Free speech now allowed by San Diego Unified board members

I'm wondering if the odd and short-lived plan to silence dissent was concocted by recently-hired SDUSD bigwigs Mark Bresee (chief counsel) and Terry Grier (superintendent). I know Mark Bresee is opposed to openness and honesty on school boards. I now suspect that Mark Bresee's hiring was done at the behest of Terry Grier, who apparently is in sync with Mr. Bresee on this issue. The two of them are apparently fans of Aspen Group International, LLC, which provided the consultants who "helped" the board write the rule.

School Board Reverses Public-Criticism Rule
Voice of San Diego

The San Diego Unified school board voted tonight to abolish a policy that barred its members from publicly making negative comments about their superintendent and staff after the policy received heavy criticism. The board also removed a policy that dissuades them from undermining board decisions when speaking publicly.

One member of the public, League of Women Voters of San Diego Co-President Norma Damashek, said tonight that the policies "short-circuit transparency and accountability in public meetings" and "deprive us of the opportunity to hear the views of our public representatives." The rule was earlier criticized by attorneys from the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the statewide open government group Californians Aware...

School board member Luis Acle was the only member to vote against removing the rule.


-- EMILY ALPERT
October 14, 2008

Terry Francke says Katherine Nakamura needs to obey the Brown Act

The SDUSD board doesn't like to appear as if it doesn't care about ethics. So it turns to its lawyers to point the way toward creating an image of upstanding behavior. And the lawyers are only too happy to talk anytime the board wants.

President Katherine Nakamura apparently doesn't want Luis Acle's election ethics violations to tarnish her own reputation. She turned to the board's lawyer, Jose Gonsales. I know that many school attorneys believe that their job is to help cover up for their clients. I don't know Mr. Gonsales, however. It appears that he's an expert at getting away with violating the Brown Act.

Here's the story from Voice of San Diego:
"President Katherine Nakamura said trustee Luis Acle's fine from the city Ethics Commission would be discussed by the board with its legal counsel in a closed meeting Monday.

"Terry Francke, general counsel for the open government advocates Californians Aware, said that it the school board's plan to discuss Acle behind closed doors "doesn't sound like it fits any of the lawful closed sessions listed in the Brown Act," which sets forth rules for public meetings.

"'There's no litigation involving the school district as a party that is either ongoing or threatened,' he said. If Acle faces litigation, 'that's a personal liability, not one of the district.'

"And Acle's future isn't a personnel matter, he said...Acle's ethics violations stem from an unsuccessful City Council run, not his campaign for school board."


-- EMILY ALPERT
Thursday, July 17 -- 7:38 pm

Some people don't know when to quit fighting

It's hard to figure out some people. They seem to be intelligent, but then they act as if they don't have a grasp on reality. Why didn't Luis Acle show some remorse, apologize, and settle this case (see article below)?

Did he fool himself about his wrongdoing, or was he just convinced he could fool other people? I suspect that a combination of delusion and dishonesty caused him to act the way he did. After 34 years of dealing with people in the field of education, I've found that this combination is less rare than one might wish.

Scott Lewis of Voice of San Diego discusses the Ethics Commission fine against SDUSD trustee Luis Acle:

...he had the chance to cooperate with their investigation and maybe work something out like so many other politicos in town. Instead, he fought...

He took the Ethics Commission to its first ever full administrative hearing...

Acle must have argued worse than he did when he faced the IRS -- his fine, the paper reported, came to more than $75,000.

...He was found to have not only failed to pay contracted workers on his campaign, the commission found him to have hidden expenses and collected donations in cash. These are direct efforts to hide information from voters...

Unfortunately for him, he armed himself with very little evidence...