult time for everyone involved. Our teachers are faced with a very difficult decision. While my personal hope is that they understand the economic downturn many of us are facing now and do not strike, I respect whatever choice they make.

As things continue to heat up, please seek information from a variety of sources. Do not believe every blog or email you read. Remember there is always another side to every story. Go directly to the source. Supt. Mahler stated you can call her directly (234-9200). While you do not have to agree with every viewpoint, I hope you will at least listen to what all people have to say.
 

All the best,
Julie Collier
Parents Advocate League

CVHS Enters the Fitness Challenge

Capistrano Valley High School has a chance to win a $100,000 fitness center. Students who sign up for the challenge are eligible to win prizes. Those who complete the challenge can win additional prizes. Non-students can participate, too. 

How to sign up: go to:  http://calgovcouncil.org/challenge

• Scroll to the bottom of the page and sign in as a student or other.
• Enter name, DOB, email, password and school zip code (92692); click submit.
• Select CVHS, click, click, submit.
• Click one 24-hour fitness pass to print your 30-day club membership.
• Enter: Start the Challenge and log your activity daily.

Go to Twitter and Facebook:

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shape-it-Cougars/112986945397975

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/ShapeitCougars

Prizes: all CVHS students who sign up by May 1, 2010, will be entered into a drawing to win prizes. All participants who complete the Challenge by May 31 will be entered into a second drawing.

Join the Shape it Cougars Facebook page and track the prize list:

• iPod shuffles
• itunes gift cards
• Movie tickets
• Jamba Juice gift cards

A separate prize drawing will be held for all non-CVHS student participants who sign up under CVHS.

Governor’s Challenge Prizes

• CVHS has a chance to win a $100,000 fitness center.
• High school students qualify for a free 30-day pass to 24 Hour Fitness when they sign up for the Governor’s Challenge and a free 90-day pass when they complete the Governor’s Challenge.
• All students (K-12) who take the Governor’s Challenge qualify for one free lift ticket at Mammoth Mountain
• California teachers and parents can download a free 30-day California Teacher Pass to 24 Hour Fitness when they sign up to take the Governor’s Challenge themselves.
   

The Buzz

Congratulations to Saddleback Republican Assembly for organizing the April 15 tax protest at La Paz and Marguerite. The event drew citizens of all ages and at least one Obama supporter. When master of ceremonies Mark Dobrilovic invited the man to speak from the microphone, he declined. Kudos to Mark for providing an equal opportunity for everyone.

***

At the Mission Viejo Tea Party a year ago, police received a complaint that pedestrians had crossed the street too slowly. This year, the OCSD police blotter reflected another complaint (La Paz and Marguerite, 5:51 p.m., April 15). The blotter indicated that a caller told police that a pedestrian had walked against a light.

***

Buzz readers are invited to support the wives of deployed Marines by contributing to gift baskets for the May 29 Camp Pendleton Appreciation Luncheon. Anyone wanting to help can donate items for a basket, money to support the effort or creating a gift basket. Suggested items include bath and hair products, gift certificates, jewelry, movie tickets and gift cards that can be redeemed at restaurants on the base. Please email cam.fam@cox.net for additional information.

***

Two meetings this week will feature guest speakers. Saddleback Republican Assembly will host Don Wagner on Thurs., April 22, at 7:00 p.m. Visitors are welcome, and admission is free. SRA meets at Atria del Sol, 23792 Marguerite Parkway, in Mission Viejo. Wagner serves as board president of South Orange County Community College District, and he’s a candidate for State Assembly. Also on April 22, OC Supervisor Pat Bates will be the featured speaker for Aliso Viejo Republican Women Federated. AVRWF meets at The Hills Hotel (formerly the Holiday Inn), La Paz Road at the 5 Freeway, Laguna Hills. Cost of $28 includes dinner. Social gathering begins at 6:30 p.m.; meeting begins at 7:00. RSVP by April 19. Call 949.859.5607 or 949.735.0718.

***

The April 18 OC Register summarized the impasse between CUSD officials and the teachers union. CUSD officials’ position: money doesn’t grow on trees. The district said teachers will take a 10.1 percent pay cut, and that’s the final offer. On the plus side, most teachers get to keep their jobs, and class size will not increase.

***

How’s the recall of CUSD trustees Ken Maddox and Mike Winsten going? The union-driven effort has less than two weeks to go, given its self-imposed deadline of May 1. If enough signatures can be gathered by May 1, the recall would qualify for the November ballot. If not, recall supporters have said they’ll end the process. This blog has received no word lately of any signature gathering activity. Three weeks ago, CUSD parents said signature gathering was taking place in the classrooms. As they visited schools, teachers or other school employees were asking them to sign recall petitions. How does this practice fit in with the district’s policy that no politicking shall take place on school property? Police have been called by school personnel when activists have tried to distribute campaign flyers at school events.