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  • Monday, July 16, 2007

     

    Do the Greater Orange Communities trust government censorship?

    Metro VIEWS ______________:GoCo:
    Local news editorials from the Greater Orange Communities


    Do the Greater Orange Communities trust government censorship?

    The Greater Orange Communities have employed a serial censor. Yes, none other than public servant Orange Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Thomas Godley. Superintendent Dr. Godley has censored broadcasts of the Orange Unified School Board to the community at least twice in less than a year. The OUSD Superintendent is in effect deciding what the public will see and hear from the public sessions of the OUSD Board of Education meetings.

    Yes this is the same Dr. Godley that replaced the trustworthy former two-time OUSD Superintendent Dr. French (who was originally ousted for telling the truth).

    Yes, the same Dr. Godley who embraces the private industry Good to Great business model. Part three of that model: Seek the Truth.

    Yes, the same Dr. Godley who, claiming budget constraints, tried to end the video broadcasts of the OUSD Board meetings to the public.

    Yes, the same Dr. Godley who is pursuing community partnerships with our community while censoring what the community sees and hears about their elected officials.

    Lessons from OUSD's Dr. French: Leadership is Trust
    Dr. French returned to Orange Unified after the Orange Recall to heal, repair and rebuild trust in the community. Now as evidenced by continued censorship, OUSD appears to have a Superintendent of Schools, and at worst some Trustees, that distrusts the public who elected and pay them. It appears the days of community trust building by Dr. French are now long gone.

    The Greater Orange Communities Organization does not trust Dr. Godley to decide what we see and hear in the taxpayer supported broadcasts of our elected officials in public meetings.


    The Great Leader-Godley Style
    Dr. Godley embraced the private business model of the best selling book Good to Great* working again towards making OUSD great. Well, at least some of the model. The book outlines the qualities of businesses that went from mediocre to great. Part III of the Good to Great business model is Seek the Truth:

    “III. Seek the Truth
    Good-to-Great companies do not cover up bad news. On the contrary, they seek out the truth about themselves, so that they can learn and improve.”


    A Community too must seek-out the truth. History is full of lessons of failed governments and failed leaders that tried to censor what the public should know. The Greater Orange Communities are in the center of Orange County, the most libertarian county in America. One of our communities’ hard fought reforms in the Orange Recall was for our community to be informed about their elected officials and public monies.

    The Greater Orange Communities Organization has no tolerance or need for government bureaucrats to decide what is best for the taxpayers to know, see or hear. We can ill afford a “benevolent” North Korean communist style Great Leader who tells us what to know, to protect us from the “unknown”.


    Godley attempted to end OUSD Board broadcasts once before
    Claiming a budget crisis, Godley proposed ending the broadcasts of the Orange Unified School Board to the community. Alone, OUSD Trustee Rick Ledesma fought hard to restore the broadcasts or find alternative ways to pay to keep the local broadcast of OUSD Board meetings. Finally after the story of Godley’s plan began to spread across the internet and community, weeks later Godley announced that he had found the money (at the time about $8,000 a year) to continue the broadcasts.

    The Greater Orange Communities Organization considers this whole episode as a tell tale sign that Dr. Godley opposes an informed local citizenry.



    Partnerships based on Censorship?
    The current OUSD Trustees know what happens when a community has lost trust in their elected officials. It appears Godley does not. As the Trustees continue to work hard to instill the trust of the community in the school district, it appears their Superintendent is doing the opposite. In small town Orange, neighborly Villa Park, and close knit Anaheim Hills, the American ideals continue to be a way of life… including an informed citizenry that is skeptical of government power.

    The Greater Orange Communities Organization calls for Informed Community Partnerships not Partnerships based on Censorship.


    Do the Greater Orange Communities Trust Dr. Godley?
    On Thursday July 19th in Closed Session the OUSD Trustees will give Dr. Godley his annual review. As Dr. Godley continues to censor public remarks (albeit questionable and unpleasant) about elected officials and elected officials actions and words in public meetings we ask the OUSD Trustees to consider this:

    Will the citizens of Orange Unified trust Dr. Godley to decide what they may see and hear and what they may not see and hear from their elected officials and public citizens at a public meeting?

    We do not condone or agree with the speakers or the actions that were censored. We do however believe that government officials do not have the right to censor free speech in a public meeting.

    Today Dr. Godley is censoring Steve Rocco and friends, but tomorrow it maybe you.

    -The Greater Orange Communities Organization

    Email the Orange Unified School Board members at board@orangeusd.k12.ca.us
    Email OUSD Superintendent Dr.Godley at superintendent@orangeusd.k12.ca.us

    The views expressed in Metro Views are not necessarily the viewpoints of the networks that ecast it.

    Community groups and individuals are welcome to submit editorial viewpoints on LOCAL issues for Metro Views.

    Metro Views is a community news service of the
    Orange Communication System /OCS/
    Producers of Orange Net News /O/N/N/


    : Greater Orange Communities Organization:
    :GoCo:
    GreaterOrangeCO@gmail.com
    Ecast on the
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    A 21st Century Communications System

    The views expressed in Metro Views are not necessarily the viewpoints of the networks that ecast it.

    For more information on the current issues of defending media freedom in the electronic world visit
    The ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION link: www.eff.org.

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