Thursday, October 31, 2019 5
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The glaring irony here is that a president who seems to have little understanding of, or regard for, the Constitution or the rule of law in general, and who appears to be virtually incapable of telling the truth, is demanding that the House obey some rules he and his supporters have simply made up. ––Alan Weiss
All in for Capps
I want to thank candidate for County Supervisor Laura Capps for taking time out of her busy schedule to speak at Monday night’s Carpinteria City Council meeting on the issue of the dangers to our youth regarding flavored tobacco products and e-cigarette (vaping) use. Laura’s up-to-date information on this subject and words of urgency to the dangers that are confronting our youth here in Carpinteria was well received and appreciated, not only by the members of the City Council, but also by the many concerned members of our community who attended last night’s meeting. It is good to see that Carpinteria has a choice this year to vote-in a candidate who cares for our community.
Les Esposito Carpinteria
inquiry is not a trial
The GOP has some nice talking points regarding the president and due process. However, they appear to misunderstand the Constitution and the rule of law. The role of the House in an impeachment process is that of a grand jury. A Grand Jury is convened to investigate whether sufficient evidence exists to bring a target to trial. No one has the right or authority to intervene in this process, have their lawyers present, or confront their accusers—that occurs during a trial, should that take place. That would be the role of the Senate. Further, the concept of “due process,” as enshrined in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, states, “No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law…”—none of which applies in this case, since an impeachment is about the president losing his job. The House needn’t vote to take up an impeachment inquiry. While it might add an element of transparency to the process, the Republicans have demonstrated that their role is to obstruct the process, even if that results in unlawful action. Given the storming of the SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility), it is evident why Pelosi has chosen not to vote on the process or allow Republicans to subpoena witnesses. When I was in the U.S. Air Force and had a top-secret clearance, had I entered a SCIF without authorization I would have landed in the brig. Had I inadvertently brought in an electronic device, I would have lost my clearance. Had I then used that electronic device, I would have been subjected to a less than honorable discharge. Finally, to nullify this president’s term wouldn’t be to nullify the will of the people, since Trump lost the popular vote.
Rather it would be to nullify the effect of the Electoral College.
Ray Kolbe Carpinteria
house rules
I don’t know where Carolyn Edwards (“Due Process Denied,” CVN, Vol. 26, No. 5) got her notions of how impeachment must be conducted. Maybe it was from reading White House talking points. Despite what she wrote, there is no requirement that the full House vote to initiate impeachment proceedings. The Constitution says that the House has the power to impeach but says nothing about how. I believe there is plenty of established law indicating that the House may conduct an impeachment any way it wants to. If Ms. Edwards wants to draw parallels with criminal procedure, then the current activities of the House committees would be analogous to a grand jury investigation, which is conducted behind closed doors. Closed testimony allows witnesses to speak freely and avoids having them align their testimony with that of previous witnesses. The Benghazi hearings were conducted similarly, with a much longer initial period of closed hearings, under rules approved by John Boehner. The due process rights cited by Ms. Edwards will be available to the president should an impeachment proceed to trial in the Senate, which would happen only after a vote of the full House. For a fuller discussion by a legal expert (from the Cato Institute, hardly known for siding with Democrats) see the op-ed by Gene Healy in the Oct. 28 edition of the Los Angeles Times. The glaring irony here is that a president who seems to have little understanding of, or regard for, the Constitution or the rule of law in general, and who appears to be virtually incapable of telling the truth, is demanding that the House obey some rules he and his supporters have simply made up. But then, there’s no shortage of irony in this presidency. Even beginning to cite examples would make this letter far too long for publication.
Alan Weiss Carpinteria
CoastalView.com For the record
Aliso School soars in state testing, School Board digs into performance indicators By WiLLiAM ARMShAW A brief Carpinteria Unified School District Board meeting Tuesday, Oct. 22, focused on the release of statewide testing results, and the uneven performance of local students. Board trustees listened to Superintendent Diana Rigby’s presentation on district-level “Local Indicators,” a range of scores measuring school performance across a broad cross-section of educational goals. Trustees expressed support for Aliso Elementary principal Michele Fox, whose school showed strong results, as she presented Aliso’s dual language instruction program. Rigby began her presentation with a note of appreciation for after-school tutoring and enrichment staff before turning to the release of statewide testing results, the California Assessment of Student Progress and Performance (CAASPP). A bare majority of California students, some 50.9 percent, met or exceeded grade level goals in English and Language Arts (ELA), while only 39.7 percent did so for Math. CUSD students performed slightly lower than the statewide average in ELA, at 47.7 percent, and slightly better in Math, with 43.6 percent. Carpinteria students outperformed their peers in Santa Barbara County, besting their county counterparts by nearly seven percentage points in Math. These results mark an upward trajectory from those of 2014-15, when only 41 percent of CUSD students demonstrated grade level proficiency in ELA and just 34 percent in Math. Results varied by school. More than 60 percent of Carpinteria High students demonstrated proficiency in ELA and 44 percent in Math. Canalino and Aliso Elementary schools diverged, with Aliso coming in at 52 percent for ELA and more than 56 percent for Math, while Canalino’s numbers were lower, 40 percent for ELA and just 38 percent for Math. Rigby also discussed Dashboard Local Indicators data, a project in which the state measures local school district progress towards programmatic goals. For Carpinteria, the priorities are Basic Services, Implementation of State Academic Standards, Parent and Family Engagement, School Climate, and Access to a Broad Course of Study. Carpinteria schools measured highest with Parent and Family Engagement, with progress made on the percentage of parents engaging in Open School nights and parentteacher conferences. Ninety percent of
Canalino and Aliso Elementary schools diverged, with Aliso coming in at 52 percent for ELA and more than 56 percent for Math, while Canalino’s numbers were lower: 40 percent for ELA and just 38 percent for Math. Carpinteria parents reported that they feel welcomed to school events, with 92 percent agreeing that schools encourage parents to be a partner in their child’s education. CUSD schools have reached full implementation of statewide academic standards for ELA and Math, and are in the process of doing so with Next Generation Science and History standards. Trustees had no questions for Rigby after her presentation on district progress toward meeting Local Indicator goals. The board voted 4-1, trustee Rogelio Delgado dissenting, to approve the second reading of Superintendent Rigby’s evaluation. Aliso Elementary principal Michele Fox gave a well-received presentation on her school’s dual language immersion projects. Fox’s work met with praise from the entire board, with Rogelio Delgado going so far as to say, “I wish we had a Michele Fox in every school.” The board also authorized Memoranda of Understanding for social-emotional programming at the middle and high schools, including The First Tee at Carpinteria Middle, whose branded Nine Core Values and Nine Healthy Habits program will be funded by a private grant, and an agreement with the Family Service Agency to provide a mental wellness counselor at CHS. CHS Student Representative Ariana Argueta-Vega delivered a report on the great success of Spirit Week, and praised the high school’s FFA students for their first-place performance in the Ventura section of the California Opening and Closing Public Speaking conference.
online. community. news
Last week’s story, “Finding comCoastalView.com mon ground on the president,” (Vol.
26, No. 5), had a misspelling of one of the co-producers of the Trump Debate scheduled for Nov. 3 at the Alcazar Theatre. The correct spellings of the producers’ names are Larry Nimmer and Duffy Hecht.
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