Columnists
A puppetmaster in Sierra theater?
From the Left
By: Rex Bloomfield
Wednesday, March 23, 2005 12:46 AM PST
When Election Day rolls around, we're swamped with choices. As we work our way down the ballot from the president to candidates for the local water district, our knowledge of the candidates and what they stand for starts to diminish rapidly. So, candidates must build name recognition to increase their chances for victory. This requires money, thus over 90 percent of the time, the candidate with the most money wins.
That's what happened in the race for the Sierra College board of trustees. Both Aaron Klein and Scott Leslie set records for campaign spending for that office. They spent over 10 times the previous record. Fueled by a vast war chest, the son of our state assemblyman and the negative campaign czar for the Placer County Republican Central Committee combined their resources and bought their seats on the college board.
We all know what happened next. Four board members banded together and ousted the Sierra College president, Kevin Ramirez. It didn't matter that Sierra College ranks nationally in the top 1 percent for community colleges or that Ramirez is considered the top administrator in the state. The reasons given were flimsy and unsubstantiated.
Using the classic campaign technique of the Big Lie, which is simply just repeating their claims over and over again, the new board members hoped people would start to believe that something must be wrong because the new board members kept making the same accusations. Their chief spokesman, Klein, repeatedly made allegations without any evidence or proof. With four votes owing allegiance to those who made it possible for them to get elected, Ramirez was toast, but not until the taxpayers were soaked with a hefty buyout package.
The youngest (26) and most outspoken member, Klein, has risen rapidly within the party. While trying to create a name for himself five years ago, he and newly seated supervisor, Bruce Kranz, led a group that tried to ban books in Placer County libraries. Since then he has endeared himself to his brethren on the Republican Central Committee with his dogged campaign work and his impassioned assaults on anything or anybody not adhering to the strict doctrine of the central committee.
With a little help from dad, Scott Leslie has secured his first elected position. Scott has taken a low profile on the Sierra College board and speaks rarely. However, when it comes time to vote, he falls in line with his other colleagues.
Serving as chairman of the Sierra College board, Jerry Simmons, who has strong ties to the Placer County Republican Central Commit-tee, helped mastermind the ouster of our college president. Articulate and manipulative, Simmons, at only 31 years of age, is a force to be underestimated at one's peril.
But what the heck did Ramirez do to get summarily dismissed? No one knows for sure, but the rumor getting some traction lately goes something like this ... Ten years ago, John Doolittle asked Ramirez for his assistance in making a campaign video on the Sierra College campus. Ramirez expressed concern to Congressman Doolittle that since the congressman was not a strong supporter of public education, it might be inappropriate to use the college for his political campaigns. Doolittle never made that video or forgot Ramirez's impudence.
It always helps to follow the money to find out to whom these Sierra College board members owe allegiance. Of course, one must start with the most prolific fundraiser and godfather of Republican politics in Placer County, Congressman Doolittle. John Doolittle figured prominently in the election of the four board members who sacked Kevin.
Even though Congressman Doolittle is known to hold a grudge, would he be so vindictive as to destroy a person's career over a petty transgression? Common sense would say no, but then why did Doolittle and the Republican Central Committee dump a boatload of money on a school board election?
Former Placer County supervisor Rex Bloomfield will write a monthly column on local politics.
