THINK! It might be more effective to send e-mail or US mail direct to your favorite board members….. that way tou get supportive response by selective norification….. a FACT finding tour suitable to your vatious campaoigns?

The first is how to operate HUSD schools if the voters chose to not support continuing taxes and vote no on new taxes. No one will be happy with this result.

The other is how to improve the existing situation in the HUSD. This assumes that the existing revenue does not change and that the .25% State Income Tax continues; that the 1% Sales Tax continues and the .5% DMV fee continues. Governor Brown will propose additional taxes to allow schools to continue to do the job of educating California’s children.

The City of Hayward is looking to raise additionally $39 Million more in revenue in order to operate the city as the politicians believe we the taxpayers want.

I suspect that the state is in for an ugly surprise. It is going to be a very contentious year.

All of our Trustees are faced with a difficult task and vote based on their own experiences and what is best for HUSD.

Concerning matters of ADA, on March 24th and again on April 28th, Mr. Armas voted regarding Attendance Clerks and an Attendance Office Supervisor reduction. In the first instance it was to reduce staff and the second was a motion leaving out these positions when considering options for these reductions.

Regarding the use of the Darwin Facility by Envision Schools, it was on May 24th that the Board approved this MOU for 10 years. Mr. Armas had this information and could have voted against this item had he been opposed.

On July 21st the Board approved a 2 Year Contract for Superintendent Duran, Mr. Armas seconded that motion. There were concerns voiced prior to this motion regarding the contract duration.

On October 27th Mr. Armas himself explained that while his experience as City Manager may have offered him perspective, this role was entirely different in some regards. I do not think any of the above mentioned items make him a martyr nor villain. I believe he is doing what he believes best, as are the other members of our Board. We can agree or disagree with individual decisions, but let’s not elevate one member as the “only” one.

Atta giorl Kathy…. hold true to your distorations of fact!

I would not expect anythuing else of you. We sure miss your hubby on the Board…. right!~ He did wonders for HUSD when he vetted KOHl after dismissal of Foxworth!

This is a statement about Mr. Jesus Armas. He needs no defense against those who have used the blog to attack him by use of licentious comment as well as scurrility ! What we all need is recognition of the fact, that the blog is used by many who lack recognition of the fact that what is occurring is a degeneration of social order. That experience inevitably leads to conclusion that what presently occurs in West Oakland and areas easterly along International Blvd is a breakdown in social order. In short, Hayward is well on it’s way to becoming to southern Alameda County, what Oakland is to the northern part of Alameda County.

To under stand our need for the presence of the man and gain insight into the composition of the present HUSD Board of trustees, blog contributors and readers ought pause long enough to examine the feat wrought by Mr. Armas in the matters and events which brought the new Burbank School into use by students living within one of the older areas of Hayward..

Present day Burbank school, would not have come into existence if that project were left to the administration of HUSD. It was a project beyond the administrative ability of those elected and/or employed in the administration of the District. More simply the administrative skills were simply lacking knowledge and skills to achieve what we citizens now enjoy. Accept also the idea that there is no debt to be repaid.

What I personally enjoy about the man’s presence as a member of the Board of Trustees, is the effort it took for him to obtain his college education as well as the experience to undertake what he has achieved in his life thus far.

As one of seven or eight siblings, raised by immigrants in Los Angeles ‘barrios’ he attended a southern Calif. University and having eventually obtained a job as ass’t City manager in Hayward, he proved himself productive but more importantly popular amongst staff for his good job related manner as well as humor.

He was successfully noticed and took a job as City Manager at a City on the SF Peninsula. At a later time, the Hayward City Manager’s job was opened and Mr. Armas was immediately called back by City Council.

What pleases me as well as any other thoughtful citizen is that he is one of two ‘Latino’ Citizens who have performed life skills do successfully, as to ease opportunities for others. The other party is a Latina woman, a graduate of Moreau High School, who also was part of a large family whose successful struggle for education is a sterling example of hard work and achievement. I refer of course to the Lady who as Treasurer of the United States has her signature appearing on all our currency. Anna E. Cabral is another great indication that folks can not be held down because of race or national origin. Ms. Cabral and her siblings, under guidance of their Mother have all succeeded!

Hard work coupled to educational goals is rewarded in this country and in California!

In September 1994 the Hayward City Council formally adopted the Longwood / Winton Grove Neighborhood Task force Report which contained many suggestions for improvement.

One suggestion pertained to the idea that we ought have the Hayward School District replicate a practice seen employed in other school districts within the SF Bay Area Statistical Count of nine ( 9) counties. The purpose of a widespread and continuing practice was to control and eliminate vandaism at Public Schools.

The fact is that when and where employed the idea works quite well and although not perfected within some school districts the success stories made the idea practical and this it found it’s way into the Longwood/Winton Grove Task Force report.

If you will, recall that the Firehouse at the corner of Main and ‘C’ Streets was completely rebuilt. During the construction period the ‘Battalion Chiefs’ needed a temporary office and control Center; a temporary structure was built for that purpose. With the firehouse completion there was no further need for the Battatlion Chief’s temporary structure, which had sleeping quarters, gang shower and locker room and a full kitchen / dining room; the ‘office’ was located between kitchen and sleeping area’s shower spaces.
In other words it was a cabin suitable for use in establishing the first (and only) site resident opportunity in Hayward Schools.

The concept known as the ‘site resident plan’ employed as a highly successful tool in combating vandalism and mis-use of school playgrounds and sports fields is successfully employed by many school districts within the S.F. Metropolitan statistical area.

Upon completion o0f the new Firehouse the battalion chiefs had no further use for the temporary office / sleeping quarters and as that structure stoo on the site of our new City Hall, it had to be remove!

Out of the blue came a phone call to me by Mr. Armas. He asked as simple question related to the recommendation seen in the neighborhood’s task force report published years earlier. “would the temporary structure we used in relation to Fire Dept management be suitable for the ‘site resident concept’ found in your area’s 1994 report to the City Council? Of course it did! And the City moved it to Sunset High School where it was ‘stored’ until school District raised sufficient cash to provide foundation and utilities ’hook up !

In the first year of occupancy by a female security guard regularly employed by HUSD, the vandalism expense, to the tune of $50,000 per year, was eliminated.

After nearly eight years of success, that genius, Supt Vigil and his associate, ass’t supt Schimmel discovered that since we were to acquire elctronic counter measures against vandalism the site resident structure ought be placed on the rental ,arket. Then current occupant, who took the premises as is was advised that she would be permitted to tay if she agreed to pay $800. per month in rent. The occupant immediately retired and moved away.

Then it became evident that the structure had not even had an interior paint job ap0plied in the move. Naturally, Dr. Vigil saw the need to do some remodeling which I estimated occurred at a number above $5,000.

The structure was then rented to another employee of HUSD’ security Dept. at just $700 per month which number included all utilities, including scavenger service. No duties in service to the original co9ncept were required of ‘the tenant’!

Vandalism returned almost immediately! Yet the employee tenant was totally unaware of the now recurring vandalism problem and of course the electronic site monitoring equipment was of no help. Worse yet, the tenant was totally unaware of the re-occurrence of vandalism.

In retirement, without interest in golf ot hobbies, I began, in 1994. Spending about 20 hours per week in an effort to expunge illicit materials from Longwood School play ground. I spent some above $400 of personal funds in attempts to rejuvenate use of the softball field nearest Longwood Avenue. The grounds were not irrigated and the adobe soils had the nasty habit of opening up ‘ankle busting fissures; when dried out. The so called ’green playfield’ had open access gates which enabled a well worn ’cut short pathway to Southlamd mall from the South Garden area.

What had been happening was that the open gate provided opportunity to avoid paying ‘dump fees… ‘ I kid you not. When I state that the grinds were constant=ly bei8ng littered with broken glass liquor bottles, used condoms, dead family pets, auto batteries and other trash…. The place was a dangerous experience for students at the longwood School.

Mr. Armas phoned one day, prior to the call about the cottage, and asked a simple question…. The man was aware of my contribution of time and simply asked how many hours a week I spent on grounds maintenance. When I replied he asked if I could use a new water service to aid irregation…… then used the entrepreneurial funds of the water company to install a new water hook up; he

carried the ball a bit further and convinced HUSD management to make an advance of about $7,000 from the maintenance assessment district funds as a means of enabling installation of quick coupling devices that reduced the need to hook up several hoses to a single sprinkler head.

I had induced a Latino soccer league to use of the grounds with the understanding that they would provide some assistance to maintenance. When I was struck down gby a problem with kidney stones, those folks failed to hold up their end of the agreement… worse yet, the Treview did a story about that league and inadvertently revealed y=that it was asemo-professional activity.

I immediately caused them to be evicted. During recuperation of health I took to walking the grounds on weekend afternoomn periods…. Can you imagimne my dismay at breaking up an act of oral intercourse on a Sunday afternoon?

The site resident problem cured that as well as the frequently seen use of the grounds as a dumping place alternative to fees demanded by the scavenger. I can not fully describe the the horrific conditions existent at Longwood school. All was resolved by installation o9f the Site resident concept. My appraisal experience found me as quite competent in estimating costs ‘to
cure’ vandalism. The site resident concept saved the distruct nothing less thah $50,000 per year. The total vandalism expense to the didtrict in those days was only guesstimated at $150,000 per year by M & O Dept at HUSD.

My many critics involved with the ’Hayword Blog’ have much to learn about their community and why it uis that their attitude of constant negativity is leading this City into a condition of economic ruin. If you have not yet noticed, take a good look around and tell me, if you can that an extensive amount of ’bootleg’ additions to the housing stock by folks who fail to apply for building permits, when adding space to living quarters coupled to poor exterior maintenance, is not proving to deterioration of the school systems API scores.

We are moving rapidly away from the pre-war II image of rural area and gave gone through the sub-urban to urban description to the eventual application of the word ‘Ghetto’.

Mean mouthed thoughtless attacks upon Mr. Armas are leading us directly to additional decline of our school system.

Become more pro-active….volunteer rather than stand back and throw a constant flow of ‘cheap shots’ at Jesus Armas. The man is our single greatest hope for a turn around at HUSD.