Speaking of inimitable ...

Purloined this pic from what I believe to be Jeremiah Small's blog, Stonehill News. (Turns out it's a Star-News photo by the equally inimitable Walt Mancini which Jeremiah lifted from us.)

Whether you embrace Rene Amy as dedicated reformer or busybody muckraker, his commitment to overturning every stone - and pebble - is consistent.

If we write a story about misdeeds in the Pasadena Unified School District that hasn't already come up in his PUSDGreatschools discussion group, such as spending abuse by employees in the LEARNS program, you can bet he'll be down at Hudson Avenue the next day demanding receipts.

If it gets out that the recently unemployed, previous president of the school board appears mixed up in a barely legal business, Rene is - and was - going down to City Hall bright and early to see if that business is properly licensed. Apparently city staff were unable to find such a license for PDD Consulting: "Deadrick Operating Illegal Business?"

One can dispute the conclusions and criticisms extrapolated from the vigorous dialogue in his PUSDGreatschools discussion group on a subjective basis -- where everything is conclusive evidence of the school district's collective mendacity, villainy, incompetence, greed, cowardice, languor and/or stupidity.

But what infuriates the critic's critics is that he's often right. And that people pay attention -- from City Council and Board of Ed members to parents and reporters. For a school district long operating with a siege mentality, the fact that Rene has a place in our Rolodex is adequate proof of our mission to Destroy Public Education.

If you consider the alternative, where no one aggressively pursues transparency ... I just wish Patrick Leier-era Pomona Unified would have benefitted from 1/10 of a Rene.

You know it's Rene on the phone because the laughter on the other end of the line which begins before you get to "Hello" and continues after you've said "Goodbye." And you know he's likely not laughing at himself.