Published
in Rio Linda Elverta News November 4, 2004 - Scroll for other articles
Election
advertising shenanigans?
School District flyer
By Jay O'Brien
Voters in the Rio Linda School District received two mailers in the
last week suggesting they vote for Dave Toland and Bob Bastian. This
was a suprise to Bob Bastian, who has strongly supported fellow
incumbent Wess Larson for re-election. Bastian told The NEWS, "I
have nothing to do with it, I know nothing about it". Dave Toland said
"I have no idea where that mailer came from. None. I was as surprised
and shocked to see it as Bob was... I have no idea how it happened."
Larsen commented "I'm shocked! These things happen in politics. There's
some money being thrown around."
Orchard School's Advisory Committee member Yvonne Longstreth, contacted
by The NEWS, said "I was shocked and appalled to receive this. I can't
believe that Bob is aligning himself with Dave Toland." Bastian assured
The NEWS that he continues to support Larson, not Toland. Toland, a
Real Estate Appraiser, is Chairman of the Grant Joint Union High School
District Bond Oversight Committee and President of the Grant district
Parent Advisory Committee. Toland has also served as Chairman of a
Grant district school site committee.
The multi-colored flyers, including postage, that could cost as much as
a dollar each to send, were apparently sent on two occasions in the
last week to all 30,000 voter residences in the District. The return
address on the cards is "Leadership for Sacramento's Future, 4660
Natomas Blvd., #120, Box 105, Sacramento, CA 95835." The address is a
commercial "mail drop" owned by Postnet. Postnet would not provide
information to The NEWS about their customer.
Sacramento County Registrar of Voters provided a copy of the
Committee's registration; the Treasurer is identified as Suzanne Ness,
4112 "A" St., Sacramento. Telephone numbers are provided for the
committee and for Ness; neither have replied to repeated messages left
by The NEWS. The statement of organization may be invalid, as
Suzanne Ness' signature is dated "29-Sept-05", or next year.
The Rio Linda teachers have endorsed Bastian and Larson; postcards and
flyers, authorized by Bastian and Larson, were mailed to district
voters last month.
The "Leadership for Sacramento's Future" committee is obliged to file
financial reports in accordance with state law. The NEWS will be
watching for their statements and will continue to attempt to reach the
committee.
(Editor's note- Early Wednseday morning, Nov. 3rd, Wess Larson and
Bob Bastian had a commanding lead over Dave Toland. Apparently the
shenanigans aren't working).
Published
in Rio Linda Elverta News November 4, 2004 - Scroll for other articles
Senior Citizen
Neighbor next door to you?
By Jay O'Brien
I subscribe to many internet mailing lists. The message I'm
quoting below from one of those lists could apply to our next door
neighbor or our parent. This was posted this week by Alan Zack of Las
Vegas. I asked for and received his permission to print it, and his
approval message adds even more to the story.
Homeless Senior Citizen neighbor
As I was carrying my trash can to the curb this morning I saw my 85
year old neighbor sitting in her old car. When she saw me she got out
of the car and was crying. She asked me if I could help her get
into her house. She gave me the house keys but when I got to the door I
saw an orange sticker on the door stating it was illegal to attempt to
enter the house and the locks had been changed. I brought her inside my
house and my wife, who is a nurse, calmed her down. She had slept all
night in her car in the driveway, the temp had gone down to 45 degrees.
She did not know why she could not get in her house but remembered a
man had come and pushed in the door and changed the locks and left her
outside. There was a phone number on the notice that I called and was
told the house had gone into foreclosure, the lady failed to respond to
any notices and failed to appear at a hearing.
The house had been sold and she was homeless, and she had no idea of
what was going on. After a long talk with my wife we got from her that
her Social Security check and her late husband's pension benefits were
being direct deposited to her bank, and her mortgage payments were
being automatically deducted, so she ignored all the bank notices of
her mortgage not being made. She was sick on the day she was supposed
to go to court so just didn't go. So now she is a 85 yr old widow who
is homeless and all her belongings are locked up in a house that she
has no key for.
She and her husband came here to make Las Vegas their retirement home.
The husband died six months later and she has been on her own for the
last year or so. She has no family in the area. She spent the morning
with us then a church friend she asked me to call came and got her. She
kept crying off and on asking where was she going to go and my wife
would do her best to calm her.
After she left I went to the County Assessor's web site and found the
sale and deed of the house. The house had been sold at public auction.
This poor widow is senile and now homeless. If I would have known what
was going on I would have tried to help her but now it appears too late
to do anything.
Yes, she is at fault for not following up on the letters she received,
but it seems she never recovered from her husband's death and didn't
deal with any of it. A very sad tale and I feel bad for her.
Please don't let this happen to your elderly clients, parents, whatever.
(Alan's response to the request for permission to print his message
follows)
Yes, go ahead.
It is sad that at least here in Las Vegas an elderly person's utilities
cannot be turned off without contacting a family member or family
friend first, but their house can be taken away.
This lady's family had no idea of what was going on. Now they suspect a
no good son has been taking money out of her bank when the direct
deposits were made before the mortgage payment was deducted, therefore,
no funds were available for the house payment.
When I spoke to the mortgage company they said they had sent out all
the proper notices, etc, and had talked to the husband on the phone.
They seemed surprised when I told them that the lady has been a widow
for over two years and if they talked to a man at the house it was the
no good son.
I wish they would have gone to the house to speak with the lady and
they would have seen she did not know what was going on. I looked up
the house sale on the County Assessor's web site. It sold for over
$100,000 over the loan balance to a financial group. Too bad she can't
get that money to start a new life with.
As of now we don't know if she can even get her belongings out of the
house as her time to do so has run out. She still doesn't understand
what has happened and wants to know why her house keys won't work
anymore.
(written November 1, 2004 by Alan Zack, Las Vegas, NV)
Published
in Rio Linda Elverta News November 4, 2004 - Scroll for other articles
Our Elementary Schools look to
the future
By Jay O'Brien
The NEWS was honored to attend the Rio Linda Union School District's
annual Key Communicators Breakfast on October 22nd at Vineland School.
More than 120 community leaders, educators and elected officials
enjoyed the event. We heard about projects and safety from district
staff, and were impressed by students who performed and spoke to us.
Superintendent Frank Porter delivered an inspiring presentation that
reminded us of the need to prepare our children for what awaits them in
the years to come. The NEWS asked Mr. Porter for his speech so that we
could share it with you.
"Preparing Our Students
for the Future"
By Superintendent Frank S. Porter
Rio Linda Union School District
Good Morning! Thank you for being here today and joining us for the Key
Communicator Breakfast.
My name is Frank Porter. On behalf of the students, teachers, and Board
of Trustees of the Rio Linda Union School District, it is my pleasure
to welcome you.
This year the Rio Linda Union School District is celebrating its 90th
anniversary of providing exceptional education for the students in the
communities of Rio Linda, North Highlands, Foothill Farms, and, now,
North Natomas.
And we are deep in the throes of making preparations to continue that
tradition of excellence into the next 90 years. This morning you're
going to learn about some of the many projects, programs, and efforts
that are being made to sustain that level of excellence.
Rio Linda is truly a very remarkable district, a place that continues
to ''beat the odds" and make a huge difference in the lives of the
children and families that we serve.
We do have a great deal to be proud of in our district, and I'm honored
to serve as the Superintendent. I continue to be very energized and
grateful for the opportunity to serve this community and to work with
such a tremendously positive team on the Board of Trustees, management
staff, teachers, classified staff, and parents.
In 2004, all 21 of our elementary schools successfully met the federal
AYP accountability standards. This is no small accomplishment. We were
one of the few districts in the Sacramento region with that kind of
track record.
What's even more astonishing is that out of the 5 schools in the entire
County of Sacramento (including all 16 school districts), that 3 of the
5 schools selected as 2004 California Distinguished Elementary Schools,
and remember that's the best of the best, were Rio Linda USD schools:
Pioneer, Orchard, and Sierra View schools. In addition, both Pioneer
and Allison were awarded 2004 Title One Achieving School Awards.
Now, I have a short little story. This past Spring vacation, my family
and I had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC and I hadn't been
there in over 25 years.
Well, my wife Sharan and my two children Scott and Caitlin got to visit
the Smithsonian museums, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, see a play at
Ford's Theatre,.. and many other sights and memorials in Washington DC
including the cherry blossoms that were in full bloom. Washington DC is
a wonderful place to visit and, if you ever get the chance to go, I
highly recommend it.
One of the highlights of the trip was an exhibit at the Air and Space
Museum, that celebrated the 100th year anniversary of the flight by the
Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, the first manned flight. The exhibit
included the refurbished, original Wright Brothers plane and wonderful
displays that brought that time period to life. Part of the exhibition
included 4 actors who were dressed in the period costumes and doing a
living history performances inside of the exhibit, acting out the roles
of Orville & Wilbur Wright, their sister, and Franz Kafka, who at
the time was working as a stringer and writer for newspapers and
magazines, getting his start as a writer. This living history
experience really brought to life the whole era.
The sister described how Oroville and Wilbur were always pushing each
other's thinking, and that to outside observers they sometimes thought
Oroville and Wilbur they didn't get along.
To the contrary, the sister said they were both brothers who just
talked straight with one another. She said they often appeared to be
arguing, because they were always challenging each other's assumptions
and thinking. They were actually the best of friends, but they were
always very curious and pushed each others thinking.
At that time, the breakthrough by the Wright Brothers and the
subsequent development of the airplane, was nothing short of
miraculous. In fact, many people at the time thought the notion of man
flying in the air was a preposterous idea that no right-minded person
would consider. Of course, after the breakthrough it engendered awe and
wonder in all those who saw their first airplane. Remember the
barnstorming airplane pilots who would fly from county fair to county
fair? In the 100 years that has transpired since that date, from 1904
to 2004, mankind experienced a doubling of the amount of all human
knowledge and information. The airplane and manned flight was just the
beginning.
Think about the discoveries that have occurred in that span of time,
from 1904-2004. The invention of countless vaccines to combat disease,
heart bypass surgery, pace makers for heart disease, countless other
medical procedures and discoveries that were made and refined, space
exploration, landing a man on the moon, sending unmanned space vehicles
to explore other planets, the jet engine, automobile design
breakthroughs, technological discoveries, TV, computers, cell phone
technology, hydrogen fuel cells, the list goes on and on.
Well, in the next 30 years, from now until 2034, the pace of
discoveries and breakthroughs will quicken and it is estimated that
there will be another doubling of amount of human knowledge and
discoveries.
That is both scary and exciting at the same time. Scary, because I
don't want my children, your children, our students, to miss out on the
opportunities that those breakthroughs will provide.
Exciting, because the children we have in our classrooms today, your
own children and grandchildren, will experience a doubling of the
amount of human knowledge and understanding in their lifetimes, in the
prime of their lifetimes. If you pause for a second and get your arms
around that fact.. it has incredible implications for all of us, and
especially for our children.
The role of public schools, parents, teachers, and support staff is
vital to that future, we cannot fail in preparing our children, your
children, my children, and our students for that future. The
world-class standards and the curriculum that California has adopted
and implemented are designed to prepare our children for that future.
Scary because what happens if they aren't prepared. When I graduated
from high school, in the 1960's (I know, it's amazing, I don't look
that old.), it was entirely possible to not go to post-secondary
education or college and to anticipate lots of opportunities to earn a
middle class income and to have a career and job prospects. Today, that
simply isn't the case.
Quality public schools are the engine of opportunity for all Americans.
They give every child from every family the chance to learn the skills
they need to be successful in life.
Equally important, for children to become productive members of
society, we need to teach students the value of hard work and
persistence and to cultivate respectful and responsible behavior.
So, we are on a mission; A critical mission to the future of our
communities. America needs the best efforts and accomplishments of all
of our people. That's why we need to come together to support quality,
high expectation public schools.
(Neil Postman quote). "Children are messages to a future that we will
never see."
This is my favorite quote from one of my favorite authors. It is more
vital now than ever before that we get it right, that we make
absolutely certain that every student that passes through our
classrooms experiences a high level of success and is truly prepared
for the future.
And why is it so vitally important? Because the future for our children
is going to be filled with dramatic and exciting opportunities that
unless they're prepared for they will simply miss out, something we
simply cannot afford to let happen.
Those future discoveries and breakthroughs, we share a common interest
in having our children and today's students to be in middle of making
those discoveries happen and not to be spectators watching them happen
in other parts of the world. You've read, just as I have, about the
out-sourcing of high skill jobs to other countries...the best cure for
this is for our country and our citizens to reach down and build our
capacity in ourselves and in our children to be truly competitive and
capable to meet these challenges.
I hope you feel the urgency that I feel for making sure that we
accomplish our mission of providing powerful, engaging learning that
will prepare all of our children for the future.
jump to top of page
