Current AUHSD Board Member and candidate for Anaheim City Council Thomas “Hoagy” Holguin is trying to ride to victory by pandering for votes in the emerging Latino community in Anaheim. In fact, a few self-proclaimed “Chicano/Latino” activists like the fraudulent Art Pedroza, are backing him and encouraging others to do so because Holguin is Latino. What they are not telling voters is that Holguin once backed a member of the hateful Minutemen for the AUHSD Board of Education.
Lets flashback to 2007. Then board-member Denise Mansfield-Reinking tragically died of a sudden heart attack leaving a vacancy on the board. Former AUHSD board member and active Minuteman and favorite of Barbara Coe, Harald Martin sought to get back onto the board of Trustees. The fourth place vote getter in the 2006 election, Jordan Brandman also sought the appointment. The third person seeking the appointment was John Alvis, a Centralia School District Board member and a registered Democrat(though not a particularly partisan one). Both Martin and Brandman had their share of friends and enemies among the AUHSD board, in particular Holguin and Brandman had developed an adversarial relationship. Alvis was likely a compromise candidate who would only complete the term to 2010 and retire. You can read past coverage of it HERE, HERE, and even Art’s coverage HEREÂ and HEREÂ where Art rips into “Hoagy.”
Now imagine for a minute that there was a similar scenario now, and someone Brandman did not like was seeking the vacancy and the other two candidates were an anti-semitic activist and a average joe. Common sense says Jordan would go for the average joe in the end, due to his Jewish heritage and would not want to vote for someone who hates him because of his heritage. But not “Hoagy.” Instead “Hoagy” refused to put aside personal politics and provided the third and decisive vote to appoint a man who hates “Hoagy” simply for his heritage. Harald Martin once tried to “bill Mexico” for educating children of Mexican descent in the AUHSD.
The result was a successful recall campaign to overturn the board decision. Nevertheless, Thomas Holguin went along with backing a member of the Minuteman. The hate group Martin proudly belongs to is the same one that has carried out many hate crimes in Arizona, including the murder of 9 year old Brisenia Flores.
Either way, immigrant rights are an issue that matters to me. As the son and husband of immigrants from Mexico, it is an issue that is close to my heart in every way, shape and form. Having been passionate about the issue since Proposition 187 in 1994, I have felt it is an issue that should unite all Latinos and any deviation to the other side of the debate is unforgiveable. Personally I am stunned that many Latinos who I thought felt the same way I do on immigration issues are pushing for Holguin. He went to the dark side in 2007, over the most petty of reasons, and to me he has yet to properly apologize and explain his actions. If it was wrong for Pulido to endorse Lupe Moreno in 2002, it is equally wrong for Holguin to endorse Martin in 2007.
I hope the message gets out to Latino immigrant voters in Anaheim that Thomas “Hoagy” Holguin is NOT their friend and is not one of them. In fact, a close source in Anaheim informed me he likes to refer to himself as a “Spaniard.” Looking at him, it is clear he is of Mestizo background, yet is one of the many folks who try to deny any Amerind heritage. I am proud to embrace mine.
Either way, this man is not the friend of the Latino community and his vote in 2007 shows he would sell immigrants and immigrants rights activists down the river in a heartbeat. His actions united Latino politicos from the left and the right alike, as you can see from viewing the videos HERE, with testimonials from Lou Correa, Jose Solorio. Alfredo Amezcua and Alexandria Coronado, a team-up you are likely to never see again. Make your choices wisely this November and do NOT vote for Thomas “Hoagy” Holguin, he is not a friend of the Latino community.
Claudio,
I didn’t recognize this as your work without the obligatory Porfirio Diaz photo in it.
Thanks for the head’s up, Claudio. Hoagy has some baggage,he makes me nervous, and I am looking into his voting record. He keeps running on this platform of saving the Measure Z bond money, but the reality is that the money was lost (was it fifty million?) under his watch. How are we supposed to trust him to watch an already stressed General Fund?
I don’t buy this garbage that ‘latinos’ or Hispanics should blindly support other Hispanics and not support non-Hispanics for public office. Illegal immigrants will support other illegal immigrants because they come from the same grain. Americans of Hispanic or other ethnicity should not be thrown in with “immigrants” to give the impression all Hispanics think alike and vote as a block. This childish, racist, mentality is not acceptable in today’s society.
and we welcome another read who’s had enough of the OJ blog
Claudio: Martin was never a member of the Minuteman Project but rather CCIR, which is even WORSE than Gilchrist’s club. Hoagy is vendido incarnate.
Thanks for the clarification Gustavo. But I had no clue there were different levels of scum sucking low life “know nothing” bigots who have a fear of a brown planet. A flow chart would be helpful to know which ones are more of low life’s. CCIR, Minutemen, Tea Partiers, all are hateful.
Gustavo, I was under the impression that the biggest vendido of all was Tom Fuentes. Maybe it’s just a really competitive contest.
Claudio,
Does Jordan Brandman support Arizon’s Law that discrminates against Hispanics and people who looks Hispanic?
I have looked for his position and can’t find it anywhere
Luis, Brandman is running for school board, a position that has nothing to do with immigration law.
Cynthia, I think it does.
It’s history. Jordan Brandman will be in a position to consider instructional history books, some of these history books might exclude Arizona’s Law, others might include it and not offer balanced opinions.
Luis,
School boards do not write text books. Further, this post is not about Jordan Brandman. If you have something to say about Holguin, great. Please stay on the topic. We have entertained your thread hijacking long enough.
Jordan Brandman is wackness, too! AUHSD has had some real doozies.
Gabriel,
He is now whackness, I can attest to that since Jordan is a good friend. Art posted Jordan’s number for all to see.Why don’t you give Jordan a call and speak to him yourself, I am a believer that diologue is the best way to solve these misunderstandings. Art “Whitney Houston” Pedroza will never call or approach Jordan without having Sean “Kevin Costner” Mill to use as his bodyguard.
I can tell you are cut from a different cloth than those scumbags. Call Jordan, you won’t think he is whackness after a conversation with him.
I meant to say “he is NOT” whackness.
Dr. Jose F Moreno seems like the only trustee I can trust and kick down with. He was out on the front lines of trying to preserve the Puente Program when it was under attack a couple years ago…
I made a conscious effort to highlight LGBT history in my “subversive historian” series. Brandman seemingly wants important history (and the people who have made it) to have no place in history textbooks…
That’s no bueno…
Hoagy is wackness!
As a public school parent I can tell you that Jordan Brandman is a decent human being, and a good neighbor. He has put his own political ambition aside to finish the task he started, which was fixing the schools. This task would likely have been less of an uphill battle had Hoagy not been in office. I cannot find a public school parent with an ounce of respect for Hoagy, when I mentioned he was running for Council one of the Moms said, “ask him where the $50 million went”.
Chris,
Are you going to chastise Cynthia too for going off topic? I think she might be trying to hijack this as well. Just looking for a little consistency.
The post is about Hoagy’s run for City Council. The post above Cynthia references an allegation that Hoagy misallocated $50 Million dollars. I think that is on topic on whether he should be elected to the city council or not.
Claudio,
What is it with this bizarre obsession with Pedroza and Mill? Its not just you but this entire blog. It is getting really creepy.
You are starting to remind me of DeNiro in “Cape Fear”.
You might ask Pedroza and Mill about their obsession with usa; Art still can’t over the fact that some of us contributed to a mailer against her council candidacy in 2008. And, if you follow his logic, the fact he didn’t win (he was crushed), we’re responsible if Van Tran somehow beats Loretta Sanchez.
Well Cynthia, let me introduce myself, my name is Jackie Brock and I am a parent in AUHSD and I have more respect for Thomas Holguin and the work he has done on behalf of all students as well as enormous belief in what he will give to our communities when he is elected to City Council. I can understand why you would be surprised, you see I am informed to all he has done for our kids and communities and I am not being spoon fed wrong information. I am sorry I don’t recall seeing you at any of our School Board meetings to which I have been attending faithfully since long before Jordan Brandman came to Anaheim. You may want to double check his platform as to what he claims to have accomplished while on out Board. You may want to start with Anaheim Band Uniforms then go to his Loara drum line claims. Beleive me your circle is small if you can’t find a parent that supports Mr. Holguin.
Jackie Brock? There is no one named Jackie Brock, or anything similar, registered to vote in Anaheim. You seem to be very proud of identifying yourself, as though it gives your comment more credibility because it’s attached to a name.
So who are you really, hmmmm?
Jackie: I’m having a hard time caring about whatever “Hoagy” did for the Loara drum line in light of the millions of taxpayer dollars that he and the other members of the AUHSD board utterly wasted, thanks to their lax oversight of Measure Z. To have “Hoagy” claiming to be the man who saved Anaheim’s schools by calling for a Measure Z audit (after letting things roll along for three years) is like having an arsonist take credit for saving your house because he called the fire department an hour after he lit the match. That kind of gall doesn’t deserve to be rewarded, no matter how many band uniforms he’s managed to supply.
Cynthia,
I have read your blogs and comments about Thomas Holguin for some time and it appears that you choose not to read and report the facts, but instead continue to publicly libel this candidate at which you will most likely be held responsible for should he ever waste his time to read this or other blogs that you are libeling him on.
If you look at the evidence that Mr. Holguin posts on his own site (http://www.votehoagy.com/March%2017,%202005%20Minutes.pdf) you would see that he actually voices his concerns about misappropriation of Measure Z funds and requests that a program management firm be hired to review the project. He then appears to vote against approval of $15,394,849 for construction of Cypress High School.
If you look here in item H(http://www.votehoagy.com/April21%282005%29Minutes.pdf), it appears that Mr. Holguin succeeds in gaining ratification of the forensic operational audit. If you care to read on to item M, it shows that Mr. Holguin is the only trustee that votes NO in an act to save the school district from further misappropriated construction.
What you are failing to understand and inform the readers is that staff was not competent in handling these bonds prior to Holguin coming to the Board as seen here (http://www.votehoagy.com/Document%28123%29.pdf), and that without his finding these discrepancies the District would have been left in the hole way over $50 million that they wouldn’t have been able to pay back.
How way off base can you be? What in the Grand Jury Reports did you not understand?
As far as your comments about not being able to find a parent with an ounce of respect for Mr. Holguin, that is ludicrous. How can he win 1st in votes in both 2002 and 2006 without an ounce of respect from parents? You make no sense whatsoever and sound like a bitter woman with too much anger in her heart. Your quest to discredit this Gentleman appears to be a personal battle in which you will ultimately lose through your libelous behavior.
You appear unable to ever backup any of your claims and therefore should just stop and move on.
As far as your personal problems with this candidate, I would suggest you take that up with him and not in the blogs. It really makes you look desperate and obsessed.
I have no personal problems with Hoagy, I am a voter examining the merits of candidates. Hoagy has put himself out there as competent to run our City, I have every right, and obligation, to check the veracity of his claims. If I cannot discuss a political candidate on a political blog then the world has indeed turned upside down. Have a nice day.
Then while your checking the VERACITY OF HIS CLAIMS, please do us all a favor, and check the facts too. I helped lay those out for you.
You DO have every right to examine merits of a candidate. You DO NOT have the right to libel someone with lies saying they lost $50 million.
I believe anyone including yourself and the oversight committee had access to the financial information of the bond. Thank God someone (Thomas Holguin) was awake to catch the oversights of the District Superintendent and staff who were managing this project. Ohhh, that’s right! You weren’t on the scene then to know that Holguin fired them all.
If you don’t want to do your homework, than we’ll all have to just keep examining the merits of the ill-informed Cynthia Ward.
Have a nice Day.
Hoagy is a public figure so for libel to occur, you have to prove what Cynthia wrote about was false, than she knew it was false and published it with reckless disregard for the truth. Claiming libel and proving it are two completely different things and while Cynthia and I disagree on many things regaridng policy and politics, the care she puts into the posts she writes is well documented and responsible. She hasn’t said anything that isn’t widely talked about in Anaheim. Hoagy still has a Minuteman problem to deal with…
Thank you Dan.
Wow, Hoagy’s got some angry friends! Friends who might not want to call attention to the Grand Jury report on Measure Z (note that Holguin himself doesn’t provide a link to it in the “Measure Z Facts” section of his website), because it points out the culpability of Holguin and the rest of the AUHSD board starting with its very first finding:
F-1. The AUHSD Board of Trustees lacked the training and expertise to properly oversee the entire Measure Z program. The majority of the Trustees had no experience in construction, capital program management, and related financial matters, and when the Measure Z program began to move into the construction phase, the Board became dysfunctional in dealing with the program.
If Hoagy was such a firebrand for truth and justice, why was he seemingly content to let things roll along for three years before calling for an audit? Why did he and the rest of the AUHSD board only hire an outside program management company for the Measure Z projects after the audit was completed? (Read the Grand Jury report; hiring program management expertise was something the Board endlessly talked about, but never acted upon, until they had the reality of the audit staring them in the face.) Even before you consider his paling around with Harald Martin and friends, Hoagy’s record isn’t an attractive one; I don’t want him doing for Anaheim what he did for AUHSD.
Kevin,
Thanks for proving my point. You failed to list this part of F-1 that follows:
The Measure Z program was the biggest undertaking for the District, its staff and the Board of Trustees. Individual Trustees had a varied level of experience in the areas involved in the implementation of a major construction program and those experiences did not directly relate to this type and magnitude of program. The Board recognized the need for new management, leadership and control of construction projects and the entire District. This realization led to newly hired staff and the Board’s support for their work.
If you look at the minutes, you will see it took him 2.5 years to do this. Nice try though pal.
LCSA: I didn’t fail to list anything. The paragraph that I quoted is the entire finding from the Grand Jury report; the paragraph that you quoted is from the AUHSD’s ass-covering “but we tried really hard and learned a whole lot!” response.
It’s hardly a human failing to admit that you don’t know anything about managing a multimillion dollar construction project; few people do. But Holguin and his fellow trustees displayed a unique mixture of hubris and incompetence by waiting three years (and wasting tens of millions in taxpayer dollars) before copping to their inadequacies and hiring professional project management.
(I think that you lose your right to say “aw shucks, at least I learned from my mistakes and did what was right in the end!” after you lose your first million or two.)
Howard, Jackie Brock does indeed exist. She works for the District, so she is a real person. She is also a long time very close friend of Hoagy.
Jackie, we have not met, since your son was an upperclassman when my son started, but I am a Loara parent, I was on PTA Board for years. I would not say my circle is small, and my circle is anti-Hoagy in the extreme. I am also a proud Loara band parent, in fact I am the drumline rep this year, so I am confused as to claims of someone doing something for Loara’s drumline. Jordan has not made claims of having helped the drumline, although I do appreciate getting Scott to move to Loara, which has been a huge boost for Loara’s band. Has Hoagy made some claim of aiding drumline?
As far as my involvement, I live in the Colony District, not far from Anaheim High, and I was involved in a preservation oriented focus group for the Anaheim High reno very early on, I saw the incompetence of the staff working under the old Board, and I saw the awesome job done after Jordan came on board. Do not get me started on the difference.
Ultimately, Jackie is an agent for Hoagy, has been for years, and I am a friend of Jordan’s, so we are unlikely to agree on much. But I would put Jordan’s proven record up against Hoagy’s. I am also rather confused by Hoagy’s behavior at last week’s WAND forum. He spent the beginning of the forum touting his performance on the School Board and then wrapped up his remarks by bagging on the poor performance of the schools. It was a little bipolar, but it fits the platform of someone claiming to have saved the district millions for calling for an audit, after allowing the situation to get completely out of hand UNDER HIS WATCH! Hoagy is very good at fixing the blame on others while taking a bow for selected performance. Then throw in his appointment of Harald Martin and we just have a big old mess that cost the District a lot of money and bad blood. Why on earth would I want to give him the broader arena of City Council to mess with?
Claudio misses the mark in saying that Hoagy is not the friend of Latinos. Hoagy does not seem to be the friend of ANY of the hard working parents in our district, or at least not the ones who refuse to suck up to him and fluff his ego. And someone needs to tell him to sit down, the grandstanding at forums is arrogant and does not play well with attendees. Where is his consultant when he is doing that?
UNDER HIS WATCH! Watch the anger spewing out of this women. Quite amusing and just in time for Halloween. Did this guy not pick you at a high school dance or something? Who cares if he stands up at a forum or not. You obviously have a personal problem with the guy on many levels.
Not just Cynthia, but you’re all off-base singing the praises of yesterday’s Los Amigos and Nativo Lopez. Wow, now there’s a winner! You make Nativo the reincarnate of Christ himself and then throw Holguin to the wolves because he didn’t want to appoint someone with no experience or background to the Board? Where is the rational there? How did that Nativo thing work out for you guys anyway?
about as well as your Mr. Martin thing did I guess.
When did anyone ever mention Nativo Lopez. From what I recall Nativo Lopez had very little to do with the recall of Harald Martin. What I remember it was championed by Lou Correa, who I hear Hoagy’s part time campaign manager used to work for. In fact Correa once was an ally of Hoagy until this incident. Correa does not strike me as an extreme “Chicano Power” type, but a level headed moderate.
Edwin
You may call him a level headed “moderate.” I call him a DINO!
So…LCSA….you seem awfully worked up for an impartial observer. Are you Hoagy’s campaign manager…or his wife?
or Hoagy?
Libelous Cynthia Strikes Again is clearly a Hoagy hack. Hey LCSA, come back and post under your real name and state why us residents of Anaheim should vote for Thomas “Hoagy” Holguin.
John
It’s Doug Vogel, Hoagy’s part time campaign manager. Hey Doug, there are no secrets in campaigns, and apparently very little loyalty. So as you go through life threatening to “examine” me, be careful of your own secretive activities, like anonymous blogging. I always put my name on my blog posts, and I back my posts up with facts and links and sources. How about you do the same? I will use a phrase learned from Dan, and tell you to have some “testicular fortitude.” BTW-I am working on a recap of last night’s Candidate’s Forum to be posted over at Red County, and I will certainly take into account the courtesy of Hoagy’s campaign team while writing it. Hoagy can drop the thank you note to Doug at the end of the day. Oddly enough I am stretched so thin I was going to let Hoagy go, he is certainly not going to be elected,not based on what I hear from voters, so he was no threat to me. But the grandstanding positions he keeps putting up, taking credit for “rescuing” the District, after overseeing its epic failure, combined with a fairly abrasive crew, made me rethink that. His statements last night were patently false, and confronting me afterwards accusing me of giving him dirty looks (when I did no such thing, why would I start problems at a public forum while representing another candidate? Bad campaign mojo) just sort of spoiled it for me. So I will spend a chunk of today refuting Hoagy’s erroneous claims. Not what i wanted to do with my day, but so be it. Enjoy the sunshine, while it lasts. I hear there is a storm brewing.
As a Hispanic male this post is a croc. I personally know him and his wife and how can u say he is not a friend to the Latin community when his wife is of Mexican decent. Therefore this post is not credible and how can we believe anything you say. If he wasn’t a friend why would he marry her. I think u need a refund from the person that u get your informations since obviously this post is totally incorrect.
I will vote for Thomas Holguin! I’m glad that theres many people whom sadly have to get their politics views from such an article like this one. All of you who dislike Mr. Holguin are feeling threatened by his campaign.