Los Angeles, CA. -Former L.A. Community College Trustee and Teacher, Pat Owens, is mad as hell and he is not going to take it any more. In a seven minute preview of a Full Disclosure Network® (FDN) two-part series Owens describes what made him so mad and why he has recruited "a non-controlled slate of candidates to take on 'the good old boys' of the powerful "Berman-Waxman political machine" in an attempt to return accountability to the taxpayers of the District.
The former L.A. Trade Tech Teacher Pat Owens, told Full Disclosure Network® the well entrenched LACCD incumbents are hand picked to keep the American Federation of Teachers Guild (union) in control of the largest Community College District in the United States with a budget of $640 million and recent bond revenues of over a billion dollars. Available now for viewing on the Internet are the complete two-part series as well as the seven minute preview, FREE, on demand as a public service of the FDN.
Full Disclosure Network® was notified by the LACCD Secretary of the Board of Trustees that the incumbent Trustees had been informed of our invitation to them to participate in interviews for this program. However, to date there has been no response from any of them even though we also sent an Email request to the Chancellor's office asking for contact phone numbers. Our invitation will remain open amd we hope they will respond before the election to give us their perspective.
The following individuals were interviewed for this program by the Full Disclosure Network®
- Pat Owens, Former LACCD Trustee and L.A. Trade Tech teacher
- Roy Burns, Police Science Instuctor (LACCD) Retired L.A. Sheriff's Deputy
- Jozeph Essavi, Board Member, Neighborhood Council, Former LACCD student
- Hector Gurule, Computer Businessman
- Guy Mato, Real Estate,Insurance, Deputy Sheriff (ret), Former GM Water Board
Here are some the issues and concerns raised regarding the conduct of the LACCD Board of Trustees:
- Questionable timing of the resignation of Board President Michael Waxman.
- Wasteful spending on three administration buildings, diverting money from education programs
- Union-operated student book stores use questionable 50% + mark-up prices
- Cuts in vocational training programs
- Reducing units per class, downgrading value of the traditional degree, requiring more than 2 years.
- Trustees meetings too frequently held in closed sessions, lack of community input/participation.
- Need for audit of district financials due to questionable spending of bond funds on parking, etc.
Hosted by Leslie Dutton, the Full Disclosure Network® the programs are billed as "the news behind the news" on the Internet website www.fulldisclosure.net and on 43 cable television systems. In 2004-5 FDN featured a series entitled "Belmont, the World's Most Expensive High School" covering the Los Angeles Unified School District. In 2006 FDN produced a special series on the Orange County, California Capistrano Unified School District Recall Campaign resulting with the resignation of CUSD Superintendent, and defeat of three elected Board Trustees. Channels and airtimes can be found on the website.
Comments to date: 5. This is page 1 of 1.
David "Dave" Siegrist El Monte, California
Posted: 11:46 pm [PST] on November 10 2007
Major reforms needed at Rio Hondo C.C.--We in El Monte receive 1% of the service given to Whittier by RHCC.
Donna Warren Hawthorne, CA
Posted: 01:55 pm [PST] on April 17 2007
All the trustees should be replaced since they are collusive and dishonest.
Mary Ann Danin Venice
Posted: 09:06 pm [PST] on March 04 2007
There is great pressure to increase course content due to technology. Either class credit must be reduced in order to add more content or content in classes increased. The latter is impossible at the Community College level because for the most part students come with poor preparation from High School either of their own choice or because of inferior High School teaching. We are in a transition period in education that will most likely encounter problems for the next 10 or so years.
Steve Burt South Orange County
Posted: 03:59 am [PST] on February 27 2007
A mirror image of the problems we faced with the Capistrano Unified School District. They would have a trustee step down just before an election and hand select an appointee. The new trustee would then run in the election as an incumbent. It is very difficult to beat an incumbent. Suggest the new candidates try and run on a slate. Good luck!
H. T. Seaborn Los Alamitos
Posted: 06:29 pm [PST] on February 25 2007
Thanks for shining a light on these shameful shenanigans.