It's always sad when former friends go separate ways. That seems to be what happened with CTA and the ACLU.
From "California Teachers" blog:
"...Beverly Tucker [CTA chief counsel] was chosen multiple times to sit on the Board of Directors of the Northern California ACLU...this is the same Beverly Tucker who refused to defend a teacher who was dismissed for filing grievances and a lawsuit!
"I am in shock. Was it all an act, Beverly, pretending to be interested in constitutional rights? Was the ACLU a stepping stone for you? Was it all a publicity stunt for CTA?"
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
After years of secrets and lies, Robin Donlan is finally talking
David Washburn of the San Diego Union Tribune wrote on May 18, 2007, regarding the recent lawsuit against Vencent Donlan and his wife Robin Donlan, "...Robin Donlan, who teaches fourth grade at Hilltop Drive Elementary in Chula Vista, is cooperating with federal investigators to an 'unprecedented degree.'"
Any cooperation at all from Robin Donlan in the investigation of crime is unprecedented, in my experience.
Robin's lawyer David Hiden said "she has waived attorney-client and spousal privileges and agreed to informal interviews."
In a civil lawsuit filed about four years ago against Robin Donlan for misdemeanors committed against Maura Larkins at Castle Park Elementary School District, Robin's entire defense was based on attorney-client privilege. Her argument was that any subject she had ever discussed with her attorney was something she should not have to answer questions about. Robin answered only ONE written interrogatory in San Diego Superior Court case no. 781970, and she answered it EIGHT MONTHS after it was served on her, when she knew that the plaintiff had already found out the answer to the question. Robin Donlan's brother and co-conspirator in the case, Michael Carlson, who is a sheriff's deputy in Santa Barbara, never answered a single interrogatory, nor showed up for a deposition. But perhaps he could be helpful in the current case. He could tell his sister that he puts people in jail all the time for being in possession of stolen property.
While Robin Colls Donlan's cooperation in answering questions is clearly a brand new behavior, some of her other behavior hasn't changed at all.
Robin ensnared a lot of her friends in her crimes, but they all stood loyally by her, claiming the same attorney-client privilege, and committing felonies to cover up her misdemeanors. Robin, on the other hand, seems to have turned against her husband. That's probably wise, since the FBI might be a bit tougher than Robin's victim in the previous case.
Donlan turned against Chula Vista Elementary School District after it had paid many $100,000's of taxpayer dollars to defend her. The San Diego Union Tribune wrote frequently about her attacks on the school district in 2004 when she was transferred to a new school. The district had to spend EVEN MORE MONEY TO DEFEND ITSELF FROM Robin Donlan, after it had spent so much TO DEFEND HER.
Here's what I'm wondering. If Robin really believed that she had HONESTLY AND GENUINELY come into millions of dollars in wealth, why didn't she pay back the taxpayers for all the money they spent on her? Robin's former lawyer Daniel Shinoff is still living high off taxpayer dollars, but the students of Chula Vista Elementary schools could sure use the money.
Any cooperation at all from Robin Donlan in the investigation of crime is unprecedented, in my experience.
Robin's lawyer David Hiden said "she has waived attorney-client and spousal privileges and agreed to informal interviews."
In a civil lawsuit filed about four years ago against Robin Donlan for misdemeanors committed against Maura Larkins at Castle Park Elementary School District, Robin's entire defense was based on attorney-client privilege. Her argument was that any subject she had ever discussed with her attorney was something she should not have to answer questions about. Robin answered only ONE written interrogatory in San Diego Superior Court case no. 781970, and she answered it EIGHT MONTHS after it was served on her, when she knew that the plaintiff had already found out the answer to the question. Robin Donlan's brother and co-conspirator in the case, Michael Carlson, who is a sheriff's deputy in Santa Barbara, never answered a single interrogatory, nor showed up for a deposition. But perhaps he could be helpful in the current case. He could tell his sister that he puts people in jail all the time for being in possession of stolen property.
While Robin Colls Donlan's cooperation in answering questions is clearly a brand new behavior, some of her other behavior hasn't changed at all.
Robin ensnared a lot of her friends in her crimes, but they all stood loyally by her, claiming the same attorney-client privilege, and committing felonies to cover up her misdemeanors. Robin, on the other hand, seems to have turned against her husband. That's probably wise, since the FBI might be a bit tougher than Robin's victim in the previous case.
Donlan turned against Chula Vista Elementary School District after it had paid many $100,000's of taxpayer dollars to defend her. The San Diego Union Tribune wrote frequently about her attacks on the school district in 2004 when she was transferred to a new school. The district had to spend EVEN MORE MONEY TO DEFEND ITSELF FROM Robin Donlan, after it had spent so much TO DEFEND HER.
Here's what I'm wondering. If Robin really believed that she had HONESTLY AND GENUINELY come into millions of dollars in wealth, why didn't she pay back the taxpayers for all the money they spent on her? Robin's former lawyer Daniel Shinoff is still living high off taxpayer dollars, but the students of Chula Vista Elementary schools could sure use the money.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Is Jason Moore the Dale Akiki of Bonnie Dumanis?
Tanya Mannes writes about Bonnie Dumanis' mysterious "Public Integrity Unit" in this morning's San Diego Union-Tribune:
"In existence about 14 months, it has filed charges against one person: Jason Moore, a former Chula Vista mayoral aide." Jason Moore worked for Steve Padilla, a Democrat who was in a run-off election against Republican Cheryl Cox.
The investigation of Moore, for taking two hours off work to take pictures of Cheryl Cox with David Malcolm at a Cox fundraiser, began in August 2005, well before the November election. Oddly, Bonnie Dumanis says, that in the future, in most cases, "we will not investigate a complaint until after an election."
Bonnie says her office is determined to be nonpolitical. When will that start, Bonnie? Specifically, when will you investigate complaints against Cheryl Cox and her associates?
Dumanis did not even announce the existence of her "Public Integrity Unit" until March 1, 2007. Jason Moore was indicted on March 27, 2007.
O'Toole and Dumanis have each claimed to be personally interested in prosecuting perjury. But Dumanis' office recently refused to investigate proven perjury regarding illegal actions committed at Chula Vista Elementary School District when Bertha Lopez and Cheryl Cox were trustees of CVESD.
UPDATE April 25, 2014:
Maura Larkins' note: I imagine that readers are more likely to believe me regarding illegal actions and perjury committed by school officials in the South Bay after the recent revelations of pay-for-play deals with contractors. See related posts. I think these revelations will hurt Bonnie Dumanis in her contest against Bob Brewer in the upcoming election for district attorney in San Diego. But I hope that Bob Brewer, if he wins, won't give all public officials a free pass. I worry about that since Bob Brewer has made most of his money defending powerful white collar players. And he even has Bonnie's henchman Patrick O'Toole, who savagely prosecuted Jason Moore and Steve Castaneda, in his camp. That's sort of scary...
I just discovered that Bertha Lopez pled guilty yesterday to an extremely small potatoes transgression: accepting a gift over the limit. Bonnie Dumanis has not gone after the serious, truly high-stakes corruption in schools. I blame Bertha Lopez for harming students by rubber-stamping corrupt actions by both Republicans and Democrats in schools, but I believe that her prosecution by Bonnie Dumanis was largely political. Obviously, Bonnie Dumanis didn't want a trial because Bertha might have revealed too much about the corruption she knows about.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: "Two more Sweetwater school board members pleaded guilty Thursday to minor charges in the South County political corruption investigation, effectively ending a case once described as the worst corruption scandal in a decade on a muted note. Board President Jim Cartmill and trustee Bertha Lopez each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting gifts over the state limit. They will be sentenced in June."
"In existence about 14 months, it has filed charges against one person: Jason Moore, a former Chula Vista mayoral aide." Jason Moore worked for Steve Padilla, a Democrat who was in a run-off election against Republican Cheryl Cox.
The investigation of Moore, for taking two hours off work to take pictures of Cheryl Cox with David Malcolm at a Cox fundraiser, began in August 2005, well before the November election. Oddly, Bonnie Dumanis says, that in the future, in most cases, "we will not investigate a complaint until after an election."
Bonnie says her office is determined to be nonpolitical. When will that start, Bonnie? Specifically, when will you investigate complaints against Cheryl Cox and her associates?
Dumanis did not even announce the existence of her "Public Integrity Unit" until March 1, 2007. Jason Moore was indicted on March 27, 2007.
O'Toole and Dumanis have each claimed to be personally interested in prosecuting perjury. But Dumanis' office recently refused to investigate proven perjury regarding illegal actions committed at Chula Vista Elementary School District when Bertha Lopez and Cheryl Cox were trustees of CVESD.
UPDATE April 25, 2014:
Maura Larkins' note: I imagine that readers are more likely to believe me regarding illegal actions and perjury committed by school officials in the South Bay after the recent revelations of pay-for-play deals with contractors. See related posts. I think these revelations will hurt Bonnie Dumanis in her contest against Bob Brewer in the upcoming election for district attorney in San Diego. But I hope that Bob Brewer, if he wins, won't give all public officials a free pass. I worry about that since Bob Brewer has made most of his money defending powerful white collar players. And he even has Bonnie's henchman Patrick O'Toole, who savagely prosecuted Jason Moore and Steve Castaneda, in his camp. That's sort of scary...
I just discovered that Bertha Lopez pled guilty yesterday to an extremely small potatoes transgression: accepting a gift over the limit. Bonnie Dumanis has not gone after the serious, truly high-stakes corruption in schools. I blame Bertha Lopez for harming students by rubber-stamping corrupt actions by both Republicans and Democrats in schools, but I believe that her prosecution by Bonnie Dumanis was largely political. Obviously, Bonnie Dumanis didn't want a trial because Bertha might have revealed too much about the corruption she knows about.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: "Two more Sweetwater school board members pleaded guilty Thursday to minor charges in the South County political corruption investigation, effectively ending a case once described as the worst corruption scandal in a decade on a muted note. Board President Jim Cartmill and trustee Bertha Lopez each pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting gifts over the state limit. They will be sentenced in June."
Friday, May 18, 2007
Who asked Yahoo to hide a lawsuit against CTA head counsel Beverly Tucker?
On May 15, 2007, someone blanked a page on my website. It was the text of a lawsuit that had just been filed against Beverly Tucker, California Teacher Association's chief lawyer.
This lawsuit is a matter of public interest, concerning California teachers and students, and very powerful people who have violated the law. If you have any doubts, just read the text and click on the links.
If anything I have said is untrue, or if these matters are not of public interest, the defendants can sue me for defamation. But of course, they don't want to sue because they know everything I have said is true, and very much a matter of public interest.
I created a new page for the lawsuit. Here is the new link.
Here is the new link.
This lawsuit is a matter of public interest, concerning California teachers and students, and very powerful people who have violated the law. If you have any doubts, just read the text and click on the links.
If anything I have said is untrue, or if these matters are not of public interest, the defendants can sue me for defamation. But of course, they don't want to sue because they know everything I have said is true, and very much a matter of public interest.
I created a new page for the lawsuit. Here is the new link.
Here is the new link.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
What the movie "Freedom Writers" should teach us
I like movies about teachers who succeed with troubled students. They're inspiring.
Teacher Tom Moore wants people to note that heroes like Erin Gruwell often don't remain in the classroom. On January 19, 2007, he wrote in the New York Times, "It’s no surprise that half the teachers in poor urban schools, like Erin Gruwell herself, quit within five years. Ms. Gruwell now heads a foundation."
Excellent point, Tom.
We need to pay teachers enough so that the Erin Gruwell's will stay. And so the Tom Moore's will stay.
Teacher Tom Moore wants people to note that heroes like Erin Gruwell often don't remain in the classroom. On January 19, 2007, he wrote in the New York Times, "It’s no surprise that half the teachers in poor urban schools, like Erin Gruwell herself, quit within five years. Ms. Gruwell now heads a foundation."
Excellent point, Tom.
We need to pay teachers enough so that the Erin Gruwell's will stay. And so the Tom Moore's will stay.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Lawsuit against CTA head counsel Beverly Tucker got taken off Internet for an hour; then I put it back on
Dear Yahoo:
Today you blanked a page on my mauralarkins.com site. Why did you do it? Who asked you to do it?
The page was the text of a lawsuit I filed yesterday. This is a matter of public interest, concerning very powerful people who have violated the law. If you have any doubts, just read the text and click on the links to the exhibits.
If anything I have said is untrue, or if these matters are not of public interest, the defendants can sue me for defamation. But of course, they don't want to sue because they know everything I have said is true, and very much a matter of public interest.
Please put my page back up, and do not take away my right to free speech.
I created a new page for the lawsuit. Here is the new link.
Here is the new link.
Today you blanked a page on my mauralarkins.com site. Why did you do it? Who asked you to do it?
The page was the text of a lawsuit I filed yesterday. This is a matter of public interest, concerning very powerful people who have violated the law. If you have any doubts, just read the text and click on the links to the exhibits.
If anything I have said is untrue, or if these matters are not of public interest, the defendants can sue me for defamation. But of course, they don't want to sue because they know everything I have said is true, and very much a matter of public interest.
Please put my page back up, and do not take away my right to free speech.
I created a new page for the lawsuit. Here is the new link.
Here is the new link.
Former CVE president sued for covering up teacher Linda Watson's crimes
Beverly Tucker, California Teachers Association lawyer, has been sued for suborning perjury and destruction of documents to undermine a member of CTA.
The teachers union is big in California, and it didn't get that way by acting like a bunch of school teachers. The union acts more like prison guards. Maybe it will be more powerful than the prison guards union one of these days.
Tucker and Hersh represented Chula Vista Educators President Gina Boyd, who was a personal friend of Robin Donlan. Robin Colls Donlan is mentioned in the case, but is not named as a defendant. Virginia Boyd and Castle Park Elementary teacher Linda Watson are named, along with CVE and CTA.
Bonnie Dumanis won't prosecute Tom Story--but it's really, really not because she's wrapped around his finger
Scott Lewis at the Voice of San Diego says on May 9, 2007:
San Diego Education Report
"Last night I got a call from Paul Levikow, a public information officer for the district attorney, who said Bonnie Dumanis, the DA, had been reading my blog post and she thought it was "erroneous."
"I had written that she was passing a hot potato. But Dumanis was not trying to avoid or get out of prosecuting Tom Story, Levikow said. When she sent this pleading to the judge Monday she was just trying to make it clear that people shouldn't automatically assume that its her deal now that City Attorney Mike Aguirre has been thrown off the case.
"Her submission is full of reasons why she shouldn't be the one to prosecute Tom Story.
"But I was wrong, the DA says, to interpret this as meaning that she didn't want the case."
Right. Bonnie might seem to pick only on government employees, while letting the officials and their developer friends
off the hook, but it's only because...well, what exactly is Bonnie's reason?
Bonnie thinks we need special prosecutors to do this sort of job. After all, they don't need developer contributions at election time. Bonnie, how about we put you on half-time duty, and hire someone else to actually do your job the other half of the time?
Bonnie is famous for letting former San Diego mayor Richard Murphy off the hook, but she's even nicer to Chula Vista mayor Cheryl Cox. Bonnie and her mad lap-dog Peter O'Toole are prosecuting Cheryl's political opponents for taking two hours off work! My estimate is that the best they'll do is get mayble three people on a jury to agree to convict Jason Moore of a felony for taking two hours off work. How about doing something worthwhile, Bonnie and Peter?
It's too bad Bonnie Dumanis doesn't have a little bit of Michael Aguirre's zeal to prosecute the people who have sold out our local governments.
San Diego Education Report
"Last night I got a call from Paul Levikow, a public information officer for the district attorney, who said Bonnie Dumanis, the DA, had been reading my blog post and she thought it was "erroneous."
"I had written that she was passing a hot potato. But Dumanis was not trying to avoid or get out of prosecuting Tom Story, Levikow said. When she sent this pleading to the judge Monday she was just trying to make it clear that people shouldn't automatically assume that its her deal now that City Attorney Mike Aguirre has been thrown off the case.
"Her submission is full of reasons why she shouldn't be the one to prosecute Tom Story.
"But I was wrong, the DA says, to interpret this as meaning that she didn't want the case."
Right. Bonnie might seem to pick only on government employees, while letting the officials and their developer friends
off the hook, but it's only because...well, what exactly is Bonnie's reason?
Bonnie thinks we need special prosecutors to do this sort of job. After all, they don't need developer contributions at election time. Bonnie, how about we put you on half-time duty, and hire someone else to actually do your job the other half of the time?
Bonnie is famous for letting former San Diego mayor Richard Murphy off the hook, but she's even nicer to Chula Vista mayor Cheryl Cox. Bonnie and her mad lap-dog Peter O'Toole are prosecuting Cheryl's political opponents for taking two hours off work! My estimate is that the best they'll do is get mayble three people on a jury to agree to convict Jason Moore of a felony for taking two hours off work. How about doing something worthwhile, Bonnie and Peter?
It's too bad Bonnie Dumanis doesn't have a little bit of Michael Aguirre's zeal to prosecute the people who have sold out our local governments.
Friday, May 04, 2007
CVESD teacher Robin Donlan is under investigation by the FBI, SEC, US Justice Department
CVESD teacher Robin Donlan is under investigation by the FBI, SEC, US Justice Department and the IRS.
The San Diego Union Tribune can't confirm this, but the San Diego Education Report is able to confirm it. The access logs for this site show that all of these government entities have been doing internet searches for Robin Donlan. The SD Union Tribune wrote on May 4, 2007: "The Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney General's Office and the San Diego District Attorney's Office all would neither confirm nor deny any criminal investigation."
Maybe the next time Robin Donlan commits crimes against a fellow teacher, the district will do an investigation, instead of catering to her every whim. CVESD fired two excellent teachers to please Robin Donlan and her "Castle Park Family." The fact that this "family" was committing crimes didn't seem to phase the board at all. Kim Simmons, a prominent member of the "Family," was arrested last year for embezzling up to $20,000 from the Castle Park Elementary PTA.
The CVESD board member (Cheryl Cox, Patrick Judd, Pam Smith, Larry Cunningham and Bertha Lopez) spent $100,000's of public money to cover up Donlan's crimes. The board also pressured teachers and administrators to commit perjury.
The board was aided in this endeavor by Donlan's close friend Gina Boyd, former Chula Vista Educator's president, and Jim Groth, current CVE president, as well as CTA president Barbara Kerr and CTA head counsel Beverly Tucker.
On May 4, 2007, Robin Donlan was served along with her husband Vencent Donlan (Vence) with a $7.7 million lawsuit for fraudulently issuing stock options for local San Diego company Wireless Facilities, where Vence Donlan once was employed. Vence Donlan was in charge of entering Wireless Facilities' stock options data into company software. Robin and Vence sold the options at an enormous profit, and went on a real estate spending spree.
"The accusation that an options administrator defrauded a company of stock is unusual and suggests another avenue of wrongdoing that has, as yet, gone undetected," wrote Kathryn Balint and Keith Darce of the San Diego Union Tribune.
The Union Tribune was a huge supporter of Robin Donlan when she was transferred out of Castle Park Elementary. Along with La Prensa and the Chula Vista Star-News, the Union Trib published glowing stories about Ms. Donlan, and ugly accusations against Lowell Billings and Ollie Matos, the administrators who transferred her. All these newspapers knew about Robin Donlan's crimes at Castle Park Elementary, but refused to print a single word about them.
The San Diego Union Tribune can't confirm this, but the San Diego Education Report is able to confirm it. The access logs for this site show that all of these government entities have been doing internet searches for Robin Donlan. The SD Union Tribune wrote on May 4, 2007: "The Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney General's Office and the San Diego District Attorney's Office all would neither confirm nor deny any criminal investigation."
Maybe the next time Robin Donlan commits crimes against a fellow teacher, the district will do an investigation, instead of catering to her every whim. CVESD fired two excellent teachers to please Robin Donlan and her "Castle Park Family." The fact that this "family" was committing crimes didn't seem to phase the board at all. Kim Simmons, a prominent member of the "Family," was arrested last year for embezzling up to $20,000 from the Castle Park Elementary PTA.
The CVESD board member (Cheryl Cox, Patrick Judd, Pam Smith, Larry Cunningham and Bertha Lopez) spent $100,000's of public money to cover up Donlan's crimes. The board also pressured teachers and administrators to commit perjury.
The board was aided in this endeavor by Donlan's close friend Gina Boyd, former Chula Vista Educator's president, and Jim Groth, current CVE president, as well as CTA president Barbara Kerr and CTA head counsel Beverly Tucker.
On May 4, 2007, Robin Donlan was served along with her husband Vencent Donlan (Vence) with a $7.7 million lawsuit for fraudulently issuing stock options for local San Diego company Wireless Facilities, where Vence Donlan once was employed. Vence Donlan was in charge of entering Wireless Facilities' stock options data into company software. Robin and Vence sold the options at an enormous profit, and went on a real estate spending spree.
"The accusation that an options administrator defrauded a company of stock is unusual and suggests another avenue of wrongdoing that has, as yet, gone undetected," wrote Kathryn Balint and Keith Darce of the San Diego Union Tribune.
The Union Tribune was a huge supporter of Robin Donlan when she was transferred out of Castle Park Elementary. Along with La Prensa and the Chula Vista Star-News, the Union Trib published glowing stories about Ms. Donlan, and ugly accusations against Lowell Billings and Ollie Matos, the administrators who transferred her. All these newspapers knew about Robin Donlan's crimes at Castle Park Elementary, but refused to print a single word about them.
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