Letters

Bib knows best

This political season, voters have all been subject to deceptive mailers, false allegations, fraudulent endorsements and deliberate misrepresentations by candidates for City Council and Board of Education and their supporters.  

Bill Bibbiani's record has been attacked relentlessly by the very people who are supporting the status quo in our PUSD. They want Bill off the board because he has successfully argued to make the board and PUSD responsive and responsible to students, their families and the community.  

The people who are attacking Bill Bibbiani are the same people who want the schools to stay as they are. These people profit from PUSD failure. Many of Bib's critics actually make money as consultants with PUSD. The accountability and school improvement advocated by Bill Bibbiani could put them out of work. Don't listen to them!

To set the record straight, Bill Bibbiani has been calling for a close examination of PUSD bureaucracy and a reduction in the number and costs for downtown administrators.

Bill Bibbiani has been a strong advocate for educational accountability.

Bill Bibbiani opposed the entire process by which the school board decided to close schools.

Bill Bibbiani is a retired educator and administrator. He knows what students need to succeed in our classrooms. He also knows how the PUSD works and has advocated relentlessly to realign the district so it works for all students.  

When my children were in PUSD schools, it was Bill Bibbiani I knew I could turn to for help.

Not school board members, superintendents and their staff, not

principals, none of whom were interested in making real progress for students. Bill Bibbiani was one of a handful of PUSD administrators who actually improved the educational environment for my kids.      

Now that Bill Bibbiani's advocacy on our behalf is beginning to pay off, we need to keep him on the school board.

That's why I am voting for Bill Bibbiani.

PAUL LITTLE

PASADENA CITY COUNCIL

MEMBER

Go for Cooper and Bib

We will soon vote to fill two seats on the Pasadena Unified School District Board. I am asking you to support Bill Bibbiani for Seat 4 and Renatta Cooper for Seat 2.

Bibbiani has served us for four years on the board. He was a strong voice calling for the independent management audit that will tell us where cuts we have to make can be made without destroying essential programs.

When re-elected, Bib will work with Superintendent Edwin Diaz and the Board of Education to support the new arts program; to create true community schools; to develop a district dropout prevention program; and to partner with business to create and build a much-needed technical and vocational curriculum.

I have personally worked with Renatta Cooper for more than 20 years — when she taught future teachers attending Pacific Oaks College, and when she helped our area's children as a commissioner for First Five.

She received the CCIS Marge Wyatt Advocacy Award in 2004 for her years of professional presentations and articles speaking out for quality early education for young children. The YWCA gave her its Woman of Excellence in Education award in 2003.

Bib and Renatta deserve your support, as they have mine.

MARGE WYATT

PASADENA

Who is this man, Bib?

I first met Bill Bibbiani in the early 1970s when, as a Pasadena teacher, I was on a committee to create and refine the proficiency examination required for high school graduation. He chaired the committee and outlined and explained the kinds of exam questions necessary to test what students had been taught as well as essay questions which examined writing and thinking skills. 

Thanks to Bill's leadership, the committee, a diverse group of teachers, was able to achieve consensus.

Now that the distractions of the Percy Clark regime are over, I expect that Bill will help lead the board to take action on some of his concerns: cutting the high cost of downtown administration; insisting on the management audit needed to accomplish this; promoting greater school autonomy and freeing up school staffs to be better able to serve their unique populations, leading to greater choice; ending the spiraling dropout rate by concentrating greater human resources on those most vulnerable; continuing a dialogue with board members and parents for more consensus building around workable ideas.  Bill's vision and experience make him well suited to see this through.

A look at a list of Bill's endorsers reveals a true cross-section of the PUSD community: former and current board members, city councilmen, teachers and administrators, business people, conservative and liberal activists and voters of all ethnicities and races.  Bill does not represent a narrow constituency, and yet all of us trust his judgment.

This is who Bill Bibbiani is and why he is my choice for a second term on the Board of Education.

STEVE HAIMS

ALTADENA

More attention needed

I'll let your readers decide who is best for the job, but here's my take.

Jacque Robinson is a very real, very honest young person trying to stand up for the real issues that affect the Northwest, where most of District 1 is located. Jacque is a stellar human being who doesn't bark out political “double talk” and always has examples of how she's going to follow through on her plans for District 1.

Robin Salzer is a businessman, owner of Robin's, a restaurant on the east side of town.  He once called me “articulate,” but not the nice way someone normally would — he used the word “articulate” as a veiled insult like most racist people do when they talk about a minority candidate who can speak well. (Like the white Republicans who call Barack “articulate”).  I tried to speak with Mr. Salzer after a forum and he just walked away and completely ignored me. What a DICK.

He says he can sit down in a room and get along with anybody and I just don't think that's true. He also claims that running a restaurant would be exactly the same as running District 1. Dude needs to pay attention to “his” alleged community a little bit more.  District 1 contains the most ignored part of the city — it's not some ribs dripped in barbecue sauce and honey mustard.

AARON PROCTOR

FORMER CANDIDATE

FOR MAYOR

PASADENA

A real disservice

I read the article on Dereck Andrade and his lawsuit against the American Red Cross (“Out of the way,” March 15). 

I am extremely disappointed to learn that the Red Cross contains such unethical and homophobic employees. It is discouraging to learn that this organization, which is supposed to be dedicated to the health and well-being of the global community would allow one of its own staff members to be scapegoated and ostracized due to his employer's mistakes.

From now on, I will be much more reluctant to donate money to the Red Cross, which is a shame. This company has done a great disservice, not only to Mr. Andrade but to all of the recipients of its services.

Thank you for the information!

KATHLEEN TELSER

LOS ANGELES