As I have been a critic of Davis Enterprise Columnist Bob Dunning at times, I must acknowledge that we share the conviction that we not see a closure of the Valley Oak Elementary School. In fact, if Dunning were paying attention after my criticism of his column on Councilmember Heystek’s alleged “privileged” life, he would have noticed a few columns asking that we keep the elementary school open.
So it is from a standpoint of agreement that I still must call Dunning to task for his column entitled, “Don’t be shocked, it’s not in their back yard.” In it he writes:
YOUR SILENCE IS DEAFENING … as we approach the national celebration of the biggest name in the civil rights movement, it’s distressing to see that civil rights organizations and civil rights activists in this town have largely stayed on the sidelines of the impending closure of Valley Oak Elementary … I guess if your kid goes somewhere else and your school isn’t threatened with closing, you can look the other way and pretend it isn’t happening …
These, of course, are the same folks who get worked into a frenzy about something as silly as the name of a street, then are missing in action as the most vulnerable neighborhood in the city is gutted of one great source of pride, its long-standing elementary school …
In a town that consistently finds a way to protect toads and owls and hawks, protecting a neighborhood and its cherished school should be elementary …
Dunning is inaccurate and misleading when he writes the above. Many individuals contacted the People’s Vanguard of Davis to share their concerns which have been tagged on as comments to our articles. Many citizens have written letters to the editor which have been published in the Davis Enterprise criticizing the proposed closure. Many citizens have spoken out publicly at school board meetings in opposition to this proposal too. Even fellow Davis Enterprise columnists Jann Murray Garcia and Jonathan Landon have written in opposition to the closing of Valley Oak.
And yet if Bob Dunning would take a step back and see the bigger picture, he is one of the reasons why there is not an overwhelming response in opposition on this issue. In June 2006, it was Bob Dunning among many others who led the way towards the removal of Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and many others from the Human Relations Commission In fact, the City Council put the HRC on hiatus, removed all of its members, and then reconstituted the commission in September under much tighter rules. Bob Dunning APPLAUDED these moves and the purge every step of the way.
Dunning on June 29 wrote:
“the City Council had little choice but to give the Human Relations Commission and its insult-a-minute chairwoman a prolonged kindergarten-style “time-out”
Well Mr. Dunning what you reap, so shall you sow… And therein lies the rub, Bob Dunning was all too willing to throw Mrs. Escamilla Greenwald and the Human Relations Commission under the bus when they were rallying people to help those they deemed oppressed by the Davis police department. Now Dunning is wondering why no one is rallying to the defense of his children and their school that stands in the way of closing. Perhaps he would take some comfort in reading the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller who wrote about the inactivities of those in Nazi Germany. His closing line was, “When they came for me there was no one left to speak out.”
Well Mr. Dunning, fortunately you have the People’s Vanguard of Davis, but when the HRC was disbanded, leaving with it were the best means to mobilize those in the community and bring awareness to problems such as the one that you write about. Perhaps next time you decide to pillory members of this community who are standing up for those in need of assistance, you will remember that one day the children in need may be your own.
Speaking of children in need… what in the world is going on at Harper Junior High
Yesterday we reported on an incident last week that related to the issue of harassment of children due to perceived sexual orientation. Now this week in the Davis Enterprises “Briefly” we get yet another assault that required police intervention…
Teen arrested for assault on campus
Davis police arrested a 15-year-old Harper Junior High School student Monday after he allegedly assaulted another student on the East Davis school campus.
The boy, whose name was not released because he is a minor, reportedly tripped and pushed the 14-year-old victim during a verbal argument, then kicked and punched him once he was on the ground, Lt. Colleen Turay said.
Police took the boy into custody and booked him at the Davis police station, then released him to a parent with a notice to appear in court, Turay said.
The Davis Joint Unified School District better figure out a way to handle these problems, but at some point people are going to get tired of seeing all of these lawsuits being filed against the district.
—Doug Paul Davis reporting
These incidents of fighting between junior high students have been going on at the Junior High Schools for years. The difference is that the police are being called and kids are being arrested. They then can be expelled and shipped out of the District for awhile or possibly permanently. Maybe the undesirable families will just move out of town. The community will be cleansed of these troubled youth and no more lawsuits will occur.
These incidents of fighting between junior high students have been going on at the Junior High Schools for years. The difference is that the police are being called and kids are being arrested. They then can be expelled and shipped out of the District for awhile or possibly permanently. Maybe the undesirable families will just move out of town. The community will be cleansed of these troubled youth and no more lawsuits will occur.
These incidents of fighting between junior high students have been going on at the Junior High Schools for years. The difference is that the police are being called and kids are being arrested. They then can be expelled and shipped out of the District for awhile or possibly permanently. Maybe the undesirable families will just move out of town. The community will be cleansed of these troubled youth and no more lawsuits will occur.
These incidents of fighting between junior high students have been going on at the Junior High Schools for years. The difference is that the police are being called and kids are being arrested. They then can be expelled and shipped out of the District for awhile or possibly permanently. Maybe the undesirable families will just move out of town. The community will be cleansed of these troubled youth and no more lawsuits will occur.
View the earlier post as sarcasm.
I hope that the District doesn’t just call the police and wash their hands of the these kids. In some cases, the “victim” is actually the harrasser to start off and the victim is the kid that explodes and strikes out in frustration and anger.
View the earlier post as sarcasm.
I hope that the District doesn’t just call the police and wash their hands of the these kids. In some cases, the “victim” is actually the harrasser to start off and the victim is the kid that explodes and strikes out in frustration and anger.
View the earlier post as sarcasm.
I hope that the District doesn’t just call the police and wash their hands of the these kids. In some cases, the “victim” is actually the harrasser to start off and the victim is the kid that explodes and strikes out in frustration and anger.
View the earlier post as sarcasm.
I hope that the District doesn’t just call the police and wash their hands of the these kids. In some cases, the “victim” is actually the harrasser to start off and the victim is the kid that explodes and strikes out in frustration and anger.
these are very telling statements by Dunning
a man who has never stood up for a meaningful civil rights issue in the time that I lived in Davis, purporting to lecture civil rights organizations on what they should be doing!
which is, apparently, spending their time on Bob’s personal agenda so that his kids don’t get bused across town
with Debbie Davis asleep at the switch, and allowing Dunning to use the Enterprise as a megaphone for his own familial self-interest
it is truly embarassing, a man who rarely misses an opportunity to criticize civil rights organizations now arrogantly acting as he possesses an insight that they lack
next up: Richard Perle and Bill O’Reilly advising antiwar groups on how to best bring the occupation to an end
Dunning, the big white male kahuna has spoken, and the rest of us need to get with the program and do what he says
–Richard Estes
these are very telling statements by Dunning
a man who has never stood up for a meaningful civil rights issue in the time that I lived in Davis, purporting to lecture civil rights organizations on what they should be doing!
which is, apparently, spending their time on Bob’s personal agenda so that his kids don’t get bused across town
with Debbie Davis asleep at the switch, and allowing Dunning to use the Enterprise as a megaphone for his own familial self-interest
it is truly embarassing, a man who rarely misses an opportunity to criticize civil rights organizations now arrogantly acting as he possesses an insight that they lack
next up: Richard Perle and Bill O’Reilly advising antiwar groups on how to best bring the occupation to an end
Dunning, the big white male kahuna has spoken, and the rest of us need to get with the program and do what he says
–Richard Estes
these are very telling statements by Dunning
a man who has never stood up for a meaningful civil rights issue in the time that I lived in Davis, purporting to lecture civil rights organizations on what they should be doing!
which is, apparently, spending their time on Bob’s personal agenda so that his kids don’t get bused across town
with Debbie Davis asleep at the switch, and allowing Dunning to use the Enterprise as a megaphone for his own familial self-interest
it is truly embarassing, a man who rarely misses an opportunity to criticize civil rights organizations now arrogantly acting as he possesses an insight that they lack
next up: Richard Perle and Bill O’Reilly advising antiwar groups on how to best bring the occupation to an end
Dunning, the big white male kahuna has spoken, and the rest of us need to get with the program and do what he says
–Richard Estes
these are very telling statements by Dunning
a man who has never stood up for a meaningful civil rights issue in the time that I lived in Davis, purporting to lecture civil rights organizations on what they should be doing!
which is, apparently, spending their time on Bob’s personal agenda so that his kids don’t get bused across town
with Debbie Davis asleep at the switch, and allowing Dunning to use the Enterprise as a megaphone for his own familial self-interest
it is truly embarassing, a man who rarely misses an opportunity to criticize civil rights organizations now arrogantly acting as he possesses an insight that they lack
next up: Richard Perle and Bill O’Reilly advising antiwar groups on how to best bring the occupation to an end
Dunning, the big white male kahuna has spoken, and the rest of us need to get with the program and do what he says
–Richard Estes
“Dunning, the big white male kahuna has spoken, and the rest of us need to get with the program and do what he says.”
You think if Bob Dunning were of Japanese heritage, Richard Estes would call him, “the big yellow male kahuna?” Or if his ancestors came from Cameroon, Estes would attack him for being “a big black kahuna?”
“Dunning, the big white male kahuna has spoken, and the rest of us need to get with the program and do what he says.”
You think if Bob Dunning were of Japanese heritage, Richard Estes would call him, “the big yellow male kahuna?” Or if his ancestors came from Cameroon, Estes would attack him for being “a big black kahuna?”
“Dunning, the big white male kahuna has spoken, and the rest of us need to get with the program and do what he says.”
You think if Bob Dunning were of Japanese heritage, Richard Estes would call him, “the big yellow male kahuna?” Or if his ancestors came from Cameroon, Estes would attack him for being “a big black kahuna?”
“Dunning, the big white male kahuna has spoken, and the rest of us need to get with the program and do what he says.”
You think if Bob Dunning were of Japanese heritage, Richard Estes would call him, “the big yellow male kahuna?” Or if his ancestors came from Cameroon, Estes would attack him for being “a big black kahuna?”
Valley Oak should stay open to serve that community. If we don’t, older neighborhoods will never again vote for school construction bonds. The attendance boundaries could be redrawn to increase enrollment at the school so that kids north of the school aren’t having to cross Poleline to attend Birch Lane; move GATE to Korematsu and remove all of the portables to make it a smaller facility, share it with the elementary independent study program to get those kids out of the District office. Or make it a magnet school for families that want a traditional back to basics elementary school program with no GATE, Spanish Emersion, Montessori program on site. Or do something special to help the diverse population – offer a pre-kindergarten, and full day kindergarten to give kids a head start.
The school is really the neighborhood park. You remove the school activity and you put the park at risk. The school grounds will not be easily patrolled due to the design of the school, so crime will most likely increase on the property.
Valley Oak should stay open to serve that community. If we don’t, older neighborhoods will never again vote for school construction bonds. The attendance boundaries could be redrawn to increase enrollment at the school so that kids north of the school aren’t having to cross Poleline to attend Birch Lane; move GATE to Korematsu and remove all of the portables to make it a smaller facility, share it with the elementary independent study program to get those kids out of the District office. Or make it a magnet school for families that want a traditional back to basics elementary school program with no GATE, Spanish Emersion, Montessori program on site. Or do something special to help the diverse population – offer a pre-kindergarten, and full day kindergarten to give kids a head start.
The school is really the neighborhood park. You remove the school activity and you put the park at risk. The school grounds will not be easily patrolled due to the design of the school, so crime will most likely increase on the property.
Valley Oak should stay open to serve that community. If we don’t, older neighborhoods will never again vote for school construction bonds. The attendance boundaries could be redrawn to increase enrollment at the school so that kids north of the school aren’t having to cross Poleline to attend Birch Lane; move GATE to Korematsu and remove all of the portables to make it a smaller facility, share it with the elementary independent study program to get those kids out of the District office. Or make it a magnet school for families that want a traditional back to basics elementary school program with no GATE, Spanish Emersion, Montessori program on site. Or do something special to help the diverse population – offer a pre-kindergarten, and full day kindergarten to give kids a head start.
The school is really the neighborhood park. You remove the school activity and you put the park at risk. The school grounds will not be easily patrolled due to the design of the school, so crime will most likely increase on the property.
Valley Oak should stay open to serve that community. If we don’t, older neighborhoods will never again vote for school construction bonds. The attendance boundaries could be redrawn to increase enrollment at the school so that kids north of the school aren’t having to cross Poleline to attend Birch Lane; move GATE to Korematsu and remove all of the portables to make it a smaller facility, share it with the elementary independent study program to get those kids out of the District office. Or make it a magnet school for families that want a traditional back to basics elementary school program with no GATE, Spanish Emersion, Montessori program on site. Or do something special to help the diverse population – offer a pre-kindergarten, and full day kindergarten to give kids a head start.
The school is really the neighborhood park. You remove the school activity and you put the park at risk. The school grounds will not be easily patrolled due to the design of the school, so crime will most likely increase on the property.
Yes- it takes a village. The state needs to buckle up and discipline our kids.
Yes- it takes a village. The state needs to buckle up and discipline our kids.
Yes- it takes a village. The state needs to buckle up and discipline our kids.
Yes- it takes a village. The state needs to buckle up and discipline our kids.
anti-racist: I think you need to direct your hostility to Dunning, assuming, you aren’t, in fact, Dunning, because your comment is something that could have come right out of his column over the years
The point is, he is a classic example of white male privilege, an inept columnist who is allowed by his editor and his publisher to vent his personal resentments against one and all in the community, with a sense of personal entitlement to condescendingly tell civil rights organizations and non-whites how they should behave, when he has rarely provided any personal support to them (and frequently inflames hostility towards them, just ask Jerry Gonzales and the Buzayan family)
perhaps, someone needs to tell him, hey Bob, we don’t care what you think, why don’t you go back to predicting the outcomes of college football games, and stop using us as rhetorical foils for your own petty agendas (which, by the way, if you haven’t guessed, is a classic conservative white male stunt, expropriating the experiences and issues of non-whites for their own selfish advantage)
there was a time when Davis was sadly, pretty much in sync with Dunning’s antediluvian social attitudes, but Davis has moved on, but Dunning hasn’t, setting the stage for even more future embarassments for both him and the Enterprise
–Richard Estes
anti-racist: I think you need to direct your hostility to Dunning, assuming, you aren’t, in fact, Dunning, because your comment is something that could have come right out of his column over the years
The point is, he is a classic example of white male privilege, an inept columnist who is allowed by his editor and his publisher to vent his personal resentments against one and all in the community, with a sense of personal entitlement to condescendingly tell civil rights organizations and non-whites how they should behave, when he has rarely provided any personal support to them (and frequently inflames hostility towards them, just ask Jerry Gonzales and the Buzayan family)
perhaps, someone needs to tell him, hey Bob, we don’t care what you think, why don’t you go back to predicting the outcomes of college football games, and stop using us as rhetorical foils for your own petty agendas (which, by the way, if you haven’t guessed, is a classic conservative white male stunt, expropriating the experiences and issues of non-whites for their own selfish advantage)
there was a time when Davis was sadly, pretty much in sync with Dunning’s antediluvian social attitudes, but Davis has moved on, but Dunning hasn’t, setting the stage for even more future embarassments for both him and the Enterprise
–Richard Estes
anti-racist: I think you need to direct your hostility to Dunning, assuming, you aren’t, in fact, Dunning, because your comment is something that could have come right out of his column over the years
The point is, he is a classic example of white male privilege, an inept columnist who is allowed by his editor and his publisher to vent his personal resentments against one and all in the community, with a sense of personal entitlement to condescendingly tell civil rights organizations and non-whites how they should behave, when he has rarely provided any personal support to them (and frequently inflames hostility towards them, just ask Jerry Gonzales and the Buzayan family)
perhaps, someone needs to tell him, hey Bob, we don’t care what you think, why don’t you go back to predicting the outcomes of college football games, and stop using us as rhetorical foils for your own petty agendas (which, by the way, if you haven’t guessed, is a classic conservative white male stunt, expropriating the experiences and issues of non-whites for their own selfish advantage)
there was a time when Davis was sadly, pretty much in sync with Dunning’s antediluvian social attitudes, but Davis has moved on, but Dunning hasn’t, setting the stage for even more future embarassments for both him and the Enterprise
–Richard Estes
anti-racist: I think you need to direct your hostility to Dunning, assuming, you aren’t, in fact, Dunning, because your comment is something that could have come right out of his column over the years
The point is, he is a classic example of white male privilege, an inept columnist who is allowed by his editor and his publisher to vent his personal resentments against one and all in the community, with a sense of personal entitlement to condescendingly tell civil rights organizations and non-whites how they should behave, when he has rarely provided any personal support to them (and frequently inflames hostility towards them, just ask Jerry Gonzales and the Buzayan family)
perhaps, someone needs to tell him, hey Bob, we don’t care what you think, why don’t you go back to predicting the outcomes of college football games, and stop using us as rhetorical foils for your own petty agendas (which, by the way, if you haven’t guessed, is a classic conservative white male stunt, expropriating the experiences and issues of non-whites for their own selfish advantage)
there was a time when Davis was sadly, pretty much in sync with Dunning’s antediluvian social attitudes, but Davis has moved on, but Dunning hasn’t, setting the stage for even more future embarassments for both him and the Enterprise
–Richard Estes
“Blah. Blah. Blah.”
So you would call him a “big black kahuna” if his parents came from Cameroon.
“Blah. Blah. Blah.”
So you would call him a “big black kahuna” if his parents came from Cameroon.
“Blah. Blah. Blah.”
So you would call him a “big black kahuna” if his parents came from Cameroon.
“Blah. Blah. Blah.”
So you would call him a “big black kahuna” if his parents came from Cameroon.
the closing of valley oak is part of a larger pattern of neglecting the whole idea of neighborhoods, we see it with the closing of grocery stores around town and the council’s quick waiving of zoning laws to allow other shops in their place.
if the school board cared enough to try, i would think that saving valley oak wouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle by any means.
the closing of valley oak is part of a larger pattern of neglecting the whole idea of neighborhoods, we see it with the closing of grocery stores around town and the council’s quick waiving of zoning laws to allow other shops in their place.
if the school board cared enough to try, i would think that saving valley oak wouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle by any means.
the closing of valley oak is part of a larger pattern of neglecting the whole idea of neighborhoods, we see it with the closing of grocery stores around town and the council’s quick waiving of zoning laws to allow other shops in their place.
if the school board cared enough to try, i would think that saving valley oak wouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle by any means.
the closing of valley oak is part of a larger pattern of neglecting the whole idea of neighborhoods, we see it with the closing of grocery stores around town and the council’s quick waiving of zoning laws to allow other shops in their place.
if the school board cared enough to try, i would think that saving valley oak wouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle by any means.