Back during my unsuccessful run for the City Council I was accused of a lot of different things. Perhaps the most colorful charge that was thrown at me was published by Susan Harriet Poole Carter Henderson in the Mountain Views News. In an over-the-top hit piece Susan claimed that I had been reported to the Sierra Madre Police Department twice for going through people's trash cans. You know, as a way of researching for information to print on this blog? It was, of course, an absurd accusation, one that says more about the mindset of the troubled person making the charge than anything else. After the election I checked in with the Police Department and asked if anyone had actually filed such complaints against me and, of course, there was absolutely no record of such a thing. It was a complete and utter libel, and typical of the behavior we have often seen from the people who make these kinds of politically motivated attacks.
My personal opinion is that this fabrication was done to aid the Joe Mosca reelection campaign (Susan Harriet etc. considered herself to be an "organizer" for that campaign), and was even possibly done with Pothole Joe's cooperation. It does smack of his style and abusive wit. And, of course, I wasn't the only one who had been subjected to this sort of thing here in town. MaryAnn MacGillivray, Pat Alcorn, Nancy Shollenberger, Don Watts, Kurt Zimmerman, the Dunns, and just about anyone associated with Measure V has also had to endure assaults from the great San Gabriel Valley political establishment slime machine as well. It is how these people do politics, and when the going gets tough (or their records get discussed) they can be counted on to resort to such things. It's what they do.
Now you might think that in an election for a seat on a Board of Education there would be no place for this sort of thing. That the topics would be the welfare and education of school children, textbooks, music programs and marching bands, athletic programs and, of course, how successful the school system itself has been in educating our young. But apparently for Tom Selinske that sort of discussion isn't what it is all about.
In yesterday's Pasadena Star News there is an article that publicizes the latest round of smear attacks from the good old boy political establishment. Tom Selinske, the Seat 6 Pasadena Unified School District incumbent, desperately fighting for re-election, now finds himself in a runoff election with a talented opponent named Sean Baggett. And, as is typical of the political establishment that he is a part of (Tom has been endorsed by just about all the mainline establishment politicians including Mayors Bill Bogaard and Joe Mosca), Tom Selinske has now unleashed a barrage of unfounded slime against his opponent. This from the PSN piece:
According to court documents, challenger Sean Baggett's criminal record includes a 2008 Pasadena arrest for driving under the influence, which was later reduced to reckless driving; a 2006 Pasadena arrest for urinating in public, which was thrown out in 2007 and a 1994 Santa Cruz arrest for reckless driving. "If (this is true) it would wrong for him to serve on the school board," Pasadena Unified School Board incumbent Tom Selinske said Wednesday.
You might want to note here that the PSN article does not say what Sean was charged with driving under the influence of (it was a reaction to asthma medicine), nor does it state that the Santa Cruz charge was basically a traffic citation. And is there a person living and breathing today who can honestly claim that they haven't relieved themselves against a tree at least once in their life? My personal take is that if you do raise your hand on that one you have probably never played golf.
That Tom Selinske has had to resort to so low and unbecoming a tactic is not only typical of the establishment he represents, it is also an act of desperation. Looking at what has become of the Pasadena Unified School District in the last four years, which is the time of Tom's tenure, what choice does he have? Because to discuss that would be to invite speculation on what has been an unmitigated disaster for local education. Wholesale teacher firings, school closings that have resulted in unprecedented classroom crowding, absurdly low graduation rates, and a mass exodus from the public school system by any families with the wherewithal to send their kids to private school, all things that happened on his watch.
No wonder Tom Selinske would rather talk about pissing in public.
In an article written by former Pasadena Star News mainstay Dan Abendschein (who now runs the Altadena version of The Huffington Patch), there are some very inconvenient numbers that get examined and discussed. And certainly they are not the kind of thing that Tom Selinske would prefer for you to be talking about right now.
According to State Department of Education statistics, Pasadena Unified School District's spending per pupil in the highest in the region. PUSD spends over $10,500 per kid. The second highest rate is in wealthy San Marino where the rate is $9,000 per student. The countywide average is around $8,800.
Yet when you couple those figures with the fact that Pasadena Unified School District pays its teachers the worst salaries in the area ($64,000 per annum versus the LA County average of $66,400) you have to wonder where all of that money is going. And with 160 teacher layoffs, school shut downs and the cutting of as many educational programs as can possibly be eliminated without losing the right to call itself a school system, PUSD is quite obviously not putting its money where its educational mouth needs to be.
So where is that money going? Administration. How do you pay more per pupil than anyone else while paying educators the lowest going rate in the area, and then firing a good portion of them? You spend it on the old boys and girls bureaucracy that runs the place. As Sean Baggett puts it:
Last year, close to 160 teachers were laid off. However, while there were a few administrators let go because of other issues, not one could I find that was laid off due to a reduction in force. That sounds to me that the students and the teachers took the brunt of the hits from last year's budget.
Tom Selinske is now doing everything he can to keep you from talking about the real plight of the PUSD. A plight that, as the Seat 6 incumbent, he bears a lot of the responsibility. And since Selinske has nothing in his 4 year tenure that he can point to with any sense of pride, he has now embraced low road politics and is engaging in what can only be described as a smear campaign.
And in a school board election no less. It really is quite unbelievable.
http://sierramadretattler.blogspot.com
FYI for TATS:
ReplyDeleteI used to work at PUSD. The WORST place I ever worked in my life. Lovely staff and children but the absolute worst admin ever in my life. I am east coast trained and worked in SF and SD. Horrible union. Horrible. They work with the ADMIN which does not help a teacher. very un-ethical and not helpful......we often wondered where DID the money go??
One Resource teacher was union rep who was married to Board of Ed.....yup, you got it. Pretty rotten.
And not certified......who could get away with that under NCLB???? Big Mess...
Many of us left in large groups and work in large numbers at other districts being paid at least $20,000. more. We laugh at PUSD. Are much happier.
Amazed at anyone who would support Selinske, shows us they care nothing about the future of education. But, then he is the epitome of why our country does not believe in teachers anymore. Watch all of PUSD close when Joe sticks his self-centered corporte finger all the way in this pie.
Shame on you Joe and Selinske. Proof more of your lack of scholarly class.
Having long ago decided to entrust my children to the Mother Church, I can proudly say that l have never voted in a school election. I nonetheless faithfully show up to vote against all school bonds - you know, the "bonds" used to level the perfectly good junior high, and that absolutely must be spent to the last dime because it's bond money, and doesn't really count as money spent because it is borrowed, and can't be spent on stuff like teachers, etc. I digress.
ReplyDeleteIn a break from tradition, I will be voting in this election, and whole heartedly endorse the ASTHMATIC TREE PISSER! I urge one and all to do the same.
PS: I have friends who can piss off a bike going 30 miles an hour across Huntington. I think they should run for President.
I urge one and all to do the same. .
Tattler, yet another apt sobriquet for our mayor for 32 more days,
ReplyDeletePothole Joe.
I have never voted in a PUSD election before. But I will vote this time. Anybody that Mosca endorses deserves to lose. I will do what I can to
ReplyDeletemake sure that happens.
Mr. Baggett has real world experience, and I'm talking about the classroom. He has taught.
ReplyDeleteMr. Selinkske has a dismal record and a liar's endorsement.
The establishment uses political illiteracy to win elections. People
ReplyDeletewho don't understand the issues are instead fed big gobs of smear.
It is as cynical as it is hateful, and shows great contempt for us as
residents. That is what they think of us. Too stupid to know the
facts.
I am assuming the run-off election material has not yet been mailed . . . ?
ReplyDeletethe runoff election isn't until april 19. the election mailer probably doesn't go out for another week.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the ladies are using shrubbery for toilets. Does that make them ethically superior? From what I've seen from the likes of Susan Henderson, that hypothesis fails miserably. So why is this an issue?
ReplyDeleteI've also seen costly administrative nightmares in the other local school districts. PUSD just has the worst case of it I've seen to date.
In my 35 years on the job I was never impressed by a school board member; they are (imho) just little wannabe politicians, a lot like G4 style city councilmembers.
ReplyDeleteStill some are worse than others. On the other hand, if you can't make an emergency pit stop without being arrested, you exhibit a certain lack of cleverness, as you do being unable to manage your medications.
I will therefore vote against Selinske.
I read the Star News article and Baggett scores a big hit on Selinske about awarding a lucrative PUSD contract to a crony. That is the real dirt.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed 8:40, and you've got to love the "our attorney told me it was OK" part. Translation: my ass is covered.
ReplyDeleteWhen a politician intentionally sets out to smear an opponent, knowing full well that he or she is resorting to the dirtiest of dirty tricks, it's already too late for that politician. That's the kind of moral compromise that shows terminal corruption.
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you for covering this sinister sliming of a candidate who obviously threatens the status quo at PUSD.
ReplyDeletePerhaps without realizing it Mr. Selinske and his ilk have shored up the opposition to get out there and vote and spread the word in support of Mr. Baggett.
We know you have seen this kind of thing before in Sierra Madre and unfortunately in Pasadena we also have a long and intimate acquaintance with such smears and dirty tricks.
Because you're absolutely right... without lies and mudslinging what do these people have?
"Climate expert Dr David Viner, who until recently worked at Britain’s world-renowned Climatic Research Unit at the 'famed' University of East Anglia, in 2000 in the Independent made the expert prediction that snow would soon become a 'rare and exciting event.'”
ReplyDeleteBeware the CONSTANT THREAT OF SCARCITY, globally and right here in Dicken's village, where record high rainfall totals will be spun to "drought."
People who smear others in order to win are personally responsible for the cynicism about the political process.
ReplyDelete27 ft base, explain the drought/wildfires in west central Colorado. bring your quotations up to date (2000?) climate change is evident in the geological record, warming/cooling/ice age trends didn't matter when there were far fewer people in the way. go ahead and ignore the distinct possiblity of ocean collapse buy as you sink outa sight tell the bee keepers (colony colapse) you were sorry and didn't pay attention while you ate the last cod fillet on earth along with that last chunk of chocolate scratching your mosquito bites after white nose syndrome killed all the bats.
ReplyDeleteLess than 300 voters came out in Sierra Madre to vote in the March 8th election. Now you all see why voting is so important. Hope to see you all at the polls on April 19th.
ReplyDeleteDidn't get a chance to respond to yesterday's referendum talk--need a bonified written referendum, vetted by legal, signatures gathered by registered voters, of registered voters, number of signatures depending on which election you want referendum to be voted on, timed right, turned in to be verified by elections official. This is not something you want to spend time on without all the necessary preparatiions.
ReplyDeleteYou know that the G4 will want to find all the flaws and set the referendum aside.
So, the issue: Stop the City Council (Mayor to be John Buchanan in particular) from encumbering the electorate with Bonds for his nonsense.
Who is in charge here?
I can't remember the last time I voted in a PUSD election but next week all three absentee voters in my household will cast their vote for Sean. When I read the literature saying Tom was endorsed by Mosca, I knew he was a bad guy.
ReplyDelete9:48 ---- do you know how those 300 Sierra Madre votes broke down? Who carried Sierra Madre? I have been looking for that info and cannot find it.
ReplyDeleteMy O My, Tattlers, quite a racy morning. All this talk of public "indecency" has got Pa and me all atwitter. We even thought about going back to bed, but then neither us could remember why.
ReplyDeleteI can't find it either. My number came from the polling places in Sierra Madre late in the evening. This didn't count mail-in.
ReplyDeleteMa and Pa - apparently everyone is a-twitter. This article is now up to 820 of what we in the blog game call 'hits,' which means lots of folks are reading the thing. Which goes to show, like love and marriage, you just never can tell.
ReplyDeleteSchool boards are the first places groups who back a political agenda but need a "face" and approach him/her to run. That is kindergarten for growing handpicked politicians. They can grow a moral base of caring for your children, but like John Tran, he was a snake he had has no business, several of the politic ladies I know told me, they even tried to keep him out of politics. School board, I was approached by a group to run for schoolboard, I looked at them like they slapped me, they did not know me.
ReplyDeleteMy friend who runs a non profit and has done so for over 40 years, has refused constantly because of the particular groups supporting said candidate and the anchors of favors owed that drown the endower of such group invest in politicians experts. I have seen great people distracted from an issue by being charmed into running thus distracting them from what was more important or the groups concerned to let an agenda go through. Politicians are a dime a dozen, on sale. Not like great journalists.
excerpt " . . . climate scientists have found an irrefutable link between the size of Honda engines and temblors such as the massive quake epicentered in Sendai. As standard Honda engines grew from 2 to 4 to 6 cylinders, the frequency and severity of temblors has increased in direct proportion . . . ."
ReplyDeletefrom TokyoToday
8:36, I assure you that ladies, at appropriate times, are familiar with alternative rest room facilities.
ReplyDeleteThough in the interests of public health, one trusts that ladies and gentlemen keep the use of such alternatives to a necessary minimum.
But where is offense in this creative problem solving when compared with:
"In his counter attack, Baggett accused the incumbent of engaging in machine politics. He pointed to a sweetheart deal approved by the PUSD board that resulted in a contract for Selinske's 2007 campaign advisor."
I got a big kick out of the commenter at 7:20 a.m.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff. Asthmatic Tree Pisser for President!
See you at the polls April 19.
Selenske's handlers must have gotten some unhappy poll data. Like maybe
ReplyDeletehe is the bum that needs to be thrown out of office. Which he definitely is.
10:33 that is not what nuclear boy says,there is a site Earthguake-Report that lists the earthquakes there by daily. 4 there yesterday one a 6.6, 700 aftershocks, that place is subducting going under the other indo plate 8 ft and still moving, settling. Pros are saying it might sink. But if you say it is only the cars, I won't worry.
ReplyDeleteThe Star News writer Brian Charles wrote an even handed account, and he is to be thanked for that. Refreshing.
ReplyDeleteFrom this point on, Baggett doesn't need to explain himself anymore. It just makes the smear last longer, which is what people like Selinske are hoping for.
Now all this distracting dust can be blown away and the focus can be on educating kids.
And laying off many administrators. Open secret in Pasadena that the administration is rife with incompetent parasites.
10:33, surely the link that was being made there was more about air and ground borne vibrations than it was about carbon, huh?
ReplyDelete11:03 - I don't completely agree about Charles. I think the purpose of this article was to launch Selinske's smear attack. The Star News is as much a part of the political woodwork as even Mr. 6 Seat. But I do agree about incompetent parasites. Pretty much describes most government in these parts. Some of the worst I have ever seen.
ReplyDeletePoint taken 11:11, and maybe I was too positive. But remember the smear campaigns conducted in Sierra Madre - there was no response allowed in the local 'press' from the slandered, none at all. Only the smears were publicized.
ReplyDelete@11:03, you're so right about the parasites and don't forget all the consultants and non-profits who are sucking the host dry. Strip the barnacles off the district and you will have improvement where it counts. It's like cleaning out the garage --- once you are rid of the junk you finally know what you have and amazingly it all functions better
ReplyDeleteHenderson's ethics are gutter.
ReplyDeleteDidn't she get fired from a previous job because she falisfied expense reports and basicallys stole money from her employer.
She's a shiny example of what is wrong with America.
She makes up quotes, makes up her resume, makes nonsensical rants and is a bully.
It's no wonder that her social circle is surrounded by pihranas.
11:25, Henderson is the piranha. The circle around her are her snacks.
ReplyDeleteHenderson is just a minor appendage on the overall corruption that is politics in Sierra Madre and throughout the area. That is where the money is, and she latched on as hard as she could.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievably I don't think the slimers in Pasadena are even able to recognize that there could be a downside to a smear campaign; i.e., that it could reflect badly on THEMSELVES. They've been trained by the power players --- bed mate PSN who should be monitoring them, an increasingly deflated electorate, and gadflys who have been silenced --- that it's all good, that it works, and that there will be no negative consequences.
ReplyDeleteThe gadflies on the Tattler don't silence easily.
ReplyDelete@ 27ft Base,
ReplyDeleteUm, what topic, exactly, are you responding to?
Inappropriately random much?
Feel free to gather some facts, read a bit, then come back and post something that is relevant.
That is all.
@12:52 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed! Thank you, we're grateful.
I think we're either looking at some absurdist humor or somebody over expanded their consciousness back in the '60s, 1:27.
ReplyDelete11:33 "and Joe just ate two snickers bars, oh yes we liked Joe"
ReplyDeleteMost Americans come to learn that the system is far from perfect, and that doublespeak comes way too easily to political types, as do oversized egos. But as long as there is free speech, we have a chance. So thanks to John Crawford and others like him who give their time and energy to making these opportunities for us to exercise our rights.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I really understood how hypocritical campaigns could be was here in Sierra Madre.
ReplyDeleteIt was during the Voter Empowerment Initiative, Measure V, and hired guns from outside town were working against the slow growth advocates. Push polls, bogus 'focus' groups, lies in the papers, really disgusting web sites, and wild rumors about good people, these were the tactics.
I was astonished when the people perpetrating this reprehensible campaign came out on the offensive, saying the slow growth side was at fault for the very things that the anti-Measure V crowd was doing!
It's a mind warp I still have trouble following.
Unfortunately whoever sent the little bugger here chose wisely. They read the needs of a significant portion of Sierra Madre very well.
ReplyDeleteSuperficial and phony.
The smear stuff is very widespread unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteJon Stewart's The Daily Show, the best fake news on TV, had a segment on two politicians running against each other who caused a national stir.
Because they were honest about their points of view and discussed the issues.
Made 'em famous.
That's what the big bucks buys for you. Political consultants who actually study how to best use these kinds of smear tactics. Don't believe for a second that certain pols in town still don't consult the how-to books the BIA and CAR bought for them.
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked at how nasty the small group of investors in Sierra Madre were, and how they hoodwinked just enough people to retake the council last year. It's not a true reflection of the majority of Sierra Madre residents. A rotten bunch got into positions to make decisions.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be fun to see their faces when we put their bonds on the ballot. Their majority means nothing if people embrace popular democracy. We'll just put them on a strict money diet and watch them get depressed.
ReplyDeleteI guess I can understand the use of smear tactics in some campaigns. But a Board of Education election? What kind of animals are these people?
ReplyDeleteSometimes that slung mud sticks. And once a strategist pushes a candidate to do it, the commitment to the lie will only intensify.
ReplyDeleteBaggett better get some good advice, like let's just be glad there's nothing more serious. And in public forums, loudly challenge Selinske's choice in dragging all this attention away from what is important.
Are they going to debate?
I bet Seliske's handlers will advise him not to debate. I think they know he will look tired and spent next to Baggett. They're just hanging on at this point. That is what their going negative tells us.
ReplyDeleteI'm with 3:04, this is a board of education race! What's with the handlers and strategists?
ReplyDeleteI know Selinske's got some dough wrapped up in it, because i got too many mailers from him.
Waste of money. Not a good sign that he's going to send out perky material to the same household 4 or 5 times.
In Sierra Madre we know the motivations that come from the Downtown Investors Club members, and their crew, known as the Dirt (from their embrace of a wacko website called Downtown Dirt)
ReplyDeleteBut what has Selinske got to gain that he's willing to swap for his integrity?
Here ismy question. The people giving all that money to selinske, what do they get for it? Is there really a payoff for them? It's a board of education seat for a broke school district. Why the big campaign tactics?
ReplyDeleteIf Selinske had any integrity Mosca wouldn't have endorsed him. Pothole Joe finds honesty threatening.
ReplyDeleteGood questions 3:23 and 3:26.
ReplyDeleteSomething stinks.
Isn't the PUSD sitting on a bunch of construction bond money?
ReplyDeleteOh Lordy.
ReplyDeleteIf so, 3:35, that's it.
It's our old pals the developers.
Buchanan and Bart Doyle always worked very hard for the passage of PUSD construction bond issues. I'll bet Selinske is a BIA cutout.
ReplyDeleteBingo. That explains the smear.
ReplyDeleteThe last thing those crooks want is an honest man on the Pasadena Board of Ed. Who knows what Baggett would uncover?
ReplyDeleteHeavy duty Baggett smears at the Pasadena Weekly. Are these true, and how relevant are they,if so?
ReplyDeleteWho wrote the article? chapman?
ReplyDeleteThe Weaklys specialize in city hall party lines.
ReplyDeleteNot going to bite the hands that feed them you know.
PUSD is a disaster. And it is run by crooks.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody even read the P Weakly? I see it sitting on the racks untouched. Like the Sierra Madre Weakly. You could hide your life secrets and there and feel safe that nobody would find them.
ReplyDeleteOn the PUSD page about Selinske, it says he is founder and president of "Encore Awards and Marking Corporation based in Pasadena, California."
ReplyDeleteIt's Encore Awards and MARKETING Corporation based in Pasadena, California.
So the guy is up on "branding" and any of the other tricks we're seeing.
I just got a call to support Sean B in the upcomming election. I said, "I alread planned to vote for him."
ReplyDeleteI told her I would never support the OTHER guy because of "WHO" endorsed him, and she laughed.
5:04, I was waiting at a restaurant in Pasadena and picked up a P Weekly. It featured Pothole Joe's PR extravaganza city speech. Twice actually. Or one and a half times. The proof reader screwed up and some of the columns were printed twice. A plethora of gibberish.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between Pasadena Weekly readers and Tattler readers is Tattler readers actually vote.
ReplyDeleteThis is a shameful situation.
ReplyDeleteThe Tattler is the only place where real agendas are brought out into the open for discussion.
The Looney Views and the Weaklys, the rest of the papers for hire, and the corporate blogs too, are just lap dogs for the city governments.
Shame on them.
The PUSD is a cesspool of corruption, run for the benefit of crooks. It needs to be taken over by the state.
ReplyDeleteChildren never are important in our country. Joe john and josh prove that. little boys who pretend to be men and bully their way to the top and get shameful people to wag their tongues and tails beside them.
ReplyDeletecannot speak, write, read or think. believe me, they have been like this all their lives and will blame everyone but the mirror reflection.
and little girls. mean girls. susan, sarah, et al.who tag along... thanks 5:47!
ReplyDeleteThe Weakly papers love to smear. Look what they did to MaryAnn during the last election. Not a word of truth and they defended it to the hilt. And she wasn't even running.
ReplyDeleteThe Loony Views News went after MaryAnn because the useless Mosca thing was in a seething snit with her over not making him Mayot. Now after a year of having to endure his slack flapping mouth we can see just how right she really was.
ReplyDeleteI was told by a nice elder in town that he voted for Joe "because MaryAnn was so mean to Joe."
ReplyDeleteThat's how MaryAnn was in the race, and that man's vote was the harvest from the slander and libel.
Please note his language. "According to court documents" People do not get a rap sheet from court documents. More to the point, look at the rest of it. "If [this is true] . . . " completely admits the unsubstantiated nature of the allegations. I could say, I have reason to believe Joe Blow beats his wife every morning. If this is true, he has no business running a women's shelter. How smart. That's certainly and obviously true that such a person would be unsuitable, but it in no way proves that it is true. In fact, is suggests that it very well might not be true, but the association has done its damage. Unbelievable. This is slime with grease added.
ReplyDeleteI only wish all the people paid as much attention to what is really going on like those who read the Tattler.
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority of the public fall for the misinformation and slander like clock work, and vote accordingly.
It's sad.
The crooks win every time.
I'm amazed at the overwhelming majority of ignorants posting in here. If you don't want Selinske is one thing, but to automatically wanting to vote for Baggett because he is not Selinske, and not bothering to do your research on Baggett is utter stupidity.
ReplyDeleteI know Sean Bagget, I used to work for him and he is corrupt, a liar and major deceiver. If for some horrible reason he gets elected, those of you who vote for him are in for a treat. Everything he claims to be is a lie! Do your research, people and don't get blindsided by the allegations of a smear campaign by Selinske. Baggett has plenty of baggage that would make any other candidate a saint in comparison.
I stumbled across this blog while looking up information on the election. I am impressed with the high proportion of comments that are posted by "anonymous" or equivalent. Is there a good reason to post comments anonymously? I can't take such comments seriously.
ReplyDeleteIn Sierra Madre, it's quite common that if you don't run with the status quo, you will be ostracized. I'm not the same anonymous, but I choose to remain anonymous to avoid a lynch mob that lives in this fair city- there are members of this mob who even bully children that they feel don't belong at Sierra Madre "private" school.
ReplyDeleteNot a single member of the school board has addressed a serious issue I brought up to each and every one of them. It must be better to waste PUSD's money trying to cover up the entire mess. To me, they're all the same.