Two Weeks' Worth of Election Improprieties: GB Incumbents Go Wild! (Part One)

I was going to do this one as one post, but there was so much information, I needed to break it in half. I'll start with these...

It has been a busy couple of weeks in the news for our corrupt Governing Board incumbents. While you thinking about who to elect for governor, and for positions in Congress and the Assembly, and the high school boards, and what propositions to vote “yes” or “no” on, Yolanda Salcido, Jorge Dominguez, Terri Valladolid, and Raj Chopra have been scheming and doing anything they can to buy your vote – up to and including lying, cheating, and possibly violating election laws.

SUPERINTENDENT RAJ CHOPRA SENDS OUT CAMPAIGN MATERIAL AS “OFFICIAL” SWC NEWSLETTER:

This was one of Chopra’s most shameful actions. And given his career so far, that’s quite a feat. Using the “News from SWC” newsletter, he attacked a former President without naming her – which goes right along with Jorge and Yolanda’s attempt to deflect blame from their side onto Norma Hernandez, even though WASC has blasted the Board for current actions.

He also stated that they were fully accredited, attempting to pretend that they are not on accreditation probation. He made spurious claims about the budget, the state, and layoffs.

And the worst part of all this? The school paid for this bogus newsletter. Yes, folks, your taxpayer dollars paid for Raj to send out his personal opinions in the guise of official news. This is one of these things that will almost certainly end up being investigated.

Visit the well-informed blog, Save Our SWC, for more on this – including scans of the “newsletter” itself.

And the Southwestern College Sun has an in-depth look into the controversy.


RAJ CHOPRA AND THE ADMINISTRATION OUTED FOR SPENDING (MORE) TAXPAYER MONEY ON FRIVOLOUS CELEBRATIONS

San Diego Reader firebrand Susan Luzzaro reported that Raj Chopra authorized a nearly $5000 dinner at Frida’s for administrators and contractors, using money from the Southwestern College Foundation.



From the Luzzaro piece: “Chopra is listed as a member of the foundation’s board of directors on the college’s website. Also included on the website is information about foundation expenditures: “Funds are used to build the College’s endowment, to guarantee student scholarships for future generations, to promote success, and to enrich the student experience.” (Students were not invited to Frida’s.)”

Yes, money specifically allocated for students’ success were used to wine and dine those contractors – you know, the ones who donate money of their own to try to keep our incumbents in power.

Visit here for the whole story.


JORGE DOMINGUEZ PAYS FOR A DISHONEST UNION-TRIBUNE AD AND PHIL LOPEZ CALLS HIM (AND THE U-T) ON IT

On October 21, Jorge Dominguez paid for an ad in the San Diego Union-Tribune which laid out his dishonest claims for all to see, including these greatest hits:

'We cut no classes. We laid off no employees of any kind. We reduced the number of classes by zero.'



The best line I heard about his ad was, “They spelled his name correctly. Those were the only truthful words in the ad.”

See the ad here!

I feel a need to remind people that Christians who fib as much as that advertisement fibbed should expect a visit to a particularly warm climate once they've moved on.

Former SCEA President Phil Lopez ripped into both Dominguez and the U-T:

"Many of the issues that have created "turmoil" at Southwestern College are captured in the October 21 South County section of the Union-Tribune.

Citizens are concerned about "pay for play": SWC Governing Board members have approved multi-million dollar construction contracts from developers while accepting tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the same people.

These campaign contributions allow incumbent Board members to buy expensive advertising like the campaign ad for Jorge Dominguez that was published in this newspaper. In his ad, Dominguez takes credit for the fact that SWC is "Fully Accredited." What has been omitted from his ad is that for the first time in its 50-year history, SWC has been placed on probation by an accreditation team whose concerns center on mismanagement by top administration and the Governing Board.

More disturbing are Dominguez' statements that there were "No layoffs of employees" and "No reductions in the number of classes." These claims are untrue. Cutting classes requires laying off employees, and Dominguez should remember that he voted to cut more than 400 class sections last Spring. In fact, over the past four years, incumbent Board members have cut classes by more than 40 percent--cuts which are far deeper than at any other local community colleges.

Dominguez and other incumbent candidates have stated that these cuts were necessary because of a "budget crisis." The facts--all available from the school's own yearly report to the State--say otherwise. Fact: The Governing Board has accumulated reserves--money in the bank--more than 2 1/2 times greater than what the State Chancellor's office recommends as a "prudent minimum." Fact: During the past four years, all of them bad budget years, SWC's reserves have grown from $10 million to nearly $14 million. Fact: Board members at Southwestern College have been putting money in the bank while drastically reducing educational opportunities for students.

In another editorial, the U-T offers voters some good advice: "Don't Trust Dishonest Ads." Incumbent Board members at Southwestern College have demonstrated, time after time, that they are not worthy of our trust."

Phil Lopez, Chula Vista

I'll put up the second half of this list - the long half - tomorrow.