Mark Earnest, San Clemente
I have never met John Alpay. I can only assume that he works hard and does his best to be a good husband and father just like I do my best with my own four children. What troubles me, however, is that Mr. Alpay seems to do whatever it takes to advance his personal political agenda. His placement on the CUSD school board provides a perfect example.
As a result of the 2010 school board recall, which came about in part due to Mike Winsten refusing the union’s request to increase class sizes and fire hundreds of young teachers to save money for older teachers’ salaries and pensions, Mr. Alpay was “elected.” I use that term loosely because we did not vote for Mr. Alpay in the normal sense one might think. He snuck in the back door by virtue of being the only candidate on the ballot when the recall passed.
Mr. Alpay got his name on the ballot because the teachers’ union put him up to it. In fact, Mr. Alpay never intended to run for school board; he has much loftier goals— he wants to be mayor.
But after getting embarrassed in his 2008 bid for City Council (he received a whopping 5.4% of the vote, Mr. Alpay needed a boost to his resume and saw jumping on the board as a golden opportunity. And, because the union was doing all the recall campaign work, he had nothing to lose.
The most disappointing part of Mr. Alpay’s 2010 election is the fact that he appears to have affirmatively misrepresented himself to voters. Just prior to the recall, Mr. Alpay boasted that he was “not a union-backed candidate” and had been saying that “since Day 1.” His own press release further promised, “Under no circumstances shall I seek or accept union assistance or support. Mr. Alpay has either completely flip-flopped from two years ago or he was not being honest with voters from the outset. I want to believe Mr. Alpay was sincere in 2010, but his pro-union votes since his election, even when negatively impacting our children, and his union-funded advertisements (for example, the teachers’ union paid for Mr. Alpay’s door hangers) call his original statements into serious question.
Finally, it is worth noting that, from what I can see, Mr. Alpay has no intention of serving the full four-year term should he be re-elected to the board. Instead, he will likely take the next step on his path to mayor by running for city council (again) mid-term, leaving our children in the dust. Then again, maybe he will just wait for the teachers’ union to tell him what to do.
Great article. I wonder if any of Alpay’s supporters realize he was anti-union before he was their puppet.
We learn more about Alpay all the time, too bad none of it’s good.
http://sanclemente.patch.com/articles/video-dad-says-school-board-member-threatened-him
Lets not forget these other nuggets of suckcess….there are more bits n parts to be found in the commentaries of every patch article from San Clemente, SJC, Aliso Viejo and even in the Orange Juice Blog covers some of the campaign sign stealing and destroying that went on with Alpays supporters….While the article there talks about a Lang supporter stealing anti Lang signs, there isnt a campaign approval name on them but Alpays camp claims them because they have been propagating the claim that Lang wanted to put cell towers on CUSD casmpuses…which already have some and the CUSD Board was discussing ading more back in 2010….so just more shifty, mud slinging and generally unsavory behavior from this now inactive Mormon, Mormon basher…
http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com//articles/cusd-trustee-alpay-behind-one-of-the-misleading-domain-names
http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com/articles/fact-checking-the-school-board-race
http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com/articles/group-to-trustee-alpay-take-down-your-misleading-website
John Alpay’s voting record can be found here: http://www.whoisJohnAlpay.com
Here is a partial list of reasons why one should not vote for Mr. Alpay:
1. He voted to increase class sizes
2. He voted to reduce our school year
3. He continues to deficit spend, recklessly
4. He unethically set up a website to divert funds away from his opponent and into his own campaign (http://sanclemente.patch.com/articles/cusd-trustee-alpay-behind-one-of-the-misleading-domain-names)
5. He threatens his opponents supporters
6. He makes up lies about his opponent, Steve Lang, by claiming he wants to convert SCHS into a charter school (total lie)
7. He votes lockstep with the Union even though he claims to support our children
8. He is back financially by the Union and endorsed by them
9. The Republican Party rejected Alpay for his Union endorsement and strong affiliation
10. MOST IMPORTANT: HE WILL HURT OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE
Ditto.
Mark is a smart guy (or so we thought); after all he got a good education at BYU, more than making up for his lost years at Capistrano Valley High School. He even managed to pick up Russian during his Two Year Mission to that country; too bad now he only speaks Greek.
http://www.whoisjohnalpay.com
You’re questioning Mr. Earnest’s education? Let’s see if I have this correct:
1) He graduated cum laude from BYU (oh, and he did it in 3 years);
2) He then graduated from Cornell Law School, a top 10 Ivy League law school; and
3) He speaks, reads, and writes Russian fluently.
Yeah, this looks pretty weak. I see your point.
@Importance of Being Earnest. . . I’m not feelin’ it. It looks to me like Mr. Earnest is quite a smart guy. What was your point again?
And, Mr. Earnest . . . thank you for your thoughtful article. I wish I could vote for Steve Lang, but I live in SJC. I support Lang, however, because his will be a voice of thoughtful reason on that board — a voice we can trust to make such important decisions about our kids’ education.
I am a thread away from pulling out my last two kids from public school, because I have become so frustrated with the politics, the union, and the misuse of funds. I trust that Steve Lang will be a very positive force for good and is doing this for the right reasons — the kids (his own grandchildren).
How I WISH we lived in a right to work state. The unions cause more trouble than we realize, I think.
You fail to make a point of any sort…Mark does not mention Gyros, The Acropolis or Mykonos anywhere in that letter, but thank you for confirming the fine education we know Mark to be blessed with. Perhaps a new moniker like the Importance of Being Relevant would suit you better….
Since the author, “Never met Mr. Alpay,” how on earth would he know that Mr. Alpay wants to be mayor and will never finish his term if elected? It appears the author is relying on rumors or spreading them himself.
The truth is that Mr. Alpay was elected in a recall election 2 years ago to replace a trustee who was doing a really poor job and creating chaos. I suspect friends of the recalled trustees are carrying out a political vendetta against Mr. Alpay.
On the other hand, since I regularly attend school board meetings and am an active school volunteer, I can attest for certain that Mr. Alpay has voted time and time again, in the best interest of the children of CUSD and frankly the taxpayer. In fact, his own children attend CUSD schools, each and every decision he makes impacts his own family.
As a board member, this past year, he has had to deal with a potential $51M cut to a single year budget, the largest single year budget cut in the history of CUSD. Mr. Alpay and the current board managed to negotiate pay cuts with ALL employees to fill that gap. BIG pay cuts.
Since Mr. Alpay was elected to office in 2010, the district has become stable and student focused. Finally, we have a stable focused leader in Dr Farley who is driving the district on a positive path with the support of the school board. Other key leadership positions have also been filled. This new stable leadership team is working to improve delivery of instruction in every classroom and deliver needed services to all students.
CUSD is now student centered.
In addition, Mr. Alpay championed a new Mandarin Immersion program using privately fund-raised dollars, a college prep worthy on-line high school, and encouraged the district to develop a STEAM (Science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) magnet school. This STEAM model, when successfully implemented, can be spread throughout the district to all schools. With the support of Mr. Alpay and the board of trustees, CUSD is embarking on many collaborative partnerships with Colleges, Universities, businesses, foundations, and even the National Park Services to pilot innovative educational opportunities, which can be implemented throughout the district.
At Mr. Alpay’s request, the district is in process of refinancing its debt and bonds, which will save the district more than $9 Million over time. This will also reduce the property tax-bills of many homeowners.
In two short years, under the leadership of Trustee Alpay, the positive path of the school district is evident in these and many other examples.
I urge everyone to really search all the facts about Mr. Alpay’s contribution to the district rather than rely on rumors and innuendo spread by people obviously still sore about the recall of their friend two years ago.
Thanks for your comment, Mr. Alpay. You could also just tell everyone to go to your website.
Mr. Alpay,
When you say “student focused” are you referring to your focus on using the students to pay for the budget shortfall? Teachers received big cuts to salaries? You reversed the salary decreases from the previous board and are now deficit spending to pay for their increase in salaries. You shortened the school year by 15 days and increased class sizes to pay for a golden handshake for all the teachers you sent into a fully paid for early retirement. Just like Obama, you distort the truth and try to scare voters.
You are the biggest Union puppet/hack that has ever resided in San Clemente.
Dear Turkish,
Actually, if you really research the FACTS, you will find out that what you have printed is not entirely factual. But no need to debate you here. I’m sure you believe that what you’ve heard is correct.
I suppose the most important thing is for voters to contact actual candidates for information, not rely on rumors, innuendo, and “hit piece” websites (as posted above) which provides no context, to make voting decisions. With CUSD, history is important.
BTW. I’m not Mr. Alpay. Just one of MANY quiet parents who really have spent years dismayed about the way ugly adult- centered politics were the focus of the district in the past. I am now happy to report that although the district is not perfect and there is much lost ground to make up from the dissonance of the past, CUSD is moving in a positive direction, even during this time of draconian cuts to education by the state of California.
And while you are checking folks…dont forget to get a broad picture and read up on his most recent endeavors during the campaign…
http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com//articles/cusd-trustee-alpay-behind-one-of-the-misleading-domain-names
http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com/articles/fact-checking-the-school-board-race
http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com/articles/group-to-trustee-alpay-take-down-your-misleading-website
http://sanclemente.patch.com/articles/video-dad-says-school-board-member-threatened-him
Hey “title,” I mean Mr. Alpay, you clearly missed the point of the letter in your attempt to redirect readers back to your message (hmmm, that sounds familiar, where have I seen that before? http://sanclemente.patch.com/articles/cusd-trustee-alpay-behind-one-of-the-misleading-domain-names).
Anyway, Mr. Earnest’s letter points out that Mr. Alpay represented to voters that he was anti-union so he could get elected, but that since his election he has done whatever the union wants. As a San Clemente parent, that concerns me. I want the Board to put my children first, not the union.
We’re voting for school board members here, unfortunately, some are trying to make this election about “unions.” A school board election is suppose to be about selecting people to review and approve the actions of those who work at the district office as they create a good learning environment for kids.
Mr. Alpay is a parent and a trustee. The decisions he made affect his own children and his own family. When presented with a $51M budget shortfall after years of unrelenting budget cuts, I’m certain that the decisions to increase class size by 1.5 on average and add furlough days was not easy, but it was necessary. Most do not want CUSD going back to the days of turmoil, dissonance and strife of the past board.
If you don’t like unions, take that fight to the state government that has the power to actually implement change. School boards don’t set the policy. They must simply work within the policies set forth by the state through the Ed Code. When they try to subvert these policies, we get chaos. The tenure of the last board proves this.
well thank you mr Title (union rep parent)…..thats the point here….getting parents and teachers together to be in control of the childrens education….not having union backed hacks in between making bad shot calls, whils using their position of self empowered influence to bully the rest of the Board and create an atmosphere resembling a political machine…but really its a “political circus…” in Alpays own words…
There are parents on the school board now. There are no union hacks.
And contrary to your assumptions, I’ve never been a member of a union nor has ANY member of my family. EVER! You have no idea what my opinions about unions are. I am simply a parent tired of politics being inserted into my children’s schools.
A couple of years ago, we had a difficult board who needlessly fired a superintendent and drove employees away causing a lot of problems. Remember the chaos and discord? Due to the lack of leadership, services for kids degraded and there was not focus on the kids in the classrooms. The old board did not like the systems in place that govern a school district so they ignored them or subverted them resulting in chaos.
Now, there is stable leadership which has hired other great leaders to work to improve student services. Even though the district has endured the worst fiscal crisis in its history considering drastic reductions in funding and the exponential increases in deferrals, There are examples of improvements everywhere. The new Special Ed director is a perfect example.
The special ed parent group just did a report at the last board meeting praising her efforts and explaining how much better things had gotten for those students. Parents are being heard and changes are being made to benefit kids. There are district leaders driving better instruction and professional development for teachers district-wide. It takes time to dig out of the hole left by that board from 2 years ago. The old board did not value the contribution of any leaders in the district office which was a mistake and kids suffered.
Stability is good for children. Unfortunately, Steve Lang has chosen to align himself with the political “reform” group who created a lot of instability in the district including a teacher’s strike. This group promoted the political propaganda film “Not as Good as You Think” featuring Mike Winsten which kind of twisted many facts to bash CUSD. The group Lang aligns with is still using this film to raise money for the school board campaign.
The idea that the district might regress back to the instability and chaos of the past “reform board” scares me!
Now Alpay is threatening people who disagree with him. Great guy. I seriously wonder how people like him sleep at night. http://sanclemente.patch.com/articles/video-dad-says-school-board-member-threatened-him
I need to add a number eleven to SC Parent’s list. Among the many destructive actions taken by Alpay that have hurt kids’ education was his motion that prevented debate on the disastrous budget passed by the board majority in June.
By the way, something about one of “the title should read”‘s post made me smile. One of many “quiet parents” who support Alpay? Ha! Parents are finally catching on about how terrible the board’s decisions have been the past two years. A few have been brave enough to start speaking out against his bullying, pro-union-children-last tactics. Many of us have remained quiet for years because we like our kids’ teachers and don’t want to have bad relations with them. We’re the true “quiet parents,” and we’ll make our voices heard, finally, at the polls on November 6th.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1702064511925
Check out this video of Alpay in 2010. I especially love the part where he passionately claims he is “not a union-backed candidate.” He even seems a little angry at the thought of being associated with the union. Interesting.