Dueling E-Mails and a Re-Call

 Dueling e-mails and perceived back room dealings of Charles Sellers and Kimberley Beatty need to be brought into the light of the day. By now you are all aware of the re-call petition submitted my Keith Wilson, seeking to re-call Andy Patapow. The effort is a colossal waste of money, time and effort. I will write about all that next time. Right now, I want to bring to light the activities of Beatty and Sellers who are trying to feign ignorance and non-involvement.

I have been watching from the cheap seats, the actions of several community members and board members Sellers and Beatty. The actions of the community members, appear to be coordinated with Sellers and Beatty. The private meetings and exchanges of e-mails paint a disturbing picture. The whole picture will be difficult to paint due to the use of personal e-mails, not necessarily subject to discovery through normal channels. But, I have a snapshot that may offer a glimpse of what is hidden in the backrooms used by this gaggle of individuals.

 I became aware of the re-call effort and initially laughed it off as being simply a grab for headlines, and a further attempt to try and bring discredit to those who do not subscribe to the antics and beliefs of a small but vocal group of individuals. The first e-mail was written by Board Member Andy Patapow, who is the focus of the re-call effort. Andy writes;    

On Saturday, October 5^th, I received a phone call from Board member Charles Sellers, asking me to meet with him.

At that meeting, Mr. Sellers informed me that a petition to recall me from the Board of Education had been completed by a member of the public – and that he – Charles – was delivering the message that I could step down voluntarily if I wanted to avoid the embarrassment of a public recall petition.

Mr. Sellers shared a print copy of the petition with me, but did not allow me to see the names of the petition signers.

Mr. Sellers gave me a “decision deadline” of Monday.

Mr. Sellers called me at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, asking if I had made a decision.  He then texted me, saying that the deadline for my decision was extended to noon on Tuesday.

At 1:50 p.m. today (Tuesday), the author of the petition, Mr. Keith Wilson, served me a “Notice of Intention to Circulate Recall Petition” at my home.

10 individuals signed this petition.  They are:

·  Keith and Linda Wilson

·  Chris, Kimberley, Dr. Ramona and Winslow Garnier

·  Brooks, Monica and Virgil Iler

·  Anjum Razvi

Mr. Keith Wilson listed the following reasons for recalling me:

·  I voted for the Capital Appreciation Bonds (CABs)

·  I have accepted gifts from the bond underwriters

·  I have refused to fire any financial consultants or district employees responsible for the CABs

I am sharing this information with you tonight because the “Notice of Intention to Circulate Recall Petition” must be filed with our local newspaper and I wanted you to be informed before your read about it in the newspaper. 

As allowed by law, I will be submitting a response to this recall petition to the County of San Diego Registrar of Voters within the next seven (7) days.

I have honorably served our District for the past 50 years.  20 of those years have been as a Member of the Board of Education.

I am proud of my contributions and proud of my record.  Most of all, I am proud to work with and for PUSD’s outstanding students, teachers, classified personnel and community members.

Andy Patapow

Board of Education

Several days later, Charles Sellers wrote the following e-mail;

Dear Colleagues,

I have read Andy Patapow’s version of events and, while generically correct, they do omit many specific details which I believe shed considerable light on what actually took place.

First, let me state emphatically that I am neither a participant in nor a proponent of this recall effort.  I did, however, hear about it and contacted Keith Wilson to learn if it was true.  When he confirmed that it was, I asked if he planned to give Andy any warning about what was coming his way.  I felt that after 50 years of service to public education that’s the least he was owed.  I was told that if I felt that strongly about it I could tell him myself.

This was not an easy thing to do and anyone with an ounce of political sense wouldn’t have touched it with a ten foot pole.  But I am not a politician and I believed that it was morally incumbent upon someone to at least let Andy determine his own fate.  Here is where we start to correct some of the facts.

At no time did I ever utter the word resign, much less suggest that he do so.  I did say that I saw three possible options.  Retire, Do nothing and let the process play out, or Contact the parties to see if some compromise short of recall could be worked out.  I also said there might be other options but I had not thought of any.  Andy was very gracious and thanked me for giving him the heads up.  He did not appear bitter nor did he seem to blame me for what was happening.  I gave him a copy of the petition.  It lacked signatures because they were not given to me.  I told him that he could probably guess who was behind it anyway, which he agreed.

I did not give him a “decision deadline” of Monday.  He asked how much time he had and I stated that the proponents told me they planned to go forward on Monday if they did not hear from him.  It was their timeline, not mine.  He rose and shook my hand and said that he needed to consult with some people and that he would be in touch.

I did not hear from him so I called at 11:30 am on Monday to see if he needed anything from me.  He said that he and his wife were still discussing it and had not made any decisions.  I asked if he wanted more time.  He said “Well, that’s up to you”.  So, I called Keith Wilson who agreed to wait another 24 hours before proceeding.  I then texted this information to Andy.

At about 1:30 pm on Tuesday, I got a call from Andy who asked “What’s goin’ on?”  I replied that “I have no idea what’s goin’ on Andy” and he said “OK, thanks”.  It was literally a ten second conversation.  The next contact I received was his email through the District.

Anyone who tries to make more out of my involvement than what I have just described is at best ignorant, since they weren’t there, and at worst putting their own political spin on events.

I made a humane attempt to soften the blow of an oncoming train to another person.  In hindsight, it made little difference to the outcome of events.  But I have no regrets for that and I encourage each of you to ask Andy what, if anything, I have written here that is not true.

So, maybe someone can help me. If Sellers knew nothing, can he explain this?

It appears to me, Sellers AND Beatty were involved in discussions, related to a re-call, at the very least as far back as September 8, 2015. The inference, from this e-mail, is there was discussion for a re-call prior to this e-mail. Wilson followed up with David Morton, who referred Wilson to Vargas, who provided details on what is necessary to qualify a re-call for election.  I highly doubt this e-mail is the extent of THEIR involvement.

You be the judge.

The re-call effort has been a rocky one for Wilson, et al. The first petition was disqualified. They tried again, only to have the second petition disqualified. Their third effort (threes a charm?) appears to be moving forward. I will share at length what the re-call effort will need moving forward and what it will and will not accomplish. To say the effort is a colossal waste of time, money and effort, is an understatement. But, given past words and actions of those involved, it is clear none of that matters to them. Time, money and many people’s efforts will again be directed away from what is really important; Children and Education.