THE KIKO AWARD

If you are an avid reader of The Unruly Advocate, you can probably surmise our political leanings from the inherent bias of our pungent prose. In the spirit of full disclosure, we publicly admit that we are shills for the Republican Party, with deep ties to the RNC. Our funding comes from a variety of sources—perhaps you’ve seen our ad in James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” newsletter? We also receive healthy stipends from The Heritage Foundation, The Hoover Institution, and The Pacific Research Institute (you should see the pictures we took of Lance Izumi at our Christmas Party—Lance, you’re an animal!). And a mad shout out to Jack Abramoff, who closed and reopened many an Indian Casino to keep our website alive and solvent. You the man, Jack!

We must admit, however, it’s been a rough year for those of us in the conservative trenches. Good friends like Scooter Libby have been forced to resign their posts. Over a leak! Oh please. We’ve been at parties with Scooter and watched the man make more disgusting leaks off Aspen balconies.

With so many of our good friends and supporters under investigation, out of work or facing prison time for ethics violations, we decided we needed to help a couple of our comrades land back on their feet. We want to help give them a second chance to rebuild their careers.

This month, instead of pointing out the many flaws of a William Bragg or the extortion practices of an Arlene Ackerman, we decided to forgo the Kiko. Instead, we’ve sent out resumes on behalf of our friends Scooter Libby and Karl Rove.

Of course, we needed to find an organization that would appreciate their peculiar ability to obfuscate, falsify, and launder. Hmm. Does a local government agency that could provide the right kind of environment for these pillars of salt, we mean virtue, exist?

This month Team Unruly dedicates the Kiko Award to a group of education administrators and trustees worthy of Karl Rove’s admiration and respect: the wild bunch inhabiting the offices of the East Side Union High School District. There might be a few skeptics who’ll say, “C’mon, Unruly. Sure you’ve got Craig Mann and Patty Roach, but Zendejas is gone. Finite! East Side’s major problems are all in the past.” To you, Doubting Thomas, we say put down the hashish and forgo filling your medical marijuana prescription! Zendejas was a symptom, not the disease. And from our perspective, the illness is terminal.

We already told you about the antics of the trustees staring in the Cirque du Stupide. We clued you in on Patty Roach’s clueless nepotism. Need more dirt on Craig Mann? Pick any edition from our archives. The board president who presided over the most obscene layoff in California education history wants to be San Jose’s next mayor. But those are the folks you know.

There’s Bob Nunez, the interim superintendent who prayed that all 966 of East Side’s teachers be let go by June of 2005. Just where did Esperanza Zendejas get the idea to issue that many pink slips? We have our suspicions (read here: ).

And it doesn’t stop there. There’s Aurora Quevedo who orchestrated Zendejas’ illegal maneuver to shift Title I monies to other district schools without the federally mandated Title I student populations. That little trick jeopardized the district’s chances to receive federal Title I dollars.

Then there’s Alan Garafolo, chief operations officer. After forgetting to order portables to accommodate the needs of the Leadership charter school group, Leadership students and teachers were forced to takeover much-needed classroom space at Overfelt High School. But that’s not all. Team Unruly learned that in October, fearing public exposure both at a board meeting and through the Mercury News of his failure to begin some necessary revitalization projects in a timely manner, Garafolo threatened the teachers who planned to blow the whistle. Specifically, he told more than one irate teacher that if they embarrassed him he would delay other construction projects scheduled at the school and have the school board question a few million dollars of their allocation of Measure G bond money!

No wonder Karl and Scooter are impressed!

But wait! There’s more! Team Unruly has learned from an inside source that a couple of journalists at a major local media source are investigating allegations that some of the current board members accepted campaign funds from builders and developers who were eventually awarded Measure A and G school refurbishing contracts. No article has come out yet, and we must admit that as of yet no hard evidence has been found. The only fact is the local media was concerned enough to initiate an investigation.

Given the track record, it’s only a matter of time until something turns up.

And finally, Mercury News readers were treated to a minor taste of East Side’s dysfunction this month in a story about violence at Oak Grove High School (read the whole story here: ). District official Ric Abeyta, Chief of Security, claims the campus is not out of control. Then the story unfolds that cops and teachers were attacked in a rowdy incident the last day of school prior to winter break. Teachers across the district have raised concerns about safety on school campuses. The district’s response has been a renewed effort to cut back on school safety personnel, especially student advisors whose job duty is to maintain a safe campus climate. That’s probably why SJPD Sergeant Paul Panighetti and Police Chief Rob Davis both agree that, to quote Panighetti, “That school needs to be on top of everything that goes on over there. [. . .] This is unsafe behavior, and the administration has to do their best to stop it immediately, bring in resources and hold people accountable. . . . The school needs to be tightened up.''

In lieu of the Kiko, we’ll be sending human resources copies of Karl and Scooter’s resumes. Once the jury hears the indictment charges and they serve their couple of months at a minimum-security facility, they’ll be ready for a fresh start amongst like-minded friends at the ESUHSD.