The Burlingame Voice

What's up with California school administration?

Thankfully this post is not about Burlingame but given what we read on some of our longest running School posts like this one from October 2022 there may be some learning to be gained by looking at recent events at Pittsburg High School.  The Chronicle had a piece about the PE teacher and football coach at Pittsburg High School that left me with many questions.  First, some details with extra bolding:

When school officials in the East Bay city of Pittsburg were told that a high school football coach had been accused of groping female students, they reprimanded him repeatedly for at least a decade — but allowed him to keep his job after each instance, then to quietly retire. In an agreement on the terms of his departure, the district made a major concession: It promised not to tell prospective employers about the coach’s history.

The complaints about former Pittsburg High School coach Phillip Webb finally surfaced Wednesday after a lawsuit was filed by two of his alleged victims, young women who said he had touched them inappropriately when they were students in 2015 and 2016. Documents obtained by the women’s lawyers show that officials told Webb at least a half dozen times to change his behavior but never punished him.

The state Commission on Teacher Credentialing issued a reproval against Webb this May, but did not revoke the teaching credential he had been issued in 1985. He had taught physical education in addition to coaching football.  That means Webb could still apply to other California school districts to work with youngsters.  The agreement was provided to the Chronicle by Lauren Cerri, an attorney for the two women, who obtained it under the California Public Records Act.

Webb did not address any of the claims in the lawsuit, and said any further questions should be directed to his attorney. He has not been charged with any crimes.

You can read through many of the details on-line as it is a long piece.  But it begs so many questions.  Many incidents were reported by students and other teachers (e.g. 2007, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2022!). That last one was on a security camera.  How many warnings do principals and superintendents hand out before they do something more?  How transparent with the school community are they--and should they be when it's a "personnel issue"?  Where's the school board oversight?  One of the girls' fathers is quoted and is angry and confused by the apparent inaction, but at what point does a parent call their local police?  We've read a bit about the Commission on Teacher Credentialing here on the Voice.  What exactly does the CTC do?  What sort of investigative resources do they have?  How high is their hurdle?

What's up with the agreement about retirement in three months and the secrecy?  Some of that is certainly personnel record law.  That's where the Chronicle ends the piece

A 2014 law signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown made it easier for schools to fire educators who commit misconduct, but many still choose to allow them to resign or retire in order to avoid potential legal battles. Bills that would forbid schools from entering into secret agreements that keep misconduct hidden from prospective employers have hit a dead end in the California Legislature.

More questions.  How easy is it to fire someone under the nine-year old law?  All sorts of crazy stuff sails through the California Legislature and gets signed by governors, but this hits a dead end?  What's up with that, supermajority?

City Strike? Free speech for all?

The only thing I'm certain about regarding this post is that we do not have the whole story.  Kudos to the Daily Journal for running with what they did know yesterday about the potential strike over "free speech" issues among City employees.  The DJ piece starts with

The union representing 130 Burlingame city workers could strike after complaints allege city managers in various departments are interfering with employees’ rights to free speech.  Rod Palmquist, spokesperson for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 829, said the city workers have a right to free speech and express their desire for better-paying wages.

The bit of background we do have is

The state’s Public Employment Relations Board issued an unfair labor practice complaint against the city Sept. 8. In early June, several employees attended a City Council meeting to speak in favor of fair wages. The next day, an employee at the meeting allegedly asked police Capt. Robert Boll a routine operational question. Boll allegedly said, “Why don’t you ask the AFSCME people.” While speaking to a group of employees who voiced the need for a pay increase, Park Superintendent Richard Holtz allegedly responded that they should talk with him if they didn’t like working for the city for the pay they receive, adding he would help them find another place to work, according to a PERB complaint.

First, one could ask why there is such a thing as a Public Employment Relations Board, who is on it and how much homework do they do before they issue a complaint?  I'd like to know what the "routine operational question" was and whether it was asked in good faith.  As far as the second comment by Rich Holtz, that sounds like him exercising his free speech, not interfering with someone else's.  And it's not like he gets to decide who gets paid what in town.  For me the kicker is this bit

City employee Joleen Helley said the city pays 6% less than neighboring cities doing similar jobs, according to the release.

Blanket statistics like that always concern me.  There are so many variables that boiling a pay comparison down to a single number is impossible.  What about time in grade (seniority), performance reviews, benefit packages and the like?  B'game is in contract negotiations now--did the other cities just finish theirs so raises come at different times?  And the BIg Question is who cares what other cities are paying?  That is a false comparison meant to continue a faster upward spiral than is needed to provide the services.  I recall back in the day, a clerical job opening at City Hall drew more than 200 applicants.  The pay must have been competitive enough.

This is just a place marker post for when we know more--if we ever do.

  

Netflix comes to B'game: BALCO

B'gamers who have been here for twenty years or more will remember Burlingame was the center of the doping scandal that rocked many professional sports back in 2003.  After getting its start in Millbrae and then San Carlos, BALCO moved to 1520 Gilbreth Rd.-- about a block from the It's It shop across the freeway.  The company principal, Victor Conte, and personal trainer/distributor Greg Anderson were fixtures around town.  They especially loved breakfast at Alana's.  Now Netflix has revived interest in the story with a just-released documentary film "Untold: Hall of Shame".

The film's good guy is Jeff Novitzky, the IRS agent who led the investigation into BALCO.  He grew up in B'game, graduated from Mills High School and played sports at Skyline.  His Wikipedia page is a fun read and he comes across as a tenacious investigator in the film.  This USA Today article describes the on-going social media fight between Novitsky and Conte.

If you watch closely, you will see images of the Gilbreth office building and the Burlingame police report that got things rolling.  All in all, it's a fun trip down a local memory lane.

San Mateo High: Averting violence

A reader posted this comment on three different SMUSHD posts all of which are lengthy so you would have to scroll and scroll and scroll to read it.  I'm reposting it here for easier reading and commenting.

Regarding the recent stabbing incident at San Mateo High School: I’d be interested to know if the students involved had any prior history or reports of violence and threats in their student records? The news reported there were knives and a gun on campus. This reminds me of the pregnant teacher who spoke at the board meeting last year, begging the Superintendent to remove violent students from her class. What are we waiting for? Are my kids going to be the next victims? The Administration needs to do a better job of protecting our students. What are we waiting for? Are my kids next?

I'm guessing no public disclosure of any students' records will happen, but the SMUSHD Board and/or Superintendent should certainly take that into account and issue some statement about their position--past and future.

P.S.  People can use the editor email link on the right frame to ask for something to get an original post.  No guarantees, but we will likely be agreeable.

Watching the new sheriff in town--or trying to

The editor at the Daily Post, Dave Price, has taken a good amount of interest in local police departments and county sheriffs' departments over time.  He's covered the move to encrypted police radios, the general crime beat and whatever else pops up including sheriff elections and the funding for said.  Since we just elected a new San Mateo County sheriff, Cristina Corpus, Price is still on the beat.  He's also apparently a cartoonist--who knew?  Next to his column this week was this cartoon.

The adjacent editorial didn't mention anything about the sheriff's department, so this looks more like an early warning signal.  One thing is for sure; once Dave Price grasps a thread he doesn't let go easily.

PSA: Elder abuse in the County

As a favor to a long-time reader who requested such a post in order to gather ideas on what to do, I'll drift into a new area-- elder abuse, especially financial abuse.  I am also aware of a case years ago that was never pursued by law enforcement even though there was ample evidence, in my opinion.  The long-time reader writes (edited down a bit):

My parents have and are still experiencing Elder Abuse by their Caretakers. As of today, $300,000 and "counting." I have been in contact with APS, DA, Police, and much more. Jackie Speier's office at least inquired.  My Father will (probably die) of skin cancer within two weeks.  My mother is on 24/7 oxygen and has severe mental as well as other "end of life" medical problems.  Did I mention one of their caretakers made a Full Confession to the San Bruno Police- Case # SNB 2201541.  No arrests. This started 6 months ago.

Again, this is coming from a long-time reader and I have not verified any of it, but if anyone has any ideas, I am sure they would be welcome.  The last census showed 17.5% of the population in San Mateo County is over 65 and the median age has been rising just like the rest of the country.

Bad parking in broad daylight

Let's kick-off our 19th year with an old favorite topic here at the Burlingame Voice--the crazy, illegal parking maneuvers people do all over town  There are plenty of examples like here, here and here.  Today's gem was right on Howard Ave. in front of the bank across from Park & Howard.  Facing the wrong way against traffic and parallel parked across a diagonal parking space with no money in the meter.  The good news was a Parking Enforcement Officer was on the scene as I walked by.  How many tickets is that?

EssEff: London is Calling BS

This Examiner front page is just too good not to post.  You would be forgiven if your immediate reaction is "What took you so long?"  We have to keep an eye on SF since "when they sneeze, we get a cold" from the derivative impact.  You may have seen a bit of that in town and I don't just mean the Apple store smash and grabs.  We are far from a crime-free city and I will be updating the B'game statistics for this year when they come available.  In the meantime, Ms. Breed seems to have gotten that Old Time Religion and the Gavinor sounds like he thinks the California rep for crime might hinder his presidential aspirations.

Gov. Gavin Newsom confronted the national media furor over mass retail theft in California on Friday, unveiling a more than $300 million proposal to help law enforcement fight organized criminal rings.  The Democratic governor said his plan will include $255 million for a grant program to give police more tools to arrest and investigate thieves who participate in such smash-and-grab crimes, increasingly brazen heists that have drawn widespread attention in recent months.

Again, you would be forgiven if your immediate reaction is "What took you so long?" followed by "Wait, shouldn't these priorities already be in the $1.8 billion budget?"  Here in B'game, we spent a lot of time on policing last year (remember the big Townhall that showed nothing?)  No matter, if Gavin wants to pass out money, we should stick out our hand.  The net effect of the Defund the Police movement is to increase police funding.....the Law of Unintended Consequences will not be denied.

A Watchful Eye....Put Down the Phone!

One of the unexpected consequences of the Covid lockdown is that some people have forgotten how to drive properly.  I've had at least four conversations in the last few weeks with people commenting on unsafe lane changes, running red lights, blocking the box and the bane of everyone's safety--- texting or talking without a headset or hands-free speaker.  As a regular pedestrian around downtown and Broadway, I see it all the time.  I don't have the numbers, but the crosswalk in front of Walgreen's on B'way can feel like a game of chicken when the light at California is green.  So this was a welcome sight on California just north of B'way.

Election 2022: County Sheriff

The election for county sheriff is about ten months away (next June 7), so the chatter among the chattering class has started.  Mark Simon at the Daily Journal did a full column on the potential of the race a week ago.  His focus was money and race as seen in these couple of snips:

Even before his 2016 appointment by the Board of Supervisors to replace Greg Munks, who resigned in midterm for health reasons, Bolanos had begun raising money for the 2018 election, when he would appear on the ballot for the first time. He raised more than $100,000 in the first half of 2016. By the end of 2017, his campaign fund had more than $250,000 in cash on hand. In the months leading up to the June 2018 election, he raised another $135,000 and entered the last month of the campaign with more than $225,000 in cash on hand. He spent $212,000 for his election.  He did little fundraising in 2020. But at the start of this year, as the next election neared, he raised more than $150,000. At midyear, he had more than $260,000 in his campaign treasury.

There may be some pride in the Latino community that the county’s top law enforcement official is also Latino, but Bolanos has carefully cultivated an image as serving the entirety of the county’s population. He is credited with effective work in the heavily Latino community of North Fair Oaks, but he is not prominently associated with that community.

That column prompted a letter to the DJ from B'game planning commissioner Ray Larios attempting to "clarify things" including asserting that fundraising equals "desperation" and

Mr. Bolanos indeed has raised a large sum of money. However, Mr. Simon omits that most of his campaign funding comes from private interests, retired judges and consultants who reside outside of our county lines.

I'm not going to bother to pull Bolanos' campaign financial filings for three reasons.  First, even if factual, none of those sources of donations give me cause for concern.  Second, building a war chest for a county race is hardly surprising--we are 766,000 people.  Without some context of say a typical county supervisor's fundraising, spending $200K on a countywide race isn't out of line.  Lastly, if any of the challengers could raise that much cash I am sure they would do it in a heartbeat.  Larios finishes his letter with some serious bloviating 

I leave readers with something to consider. Here is a woman who has risen through the ranks as an exceptional officer, commander and community leader in what has been traditionally a male-dominated career. Chief Corpus works twice as hard as her male counterparts and is not concerned about politics.

Christina Corpus is chief-in-title of the "Police Bureau" in Millbrae because Millbrae was too broke to afford its own police department and had to outsource it to the Sheriff's Department years ago.  Bolanos is the one who has been promoting her.  One wonders how a guy who lives in a different town (ours!) would know who is working twice as hard as everyone else?  It's so ridiculous on its face that it begs the question of whether someone with such poor judgement should be in a position of responsibility on the Burlingame Planning Commission?  With advocates like Larios, Corpus is going to need more than a chunk of cash, her gender and her ethnicity to win in San Mateo County.

At least we have ten months to assess the real issues of how the Sheriff's Department has been performing and what every candidate believes should happen in the future.  Can't happen fast enough.