Under the Dome

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"It's getting hot in here...we should start taking off some clothing!" - Steve Haderlein, as techno music began playing.

Posted by: AP | July 17, 2007 1:35 PM

http://underpasadena.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Dormitas | July 18, 2007 5:12 PM

Posted by: No one | July 18, 2007 5:20 PM

Cough(blogwhore)/Cough

Posted by: AAA | July 18, 2007 9:30 PM

The letters in Aaron Proctor's name unscramble to spell "poco narrator". That is what AP is...he is our 21st century Pasadena cultural storyteller laying it all out in little observations. By the way, in the future if you want to communicate with Aaron Proctor you can send him a letter, just write "Aaron Proctor" on the envelope and drop it in any mailbox. Don't worry; he'll get it. Oh and Todd Ruiz unscrambles to spell Dour Ditz.

Posted by: martin truitt | July 19, 2007 12:33 AM

(a la Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault in Casablanca) I'm shocked---shocked that someone would suspect anyone on the Pasadena City Council of trickery.

Posted by: Paul (that talker guy) | July 19, 2007 3:09 PM

Paul, you seriously need a blog. I mean that. It would be uber-cool. www.littlethoughtsonpasadena.com :-)

Posted by: AP | July 20, 2007 6:03 AM

New Pasadena blog! http://sexystevehaderlein.blogspot.com/

Posted by: AP | July 20, 2007 1:04 PM

Who is DORMITAS, the fellow (or lady) who is plugging their blog here?

Posted by: Anonymous | July 22, 2007 8:50 PM

Dormitas, the site advertised above, looks like a site designed, among other fluff, to bash the mayor and to take shots at his wife -- to what end, only Dormitas knows. There is also some race baiting which is too bad.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 23, 2007 7:44 PM

I must have hit a nerve with the mayor's camp to get the typical knee-jerk reaction from Anonymous (anonymous!). I'm profiling anonymous as another aging, self-proclaimed progressive who drives home in his (or her) BMW every night to his (or her) West (or East) Pasadena single family home (kept clean by a Latina housekeeper with a yard trimmed and green thanks to the Latino gardener) and flips the tv on to CNN and nods along with Anderson Cooper, blissfully unaware of what life in less wealthy neighborhoods is like, and pleased to be insulated from those other neighborhoods. Calling an aging and aged white man just that and suggesting his priorities are influenced by that status isn't race baiting, neither is suggesting the emperor has no clothes (or in this case the city council). And, of course, a differing opinion must be fluff! Like anyone else, Anonymous is welcome to post on my site: www.underpasadena.blogspot.com Dormitas

Posted by: Dormitas | July 24, 2007 8:06 AM

Come back, Todd.

Posted by: AP | July 24, 2007 8:46 AM

Dormitas racial profiling course 101. How many times are you going to plug your blog in this one? I voted for Proctor, live in a PDL neighborhood (do you know what PDL is?), have never been behind the wheel of a BMW, drive a car made in the early 1990's that cost me $8,000 used, do not have hired help, am not white, and I also feel your blog is Mayor bashing with a little fluff. That does not make it good or bad, just not of interest to me. Todd, please do come back.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 24, 2007 5:19 PM

Someone voted for me? ;-)

Posted by: AP | July 25, 2007 7:53 AM

Well anonymous, that makes us neighbors and alike in more ways than that. The invite to post on my blog still stands.

Posted by: Dormitas | July 25, 2007 8:41 AM

I took Anonymous for a Pasadena Star editor. If everyone voted for Proctor why didn't he win?

Posted by: Anonymous (another one) | July 25, 2007 11:58 AM

1,472 people voted for me. I've maybe met..200 of them? So, when I meet 1,473 different people who say they voted for me, I'll start feeling suspicious. :-)

Posted by: AP | July 25, 2007 12:05 PM

No thanks Dormitas. After being racially profiled I especially have no interest. I like our mayor and think he does a good job overall especially in the face of personal attacks on him.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 26, 2007 6:28 AM

I thought anonymous was a local Republican political consultant. Aging white men of the world unite!

Posted by: Another anonymous | July 27, 2007 11:21 AM

Or an ACT functionary.

Posted by: Another anonymous | July 27, 2007 11:23 AM

Truitt and Amy hide in anonymity.

Posted by: Even more anonymous | July 27, 2007 1:09 PM

yeah yeah....I am watching you people so you better stay anonymous if you know what's good for you. (just kidding). I am happy to help elect any good person to local political office regardless of political affiliation and have done so. Partisan politics have no place in local elections but some local partisan Democrats automatically oppose anyone who isn't a Democrat. So sad. For instance, I want Paul Little (who is Dem) to run for PUSD school board and I have offered to help him get elected.

Posted by: martin truitt | July 27, 2007 3:34 PM

Sweet fancy Moses...Paul for PUSD??? That has nothing to do with partisan ideology - that's just a horrible idea. Do his children attend PUSD schools? That is one litmus test I would like to see all public officials take - Lizardo would be out, Madison, out... How you can advocate for a school system you abandon is beyond me and shame on anyone that voted for him.

Posted by: jane | July 27, 2007 5:53 PM

that is ridiculous. Since when is being satisfied with a governmental body a litmus test for getting elected to represent the public interest We do not elect BOE members to "advocate" for a school system. We elect them to represent the voters...not to represent the school system itself.

Posted by: martin truitt | July 27, 2007 6:13 PM

just because someone dissents from the status quo doesn't mean they are an enemy of public education. Ongoing dissent is necessary for government to succeed. Meaningful dissent ceased when parents gave up and turned their back on a school system that refused to meet their needs or provide the education that they want for their children. The PUSD doesn't suffer from dissent...it suffers from a lack of dissent.

Posted by: martin truitt | July 27, 2007 6:26 PM

and that is why I support Paul Little for school board. Because the parents who do not use the PUSD (and who make up the majority of adults that actually pay for it) need an advocate to push for the changes they would like to see instead of yet one more PUSD booster insisting that change isn't necessary and that people who want change are enemies of the public schools. Human thought begins with disagreement, not for disagrements sake, but with a recognition that there is sometimes a better way.

Posted by: martin truitt | July 27, 2007 6:33 PM

so Jane...start thinking...by disagreeing...with yourself.

Posted by: martin truitt | July 27, 2007 6:37 PM

Dang...touched a nerve :) I don't agree with you and I think your logic is flawed.

Posted by: jane | July 27, 2007 10:14 PM

we have differing propositions. I am willing to let you have the public school that you want but you aren't willing to give me the public school that i want. You like ding dongs and people who like Ho Ho's are evil.

Posted by: martin truitt | July 27, 2007 10:52 PM

People that like Ho Ho's are evil? What do tasty Hostess desserts have to do with my opinion?

Posted by: jane | July 28, 2007 7:31 AM

your opinion is that people who refuse to eat from the PUSD menu aren't allowed to ask for a change in the menu...they are only allowed to eat what is served.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 28, 2007 1:17 PM

Well if that is the analogy - it's lame. For one it assumes the only way to affect change is from the top, completely disregarding the real work that goes on at each school site. Second, it buys into all the hype about the state of our public schools. It is *so* annoying to listen to people and the criticisms with no actual real experience. Never having stepped foot onto a campus, let alone had a child attend one and actually volunteered in a classroom on a regular basis. And if your child did attend one, there was probably some situation that you totally blew out of proportion and left - and then no one missed you. For some people it's easier to write a check and blame the public school system that it hasn't catered to your every desire - because that's a real world experience - getting everything you want. I'm more than happy to let people sign off to private schools, they are typically elitist (want to control what type of children their children associate with), think their money and not their time should buy their way into or out of any bad situation and in general, complainers. Why would you be happy with a public system, when you probably don't really like the "public" - and listening and reading to some of the remarks from the GreatSchools folks...think you are so much better than anyone else…the arrogance is pretty high in that group. And then my favorite part of Martin’s comment - when someone disagrees with you…call them names, like evil. Yep, that’s a good one. You got me.

Posted by: jane | July 28, 2007 2:13 PM

i was actually talking about you when i wrote "You like ding dongs and people who like Ho Ho's are evil." and this last post of yours pretty much verifies this. You have a f*ck you attitude towards families that want the PUSD to change before they sacrifice their children to it, you invalidate their concerns as uninformed and you are "happy to let people sign off". Those people PAY for those public schools. The fact is the PUSD is a sub-par school district that refuses to change so now Charters will cannibalize it. Your own intolerant attitude towards dissent pretty much sums up the PUSD's problem.

Posted by: martin | July 28, 2007 3:30 PM

See - that's just it with you...it isn't that confrontational or rude. I would never tell someone to f*ck off...but at some point you have to have a little pride and use your limited resources for the people that actually want your assistance. You used a Hostess analogy (which I still don't understand - am I a ding dong?) - here is a "Sex in the City" one for you. Miranda has a great date with this guy, she thinks it went well, but he hasn't called. Carrie and Miranda start making all sorts of excuses for this lapse - maybe he was tired, maybe he lost your number - and on and on. They turn to Carrie's boyfriend, Berger to get a guy's point of view. He reluctantly answers - "maybe he just isn't that into you". At first she is hurt, but then realizes how freeing it is. I think Miranda is like the public school - a flawed human being that has a lot of offer. And you are that guy that doesn't call - doesn’t quite see the potential and wants to turn her into to something else, or better yet, there really isn’t anything she could do - she just isn’t your type - you like tall blondes and she is a short red-head. You put yourself through the ringer trying to figure out where you went wrong and what you could do to win him back - and then it dawns on you...he's just not that into you. You sweep up what's left of you self-esteem and meet Steve and he is *in to you* and you live a happy, flawed life. I don’t have hostile feelings towards the anti-PUSD crowd - its indifference. There are so many families that can accept the good and bad, work with the school their children attend and come out on the other end feeling they got a good deal on their investment, why would I waste my time and the negative-Nellies that relish the shortcomings. It isn’t just “THOSE” people that pay for PUSD - everyone does. But I do love how you say “The fact is…” like that it is actually a fact that has been proven, somewhere. The state of the PUSD is your opinion, not a fact. You may feel you have strong feelings about its inadequacies, and anecdotal evidence of problems - but again - not fact.

Posted by: jane | July 29, 2007 11:07 AM

I like you. But the 2006 PUSD Academic Performance Index is 701. The state average is 721. PUSD is below the state average and the state average itself is pretty low to begin with. Yes,yes...I can see your retorting with the exceptions to the rule within the PUSD but as a school system it is below average. And so that isn't my opinion or anecdotal evidence...it's a fact.

Posted by: martin | July 29, 2007 11:55 AM

It does not matter who sits on the board. There are structural problems that no one cares to address, much less deal with.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 29, 2007 1:29 PM

But you like me...you really like me?!?!? You're fun Martin :)

Posted by: jane | July 29, 2007 1:51 PM

Did you know that Sally Field was born in Pasadena? So you are what? 39?

Posted by: martin | July 29, 2007 3:25 PM

How do you advocate for a school system you abandon? Jane needs to real story... My kids were in PUSD through 8th grade. We were forced to move our daughter at the beginning of her 8th grade year because there was no academic program at her school. She went to Wilson for a year, now she's at La Salle. PUSD leadership made us promises to fix that failing academic program but never did anything but never did anything but shine us on. At the same time, almost every academically minded family fled the school. We expressed concerns also about 12 year olds wandering the campus unsupervised during class time (a regular occurrance and one that compromised safety of the kids and PUSD's finances, should a child be hurt while left for long periods unattended on the campus.) We left after the principal announced at a faculty meeting that the school would be fine once the Councilman's daughter was gone... essentially declaring open season on a twelve year-old. When we told the (then) superintendent about that and pulled Courtney from that school he looked into it, had the principal admit he had done and said exactly that, then did nothing. Courtney spent a year at Wilson but we were done with PUSD after that incident and the absolute indifference of everyone from school board members to superintendents and assistant superintendents to school site people. We were considering sending Courtney to PHS or Blair but that notion stopped after this incident. Want to send your children to a school system where administrators threaten twelve year-olds whose parents advocate for rigorous academics? Someone will try to tell you I'm exaggerating, but you can actually ask school board members at the time and, if they are honest, they will tell you I am being truthful here. Soelter even told me I should send Courtney to PHS because he will personally look after here. I told him we needed that care and consideration when she was at Norma Coombs. And YES I am still pissed off about those incidents. (Though we are very grateful to Meg for taking Courtney at Wilson.) And I DO NOT WANT TO BE ON THE PUSD BOARD! But I appreciate Martin's confidence and his advocacy in favor of a "pinko" like me. Paul

Posted by: Paul (that talker guy) | July 29, 2007 4:07 PM

It would make no difference if you were there or not. the problems are too deep for any person to fix.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 29, 2007 7:55 PM

Let's see ... Martin Truitt = Irritant Mutt.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 29, 2007 9:43 PM

hey look everyone...a sock puppet! Hey little sock puppet what's your real name?

Posted by: martin truitt | July 29, 2007 10:54 PM

This is great but I think Jane won. Hoes before bros.

Posted by: Aaron Proctor | July 30, 2007 1:11 PM

Martin should offer to help me run. That would be like..worlds colliding right here.

Posted by: AP | July 30, 2007 1:12 PM

I don't oppose non-Democrats. Check my voting records. I voted for Schwarzenegger.

Posted by: AP | July 30, 2007 1:15 PM

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson: "Woo-Hoo!!" Thanks Aaron :) I get to be the winner (according to AP), and come out on the other end with Martin liking me - it's a win-win. Can't wait for the next topic...Heritage Square.

Posted by: jane | July 30, 2007 3:11 PM

Anytime Jane :-)

Posted by: Aaron Proctor | July 30, 2007 7:46 PM

If the problems of PUSD are insurmountable, we'd all give up trying to encourage meaningful reform and accountability. (Step one is meaningful accountability, in my opinion.) I'll remain optimistic about the current administration for the time being. I was not heartened by the response to the LEARNS staff purchasing fiasco, however. Paul

Posted by: Paul (that talker guy) | July 30, 2007 8:31 PM

insurmountable. structural.

Posted by: Anonymous | July 30, 2007 9:10 PM

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