You take my breath away, Fitz! Again. I love how you say what I feel so forthrightly. Thank you for this stunning information. This would be high parody if it weren’t actually happening. It is a devastating tragedy as it is, caused by one human being who has no right to roam this earth.
Good job, David. Let the truth ring out and continue to name names! My spouse and I have no connection to CFSD, but our grand children do attend Marana schools and we will remember Tom Carlson's name.
I was at Dan Grossenbach's fund raiser. Well, that's what it was -- it certainly wasn't a non-partisan open exchange of ideas. Rather, it was a spectacle of lies and gaslighting, all told with an even, bland tone. It reminded me of Hannah Arendt's "Banality of Evil."
For starters, he claims over 171 people tried to register for 100 available seats, yet there were maybe 50 people in attendance, including the speakers. I estimate that the split of attendees was 60% "them" and 40% "us." For the most part, we didn't engage, although Mike Bryan pointedly told Gruber that she was full of shit about the Belgian euthanasia "movement,” and an older gentleman and I challenged a guy wearing a “We The People” t-shirt (clearly a constitutional scholar) about whether he believed everyone deserved the same rights. “Yes, i do.” “OK, what about rights for LGBTQ people?” “Certainly.” “What about their right to get married?” “Absolutely not!” “Why not?” “Because it’s not natural.” “Says who?” “It’s biologically wrong!” “Oh, so from what accredited university did you earn your biology degree?” “You’re deflecting!” “I am not. You’re stating opinions as facts and your facts are wrong.” Truly it was like talking to a speed bump about poetry.
Tom Carlson was doing his damnedest to maintain the fiction that he is "non-partisan." He stated that school boards are non-partisan (which is pedantically true), but he started his spiel by quoting the book of Genesis, and everything he said were standard conservative talking points. An audience member asked all of the panelists to state their political identities, and all other than Carlson was proudly "conservative Christian." Carlson just sputtered a bit and after being pressed he meekly said "conservative Christian." Clearly he did not like being called out on his shit.
Grossenbach mentioned that all of the Catalina Foothills School District board members and superintendent were invited to the rally, and also various unnamed Democratic leaders were invited. It's true that the board members were invited, but they wisely turned it down, for all sorts of good reasons. One is to not legitimize what that group was doing. Another is that they're abiding by the non-partisan idea of school boards. And another is that they actually adhere to the law regarding discussing board business -- such business is to be discussed only in the proper public meetings. That Tom Carlson, Raul Rodriguez and the odious Val Romero choose to participate in this sort of clearly partisan spectacle tells you much about their integrity.
I think it's important to realize that this group is whackos is actually very small. They don't really represent anyone but themselves. If they can't get more than 30 people to show up for a free meeting at a church, then, yeah, they're weak. But to the larger point: we shouldn't really be amplifying their message. It's difficult to listen to their spew and not yell "Bullshit!" after every sentence. It is important to know they exist, and who participates. Dan Grossenbach is nobody, but the people to worry about are Carlson, Rodriguez and Romero, all of whom are partisan hacks that are actually on school boards. And I should note that no members of local media (other than Blog For Arizona) were present. There were no reporters from the Star or the Tucson Sentinel, and nobody from any of the TV networks. This is good -- the bad message doesn't get amplified, as any amplification legitimizes it.
I was at the notorious April 4 CFSD board meeting where the Turning Point USA people and the nuts from The Bridge church showed up in large numbers to basically intimidate the Board and the community. The vast majority of that group had no relationship with the district. They were disgusting beyond belief. One parent (we call him “porn dad”) even read some passages from a book he claimed was in a “school library” and said “this is pornography and I don’t want my kid exposed to it.” That he read this in front of the kids who were in attendance at the meeting (including my kid) apparently didn’t register with him.
That meeting led to some quick organizing by district parents and at the next meeting two weeks later, we were there in force. We had kids willing to speak to their actual experience at the district, and parents to speak in support (including me). Due to the chaos at the April 4 meeting, the Pima County Sheriff's Office sent more officers and enforced the building's occupancy rule. That shut out pretty much all of the opposition. But that shut-out led to more gaslighting — “the Board locked us out and wouldn’t let us speak!” and the like. Not the board — they were told to take it up with PCSD if they had any complaints.
This all led to the threats against the Board, and those threats were reported to the FBI as well as PCSD. The Board was advised that going remote for the meetings was a prudent choice. This led to the opposition saying, “we are being denied our right to speak at Board meetings.” Of course they were saying this to the Board on the public Zoom call set up for Board meetings, so you see the level of intellectual honesty we are dealing with.
Dan’s recent emails (somehow he got ahold of the district email list) said that his supporters should attend the August 8 (yesterday) Board meeting. I was at this meeting, as were a few of the parents’ group, and of course Larry Bodine. Dan, his wife, and a couple of other insurgents were there. Dan spoke about his “conference” and lied about the attendance and its false non-partisan makeup. One insurgent was that “porn dad,” who did not speak. Another was some woman who ranted about the bathrooms. Another man spoke about how “the district used to be about ‘excellence’ and that all ended when they started emphasizing ‘feelings,’” implying that the #1 public school district in the state was somehow no longer “excellent” in his dim view. Dan’s wife spoke and said nothing of value. Bart Pemberton, one of the failed candidates in the last Board election, continued pushing the “why don’t you come clean about the threats” nonsense. Clearly he doesn’t understand that law enforcement agencies always say “we have no comment about ongoing investigations.”
After the public comment section, Dan and his performance artists left the meeting.
To specifically address the person who claimed that the district no longer cares about “excellence,” had he stayed and paid attention to the proceedings, he would understand that everything discussed was literally about performance. Student performance, teacher performance, metrics, assessments, programs, all of it about the goals set by the district and are they meeting them, all about maintaining the district’s excellence. Every action taken by the board has support in real data, or is in response to a mandate from the state. (Did you know that the state now mandates standardized assessments for Kindergarten kids? Nobody knows how those results will be used, but by gum Tom Horne is gonna have his assessments!)
We know these insurgents are all performative. We also know the ultimate goal is to damage public education in the state (and elsewhere), and that’s why we can’t ignore them. The real challenge is to make sure they don’t get seats on the CFSD board, the TUSD board (which means booting Val Romero when he’s up for re-election), and the Amphi and Sunnyside boards too.
I am grateful that you are digging into the serious issue of interference in the direction of public education. There have always been those with a partisan agenda in the district in which their children attend school. But I am so naive that I find a comprehensive organized campaign to infiltrate every school and school board meeting a reminder of Nazism (to be harsh). Governing bodies are meant to offer balanced, rational, factual debate that moves discussion and decision-making forward not into the numbing effect of a one-sided drum beat. Rev Mary S Harris, retired Presbyterian Church (USA)
Unfortunately, we have to except the fact that 49% plus American voters are ready to reelect a traitorous, lying, crooked grifter as President of the United States. We are in deep trouble. It’s harder for me to blame DJT, he is who he is he is ,than MAGA followers, and all those who are prepared to follow him and reelect him.
These extreme right wingers are idiots! What has our world, especially Tucson, come to for people like these to disrupt school board meetings with their insipid remarks.
Thank you David "Paul Revere" Fitzsimmons! The MAGAots are coming for the Catalina Foothills School District! I am not a resident of the Foothills District and my sense of propriety forbids me to go because of that; I know those folks don't care the same way! I hope the protocol for the public speaking requires giving your address first so people can sort that out...
Naming names and their positional history and affiliations isn't as much fun as building a rally good pu, but thank you very much for doing the work or having it done by your buddy Quincy Quail or was it Harry Javelina?
David, once again you've zeroed in on the real problem in public education. It's these people thinking they're the only "public" worth educating and the rest are simply scum and villainy from the far reaches of Hades. Of course it's a "non partisan" meeting because their political views are the only ones that count. They're among the group of privileged ruling class that believe whatever they say is law and it should never be questioned by anyone, especially those groundlings south of River Road relegated to the public education from which they've robbed for years. Great job for exposing these elitists for the spoiled snobs they really are!
I am so sick of bible banging assholes trying to force their crap into everybody else's life. Self rightious hypocrites with loose leaf bibles. UGH!!
You take my breath away, Fitz! Again. I love how you say what I feel so forthrightly. Thank you for this stunning information. This would be high parody if it weren’t actually happening. It is a devastating tragedy as it is, caused by one human being who has no right to roam this earth.
Good job, David. Let the truth ring out and continue to name names! My spouse and I have no connection to CFSD, but our grand children do attend Marana schools and we will remember Tom Carlson's name.
I was at Dan Grossenbach's fund raiser. Well, that's what it was -- it certainly wasn't a non-partisan open exchange of ideas. Rather, it was a spectacle of lies and gaslighting, all told with an even, bland tone. It reminded me of Hannah Arendt's "Banality of Evil."
For starters, he claims over 171 people tried to register for 100 available seats, yet there were maybe 50 people in attendance, including the speakers. I estimate that the split of attendees was 60% "them" and 40% "us." For the most part, we didn't engage, although Mike Bryan pointedly told Gruber that she was full of shit about the Belgian euthanasia "movement,” and an older gentleman and I challenged a guy wearing a “We The People” t-shirt (clearly a constitutional scholar) about whether he believed everyone deserved the same rights. “Yes, i do.” “OK, what about rights for LGBTQ people?” “Certainly.” “What about their right to get married?” “Absolutely not!” “Why not?” “Because it’s not natural.” “Says who?” “It’s biologically wrong!” “Oh, so from what accredited university did you earn your biology degree?” “You’re deflecting!” “I am not. You’re stating opinions as facts and your facts are wrong.” Truly it was like talking to a speed bump about poetry.
Tom Carlson was doing his damnedest to maintain the fiction that he is "non-partisan." He stated that school boards are non-partisan (which is pedantically true), but he started his spiel by quoting the book of Genesis, and everything he said were standard conservative talking points. An audience member asked all of the panelists to state their political identities, and all other than Carlson was proudly "conservative Christian." Carlson just sputtered a bit and after being pressed he meekly said "conservative Christian." Clearly he did not like being called out on his shit.
Grossenbach mentioned that all of the Catalina Foothills School District board members and superintendent were invited to the rally, and also various unnamed Democratic leaders were invited. It's true that the board members were invited, but they wisely turned it down, for all sorts of good reasons. One is to not legitimize what that group was doing. Another is that they're abiding by the non-partisan idea of school boards. And another is that they actually adhere to the law regarding discussing board business -- such business is to be discussed only in the proper public meetings. That Tom Carlson, Raul Rodriguez and the odious Val Romero choose to participate in this sort of clearly partisan spectacle tells you much about their integrity.
I think it's important to realize that this group is whackos is actually very small. They don't really represent anyone but themselves. If they can't get more than 30 people to show up for a free meeting at a church, then, yeah, they're weak. But to the larger point: we shouldn't really be amplifying their message. It's difficult to listen to their spew and not yell "Bullshit!" after every sentence. It is important to know they exist, and who participates. Dan Grossenbach is nobody, but the people to worry about are Carlson, Rodriguez and Romero, all of whom are partisan hacks that are actually on school boards. And I should note that no members of local media (other than Blog For Arizona) were present. There were no reporters from the Star or the Tucson Sentinel, and nobody from any of the TV networks. This is good -- the bad message doesn't get amplified, as any amplification legitimizes it.
I was at the notorious April 4 CFSD board meeting where the Turning Point USA people and the nuts from The Bridge church showed up in large numbers to basically intimidate the Board and the community. The vast majority of that group had no relationship with the district. They were disgusting beyond belief. One parent (we call him “porn dad”) even read some passages from a book he claimed was in a “school library” and said “this is pornography and I don’t want my kid exposed to it.” That he read this in front of the kids who were in attendance at the meeting (including my kid) apparently didn’t register with him.
That meeting led to some quick organizing by district parents and at the next meeting two weeks later, we were there in force. We had kids willing to speak to their actual experience at the district, and parents to speak in support (including me). Due to the chaos at the April 4 meeting, the Pima County Sheriff's Office sent more officers and enforced the building's occupancy rule. That shut out pretty much all of the opposition. But that shut-out led to more gaslighting — “the Board locked us out and wouldn’t let us speak!” and the like. Not the board — they were told to take it up with PCSD if they had any complaints.
This all led to the threats against the Board, and those threats were reported to the FBI as well as PCSD. The Board was advised that going remote for the meetings was a prudent choice. This led to the opposition saying, “we are being denied our right to speak at Board meetings.” Of course they were saying this to the Board on the public Zoom call set up for Board meetings, so you see the level of intellectual honesty we are dealing with.
Dan’s recent emails (somehow he got ahold of the district email list) said that his supporters should attend the August 8 (yesterday) Board meeting. I was at this meeting, as were a few of the parents’ group, and of course Larry Bodine. Dan, his wife, and a couple of other insurgents were there. Dan spoke about his “conference” and lied about the attendance and its false non-partisan makeup. One insurgent was that “porn dad,” who did not speak. Another was some woman who ranted about the bathrooms. Another man spoke about how “the district used to be about ‘excellence’ and that all ended when they started emphasizing ‘feelings,’” implying that the #1 public school district in the state was somehow no longer “excellent” in his dim view. Dan’s wife spoke and said nothing of value. Bart Pemberton, one of the failed candidates in the last Board election, continued pushing the “why don’t you come clean about the threats” nonsense. Clearly he doesn’t understand that law enforcement agencies always say “we have no comment about ongoing investigations.”
After the public comment section, Dan and his performance artists left the meeting.
To specifically address the person who claimed that the district no longer cares about “excellence,” had he stayed and paid attention to the proceedings, he would understand that everything discussed was literally about performance. Student performance, teacher performance, metrics, assessments, programs, all of it about the goals set by the district and are they meeting them, all about maintaining the district’s excellence. Every action taken by the board has support in real data, or is in response to a mandate from the state. (Did you know that the state now mandates standardized assessments for Kindergarten kids? Nobody knows how those results will be used, but by gum Tom Horne is gonna have his assessments!)
We know these insurgents are all performative. We also know the ultimate goal is to damage public education in the state (and elsewhere), and that’s why we can’t ignore them. The real challenge is to make sure they don’t get seats on the CFSD board, the TUSD board (which means booting Val Romero when he’s up for re-election), and the Amphi and Sunnyside boards too.
Andy-thank you for this detailed account! History has its eyes on these citizens
I'm not really interested in history's opinion of these people. They have to be stopped now.
Yes.
I am grateful that you are digging into the serious issue of interference in the direction of public education. There have always been those with a partisan agenda in the district in which their children attend school. But I am so naive that I find a comprehensive organized campaign to infiltrate every school and school board meeting a reminder of Nazism (to be harsh). Governing bodies are meant to offer balanced, rational, factual debate that moves discussion and decision-making forward not into the numbing effect of a one-sided drum beat. Rev Mary S Harris, retired Presbyterian Church (USA)
Unfortunately, we have to except the fact that 49% plus American voters are ready to reelect a traitorous, lying, crooked grifter as President of the United States. We are in deep trouble. It’s harder for me to blame DJT, he is who he is he is ,than MAGA followers, and all those who are prepared to follow him and reelect him.
Scary times! Thank you so much for keeping us up-to-date. That’s what investigative journalism is all about.
These extreme right wingers are idiots! What has our world, especially Tucson, come to for people like these to disrupt school board meetings with their insipid remarks.
You vent better than me so big big thanks. Feeling like this is a real live nightmare getting worse with each passing day.
Thank you David "Paul Revere" Fitzsimmons! The MAGAots are coming for the Catalina Foothills School District! I am not a resident of the Foothills District and my sense of propriety forbids me to go because of that; I know those folks don't care the same way! I hope the protocol for the public speaking requires giving your address first so people can sort that out...
Naming names and their positional history and affiliations isn't as much fun as building a rally good pu, but thank you very much for doing the work or having it done by your buddy Quincy Quail or was it Harry Javelina?
Typos uncorrected and no way to edit: ...building a really good pun,... I actually like the "pu" but...
Like Springsteen I was born to pun....and spawn more typos than a Scrabble loser
Thanks for this update. Where is the coverage of this in the local media. Thank goodness for you!!
The person who took those notes for you deserves a medal!
I am seldom left speechless. This is the time. Wow, just Wow!
Where did these creatures come from?
David, once again you've zeroed in on the real problem in public education. It's these people thinking they're the only "public" worth educating and the rest are simply scum and villainy from the far reaches of Hades. Of course it's a "non partisan" meeting because their political views are the only ones that count. They're among the group of privileged ruling class that believe whatever they say is law and it should never be questioned by anyone, especially those groundlings south of River Road relegated to the public education from which they've robbed for years. Great job for exposing these elitists for the spoiled snobs they really are!