Open Patient, Remove Sponge: The Metro Feature on Esperanza Zendejas' Departure? The Unruly Advocate!

In case you hadn’t noticed, The Unruly Advocate is fairly critical of San Jose’s mainstream newspaper. No, it’s true. Please don’t feign shock on our behalf. The majority of our media criticism has focused on the Merc’s editorial page, specifically the one East Side writer we outed: John Fensterwald, aka The Information Minister. And there are others... However, there are some genuine local media heroes that Unruly-types should celebrate with tickertape parades, tables of tasty confections and a few excessively large balloon animals.

The Wendy Gudalewicz Debacle: Righteous Indignation or Modus Operandi?

On Wednesday, September 7, Independence High School principal Wendy Gudalewicz surprised her staff by announcing her resignation at a morning meeting. Soon rumors spread across the district as employees near and far speculated on the cause of her departure. By the end of the day, employees also discovered that Carol Blackerby, the former principal of Piedmont Hills who resigned in protest over a Zendejas edict last January, was coaxed back to serve as IHS’s interim principal. At the following night’s board meeting, a parent and a student angrily condemned the board for making yet another abrupt administrative shift. Some feared the administrative shuffling lessons of the past two years went unheeded.

And Then There Were Two...An Unruly Perspective on the Nunez Appointment

The announcement of Dr. Esperanza Zendejas’ resignation brought relief to a despondent East Side community this summer. Within a week, anxiety took hold again. A major behind-the-scenes scramble took place as administrators current and former entered the 830 North Capitol office to apply for the interim superintendent position.

Kumbaya-mea-culpa: Forecast for East Side?
Mild Temperatures with a Chance of Showers Between McKee and Berryessa

I had a feeling this letter would come. When it did, finally, I laughed before I could open the envelope, peruse its contents and confirm my cynical suspicions.

On a mid-August morning close to a thousand educators, clerks, janitors, administrators and assorted employees heeded the call of that letter and converged on Oak Grove’s campus for a morning pep rally, sans students. The purpose? Bring back that familial spirit sorely lacking under the Zendejas dictatorship. Most came out of voyeuristic curiosity. How can anyone witness a train wreck and not feel compelled to check for remaining debris at the crash scene the next day?

The Unruly Advocate Presents: The Kiko Awards

The departure of Dr. Esperanza Zendejas has been a period of intense reflection for The Unruly Advocate production staff. We won’t miss having to report on the destructive policy decisions that so egregiously wronged our friends and colleagues over the past couple of years. Yet, we have to admit we’ll miss the strange, almost surreal comments that trickled down from the district office from time to time. Farewell bon gaffes, farewell.

Cautionary Tale Epilogue: San Diego's New Superintendent and a Lesson Learned

Readers of Bill Clinton’s lengthy memoir MY LIFE contains quite a few pat on the back comments about a former college roommate, fellow Rhodes scholar, and genial good friend who grew up to be a federal prosecutor. And a public school superintendent. Yes, the man who built a successful presidential legacy on feeling others’ pain was nearly out of office before suffering the wounds caused by his pal Alan Bersin, whose seven year reign decimated the morale of San Diegans attending, volunteering or working in the city’s public schools. If President Clinton ever decides to write a sequel, he can add a chapter on his friend’s meteoric fall and Schwarzenneger-anointed rise to the state of California’s most lackluster public sector job next to the guy who measures the rainfall in Needles.

Did You Know? The September Edition

Did you know we almost didn’t write a “Did You Know?” column this month? Try as we might, we couldn’t come up with a current example of local irony to fill the space. Wouldn’t you know something would come up at the last minute? Did you know the Hispanic Development Corporation holds an awards ceremony each summer? They do, and it’s called “Portraits of Success.” Did you know they have a website? You can click here to check out the list of honorees

Didn’t we warn you that drinking a hot caffeinated beverage while reading The Unruly Advocate could lead to irreparable computer damage?

Faithful reader, you read correctly. On September 23, 2005, Dr. Esperanza Zendejas will be one of the honorees at the “Portraits of Success” luncheon at the Doubletree Hotel. A career built on two year superintendent stints, a disturbing pattern of deflating morale wherever the headhunting firm gets a commission to send her, a fabricated budget crisis, ample political skullduggery to shield board allies, the largest deliberate layoff of teachers in California history, and a hefty buyout to reward the incompetence, not to mention a series of self-published books prosaically reminiscent of a mediocre eighth grade essay about a week at summer camp.

If that’s the Hispanic Development Corporation’s definition of success, we’d hate to see their definition of failure.

Did you know this recent discovery has led to abundant speculation on the type of success Zendejas portrays? Besides the record for the largest unnecessary layoff, Team Unruly figures Dr. Zendejas achieved another milestone this year: the largest six-figure book advance in self-publishing history, courtesy of the ESUHSD.

And it gets better, friends. Did you know a familiar name was in charge of tallying the votes and nominations for the Hispanic Development Corporation, on behalf of the San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce? Yep. Kathy Chavez-Napoli, whom insiders peg as an early candidate in next year’s East Side board race. She’s the one who submitted a list of fifteen cost cutting suggestions to last year’s Budget Task Force. 12 of the 15 had to do with cutting teacher salaries and benefits.

We just thought you’d like to know.