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Sunday, June 22, 2014
Ortega's choice: Leadership or Tragedy?
Viewpoints of Greater Orange
Metro Views
OUSD's
President John Ortega's choice:
Leadership
or Tragedy?
-Viewpoint of the Greater Orange
Communities Organization
When Orange County Sheriff John
Ortega was elected to the Orange Unified
School Board in 2001 as part of the Citizen's Board takeover from the Orange
Recall, he and the other Board Members elected moderate conservative Trustee
Robert Viviano as OUSD Board
President. Viviano had been marginalized
by the radical Jacobson Majority of the Education Alliance slate that had taken
over the OUSD Board.
Viviano quickly worked to bring
sweeping changes to OUSD in just one year.
Refusing to "buyout" the handpicked Jacobson Majority
Superintendent, ...Viviano made a standing weekly Friday afternoon appointment
with Superintendent Barbara Van Otterloo to meticulously go over her week's
activities (local legend says that time was purposefully picked by
Viviano because it interfered with a long standing
golf tee time the Superintendent had). Within a year the Superintendent had retired
with no buy-out of her contract at taxpayers expense. Vivano also ditched the political ally
attorney firms of the defeated trustees
and brought sweeping reforms to Board Policies. Those included: a second
"public comment" section being added to the end of the OUSD Board Agenda; for
the first time OUSD Board meetings were broadcast over the local cable stations;
and Vivano's crowning achievement- a rotation system was established for all
OUSD Board Officers so a majority slate could not hold unchecked power. Viviano started the "on-the road" Board Meetings rotating the meetings between the OUSD high schools and middle
schools to connect to the community and build back trust in the OUSD
Board. To re-build employee moral a
yearly pancake breakfast was instituted with Van Otterloo and district
administrators serving the employees.
The leadership and
accomplishments of the OUSD Board under President Robert Viviano has never been
equaled since-until this year.
A young John Ortega first rotated
into the office of the OUSD President under the Recall Reform rules and by most
accounts it was not a successful year. Years later, as the OUSD Board faced the
prospect of Trustee Steve Rocco becoming an officer under the Recall Reforms (after a failed Rocco Recall
attempt) , the Board Majority ditched the rotation of officers.
A lot has happened in the almost
fifteen years since the Orange Recall for the OUSD Board and Ortega. Ortega
left the Sheriff's department; Rocco,
who several times during his years on the OUSD Board almost goaded Ortega to fisticuffs was re-districted
out of his Trustee Area; Ortega who has never faced an election opponent was floated as a possible Congressional
Candidate. And of course-two OUSD Bond
measures were defeated.
After several years, Ortega split
with most of the other Citizen Trustees that were elected in 2001 (only Kathy
Moffat and Rick Ledesma also remain on the Board). In December of 2014, after two tumultuous years of Trustee Tim Surridge as OUSD
President the new Board majority turned to a wiser and mature Ortega to lead
the OUSD Board in 2014.
Ortega not only rose to the
occasion, but in his first six months surpassed expectations and he appeared on
the way to rival the accomplishments of
Robert Viviano. Ortega brought
respect back to the OUSD Board meetings ending derisive and demeaning interrupting
comments from the chair. He gave everyone a chance to fully speak- and
disagreeing or agreeing in a respectful manner after all others have spoken. He
took a page from Viviano and instituted a highly successful "on the
road" meeting series about the
facilities plans at the four comprehensive OUSD high schools that even other
trustees gushed about how successful they were.
He tried to place the Peralta issue outside of the politics of 2014 by
extending the operators lease (this failed when the operator called for
different terms). But above all he
has been about to do what so many
other's have failed to do...lead the Greater Orange Communities into approving
a facilities Bond.
However, like a Shakespeare
tragedy, one issue appears to stand in between
Ortega's legacy and a tragic ending .
The question Ortega faces in the
drawn out process over Superintendent Michael Christensen's on-going evaluation
(and the rumored innuendo's of malfeasance)
appears to be two simple issues: "evidence and politics".
Those two issues appear to stand between Ortega's legacy as great leader or being
just another radical politician.
Unfortunately tragedies become clearly "tragic" only in the finale act-but the foreshadowing of the end
comes well before the curtain falls with the choices the players make.
Ortega is a product of Orange
Unified. He often boasts about his OUSD high school days at El Modena High School and his long
community ties. No one has ever questioned Ortega's sincerity of his love for
his community and his goal of world class schools.
But, now all eyes are on OUSD
President John Ortgea and the road he takes- the road of great leadership for
the good of his community, or the road that leads to personal and community tragedy.
Metro Views A community news service of the Orange Communication System /OCS/
Views expressed in Metro Views are not necessarily the viewpoints of
the networks that carry, send or reproduce this posting.
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