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Monday, January 18, 2016
Court orders Salas change
eLECTION Watch 2016
a service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
OUSD Trustee Wayland stays with integrity
Judge orders OUSD candidate Greg Salas to
Orange
Unified Trustee Mark Wayland's last
comment of the last agenda item in the last meeting of 2015 (the December 10
meeting) stunned the audience as Wayland announced that for personal health
reasons he would be resigning his Trustee position effective December 31, 2015.
That
surprise announcement from Trustee Mark Wayland however led to even bigger December
surprises for Greater Orange from the often surprising Wayland.
On December 14th, four
days after that last meeting, Wayland filed a lawsuit against OUSD
Area 1 candidate Greg Salas for false candidate ballot statements and then at
the end of December-Wayland did not resign as he had announced.
Wayland
filed the lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against candidate Greg Salas
for false statements Salas had included in his Candidate Statement and filed
with the Orange County Registrar of Voters for the March 1 Special Election for
OUSD Area 1 Trustee seat.
Wayland
reported to local media outlets that he had filed the suit when he learned
that Salas falsely listed Wayland as
endorsing Salas, and more importantly according to Wayland, Salas filed false
and misleading statements for his ballot statement to imply that Salas was an
incumbent (i.e. elected) OUSD Board member.
On
January 6th, Wayland won in court when
Greg Salas was ordered by Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Lissebrink
to remove the false statements from his Candidate Statement.
Salas
was never elected to the OUSD Board. Salas was ousted as a "provisional
trustee" 38 days after his
controversial "provisional appointment" in September when a coalition
of Greater Orange residents terminated the Salas' appointment with a petition of
3670 signatures-134% more than required within 30 days of the appointment.
After
the controversial Salas appointment caused widespread anger throughout Greater
Orange against the OUSD Board (and immediately led to the successful petition
drive to oust Salas) a hastily called Special OUSD Board Meeting was called one
week later on October 1, 2015. The purpose of that meeting was to try and defuse
the petition drive to oust Salas by having the OUSD Trustees explain the
process that led each to vote on the on the "provisional appointment"
to the vacant seat ( OUSD Trustee Kathy Moffat and OUSD Trustee Dr. Alexia
Deligianni did not vote for the Salas appointment).
That
Special Meeting however only intensified the growing anger over the Salas
appointment as OUSD Trustee Timothy Surridge admitted during that meeting that
he recruited his friend Salas for the position based on political
motivations. Salas, who had just
recently moved to Anaheim Hills from outside of Orange Unified, had never been
to any OUSD meeting or event and had never visited any OUSD schools until after
being recruited by Surridge shortly before the OUSD vote to appoint Salas.
After
being ordered by the Superior Court to change his Candidate Statement, the
revised Salas "candidate statement" takes out the false statements ordered
by the court, but continues to try and
mislead voters.
The
new Salas candidate statement ( full
text below) reads: "I've been an Orange County
Salas
states that he is "committed to serving on Orange Unified School District's
Board" but does not say that that commitment only
started when his friend OUSD Board
Trustee Timothy Surridge actively recruited Salas for a position Salas was not even aware
existed- all admittedly because of political motivations.
The
Salas statement continues with as Salas (who admittedly was recruited by Surridge
based on political motivations) writes: "and I won't let OUSD become a
political football for outside special interests."
Having
moved into Orange Unified just two years ago, Salas continues to lie with the
ballot statement "I've dedicated my life to serving our community." Salas has never
served the local Greater Orange Community in any capacity prior to his
attending two OUSD Board meetings of OUSD Board while he was a
"provisional trustee".
Finally, Salas writes:
"My leadership and experience have
earned me the support of: OUSD Boardmember Rick Ledesma OUSD Boardmember Tim
Surridge OUSD Boardmember John Ortega Rancho Santiago Canyon Boardmember Phil
Yarbrough"
Of course Surridge admitted
that it was his friendship and political motivations that earned his recuritment and endorsement of Salas.
To see what others on the
board learned about Salas before the vote- see what Salas himself wrote about
his "leadership and experience "
on his handwritten OUSD candidate information sheet- CLICK on:
Below is the revised candidate
statement Greg Salas was forced to submit after the Superior Court ruled
against his false statements in his first ballot statement:
ORANGE UNIFIED SCHOOL
DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER TRUSTEE AREA 1, SHORT TERM GREGORY SALAS AGE:
54 Orange County
Businessman/Parent
I've been an Orange
County
My wife Elizabeth and
I have raised our six children in Orange
County , five have graduated and one
still attends a local Orange
County
I have no desire to
seek higher office, I'm committed to serving on Orange Unified
School District
I will ensure OUSD
serves our children and our community, and I won't let OUSD become a political
football for outside special interests.
I've dedicated my life
to serving our community.
My leadership and
experience have earned me the support of: OUSD Boardmember Rick Ledesma OUSD
Boardmember Tim Surridge OUSD Boardmember John Ortega Rancho Santiago Canyon
Boardmember Phil Yarbrough
Please join my
supporters in voting for Greg Salas for Orange Unified
School District
LINK: Salas Statement
The other candidate for the
Area 1 seat is 20 year Anaheim Hills resident Andrea Yamasaki.
Her Candidate
Statement is below with links to the statement and her OUSD candidate information
sheet.
Click on: Yamasaki Qualities in her own words
and
Ballot Statement
Restoring
trust and confidence in the Orange
Unified School
My experience, hard
work and dedication to OUSD schools have prepared me for the significant
educational and economic challenges facing this Board in the critical years
ahead.
I am committed to
focused efforts in support of a well-rounded education for all students and to
maintaining accountability for conservative fiscal management of our resources.
Making OUSD school
facilities safer and equipping them for 21st century learning is fundamental to
a quality education.
I have devoted over
15,000 volunteer hours serving as President/ Executive board member for several
PTAs, and holding leadership positions in advisory councils, Girl Scouts,
booster organizations, and numerous community groups.
This experience taught
me the value of galvanizing community support in a transparent and proactive
manner.
My husband, a
technology company executive and retired US
We've lived in this
community over 20 years with 3 children attending OUSD schools since
kindergarten.
Please help me restore
trust and confidence in the OUSD Board and put the focus back on students - not
party politics!
eLECTION Watch 2016
is a service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
