***
NEWS FLASHES ***
9/11/02
In the spirit of Immelda Marcos packing up her
shoes, SLHS Superintendant Tom
"Let them eat
cake" Himmelberg
is gathering his golf clubs and
hopping the next rail out
of town, leaving behind a
decade of financial mismanagement,
educational
neglect, and an ethical slime
trail. His tenure will
be remembered as an era of racist, gay-hating
special interests and contempt for the educational
needs of the district's 7,000 students.
Being found guilty of "despicable"
actions had
little to do with his sudden departure,
he says.
Riiiiight... Whatever. He's gone, so let's not look a gift
horse in the mouth. Especially since that's not the
end of the horse we're dealing with. No doubt the
district is paying him handsomely to go away.
Worth it. Totally worth it.
8/28/02
SOPHIA turned two today, and I
stopped to
reflect on how beautifully her Moms have raised her.
She's a happy, confident, playful, affectionate, funny
kid who loves to sing, dance and read to her teddy-
bears. [There's Bear blood in her genes, of course,
along with New Orleans Creole and Melungeon.]
Some kids have already told her that she can't have
two mommies -- but she does, and they're wonderful
parents in every way.
8/15/02
Imagine having been abused throughout
your childhood, and imagine, thirty years later,
going to visit that abuser as he lays shrunken with
age, weak and insensate on his death-bed.
Seeing Blackwell again, I felt little but pity for
the
Town without
Pity. Little fear, little anger. Still
the toxic black-hole that it always was, its evil is
hard to see behind the peeling paint and social
decay that scars this ghost-town in the making.
See my Back to Blackwell
page for the full story.
8/09/02
Getting ready to go to Blackwell tomorrow.
What am I thinking? I spent 12 years getting
out of it, thirty years getting over it, and now
I'm returning to the scene of the crime[s]. I'll
be seeing Launa and Carla, two actual friends
from the bad old days, but god knows what
other Okie life forms I may encounter. <shudder>
I'll have more to say when I get back. Much more.
8/08/02
It took the jury only an hour to find that
my school district and superintendant
Thomas Himmelberg had engaged in
racist and unconstitutional actions
against SLHS teacher Karl Debro [see
my friends page] and denied him his free
speech rights through unconstitutional
policies and "despicable actions."
Guilty on five counts. I spent several
hours on the stand, and the last five
years involved in the case. Karl had
asked for $450,000 damages, but the
jury gave him half a million. That's OK.
Karl had been "disciplined" for speaking
out in class about racism &
homophobia,
which, in fact, teachers are ethically and
legally required to do. Look for some big
changes at San Leandro High School.
UPDATE: The district dodged the jury's
assessment of Himmelberg's personal
liability by writing a check for $1.2 million.
Himmelberg had been found guilty of fraud,
oppression and malice -- expensive hobbies
for a public servant. Now why is the district
paying for him to perform these despicable
acts & picking up the tab for his punishment?
