A pot-pourri from around the region…
Poway Schools’ big fuss on our dime… In the North County Times, Sunana Batra skewers the Poway Unified School District for continuing to pursue a legal battle against a teacher’s display of phrases such as "In God We Trust" on classroom banners. I have to wonder if the math teacher had used dollar bills in lessons and his students accidentally read the phrase, would he be in as much trouble. Just asking.
From Batra’s piece:
U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez ruled that (the teacher) did in fact have the right to display banners in his classroom which promoted specific phrases from our founding documents.
The questionable phrases would seem benign to most: they included "In God We Trust," "God Bless America" and "All men are created equal, they are endowed by their creator."
One would expect the Poway administrators to take some time after this resounding defeat to lick their wounds and move onto more pressing business, like avoiding layoffs at their schools. On March 15, 237 Poway Unified School District teachers were issued layoff notices.
But no, instead of trying to get their financial houses in order, they have chosen to intentionally put an exclamation point on their own absurdity. They are appealing the decision, and have decided to continue on their relentless crusade to spill more money on this stupid fight.
The school board members are missing in action, Batra writes. In my experience, this may be the typical story of the board having a couple of members extremely uncomfortable with the entire situation, but based on the legal advice they are getting, believing they have no choice but to "go along."
The remaining question is not so much where are the board members, but — instead — where is their courage? I invite any of them to weigh in here or contact me.
Read all of Batra’s column.
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GOP Congressman Question UCSD Technology to Assist Illegal Border Crossers… I noted several weeks ago that some UCSD professors were flaunting their use of tax monies in the development of a GPS cell phone device to provide assistance to those crossing into the U.S. illegally, intending to then hand out the phones south of the border. Area Congressmen Brian Bilbray, Duncan Hunter and Darrell Issa are wading in to the debate, asking university officials to justify the legality of the project.
"We would say there’s more important things to be spending money on, like good science and math studies, as opposed to a GPS tool that could help illegal immigrants, terrorists, criminals and drug runners cross the border illegally,” Congressman Hunter told the Union-Trib.
Read the North County Times story.
Here’s the Union-Trib piece.
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Better Courts Now Announces Endorsements… Although Pastor Don Hamer — the driving force behind the project to support conservative superior court judge candidates — recently passed away, the effort has moved ahead with a list of supported candidates:
http://www.bettercourtsnow.com/better-courts-now-announces-endorsements-for-superior-court-judge/
With Hamer’s death (see the tribute page established in his memory), it remains to be seen whether the effort will garner enough contributions to have an impact aside from the website. Yes, it still takes significant resources to get voters to go to an otherwise unknown-to-them website. Donations are accepted on the site, of course.
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Taxpayers Association Opposes Term Limits for County Supes and Asks for "Reform Before Revenue" on Two Local Measures… As posted on the local blog SD Rostra:
The Association opposes Proposition B, the countywide measure calling for term limits on the Board of Supervisors. Association President & CEO Lani Lutar says the board of directors believes the measure is a poor public policy approach, and could potentially create the same sort of chaos in San Diego seen in the state legislature in Sacramento.
The Association also opposes two revenue generation measures in the coastal cities of Del Mar and Solana Beach. Proposition J would impose a transient occupancy tax on short term rentals of 30 days or less; Proposition L would impose a new business tax in the City of Solana Beach. Lutar says neither city has fully explored ways to cut spending, calling for “reform before revenue.” She added that neither measure ensures funds will go to essential services, and could just as easily end up paying for increased salaries and pensions.
Read it all here.
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Speaking of SD Rostra… Many of the local races — and local blog debate — are heating up. Don’t miss the action: http://sdrostra.com/
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A Master-ful Thought… How to know whether you’ve been away from golf long enough? If, had you been away the same amount of time when no controversy was taking place, whether anyone would have even noticed.
Have a great week!
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