Will Mark Newgent run for IUSD in 2022?

Former Irvine city council and IUSD school board candidate Mark Newgent struggles with the truth.

He attended a BLM protest at Irvine City Hall and claimed protesters were paid agitators.  He said Irvine council member (now Mayor) Farrah Khan was responsible for a small parade of UCI students protesting outside former Irvine Mayor Christina Shea’s home.  Newgent claimed to have been running a successful PPE business at the start of the COVID 19 pandemic where he could source N95 masks from China and bragged about happy hospital customers on social media when the reality was that business was a sham that he didn’t earn a dime from.

He was exposed as the person behind a Facebook group called “OC Moms for Truth”: where an actor doing a Donald Trump impersonation “endorsed” Farrah Khan and subsequent videos on that site also told untruths about Khan during the 2020 election.  There was also a veiled threat made by Newgent against Kahn and Mike Carroll that resulted in Irvine Police patrolling the neighborhoods both council members lived — so much for the law and order candidate.

Newgent has accused me of obtaining his children’s confidential school records (not true) and that I went to their schools to get those records (also not true), and that former IUSD trustee Betsy Carroll gave them to me (never met her, talked to her once in 2016, wouldn’t know her if I passed her on the street).  Newgent says I told him that Patrick Strader, a consultant to developer Five Point, paid a lawsuit I lost challenging Newgent’s ballot designation.  I haven’t spoken to Patrick Strader since he threatened to sue me over a voicemail he left for then Council member Lynn Schott (which I did) and he didn’t sue. This was years ago.  I’ve actually blocked Strader from texting or calling me and I haven’t spoken to Newgent in years either.

I thoroughly enjoyed the many untruths from Greg Diamond, Vern Nelson, former Irvine-resident Michael Fox, Newgent himself and others over some “scandal.”  I filed a challenge to a ballot designation based on an article in the OC Register where Newgent was hailing the success of his PPE business and, my understanding is that ballot designations must reflect what you are today and not what you have done.  I pushed for military reservist/businessman.  Newgent’s response was his business hadn’t made a dime and his sole income is his military pension and his wife’s earnings.  So using “businessman” is inaccurate.  “Business Failure” would have been more accurate.

Diamond’s multiple “here are the possible explanations and what they mean” were hysterical.  A debtor’s review?  For a bill paid on the due date?  Please.  There was never any panic about paying this.  Michael Fox accusing me of bullying! Ask Phyllis Agran about Fox’s behavior towards her and her husband at a Truman dinner a few years ago. Or Fox’s bullying of Farrah Khan at DPOC. Or bullying members of Democrats of Greater Irvine after refusing to surrender a Facebook page littered with Democrats blocked by Fox for not paying sufficient homage to his wife.  All great theater guys … thanks.  Oh, and Larry Agran and I continue to discuss Veteran’s Cemetery issues on a regular basis.

Newgent’s latest lie: He sued IUSD and there’s a confidential settlement he cannot discuss.  He said so in a comment on the Orange Juice blog last month.

https://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2021/10/more-on-dan-chmielewskis-payoff-scandal/

1. • Mark Newgent

Posted October 23, 2021 at 1:49 AM

Hi David Zenger,

It was actually one more board member and another council member involved but I left the details out. Far too much to post. The people involved are really stupid criminals. They tell on themselves often.

The IUSD Board controls like 400-million-dollar annual budget. Their superintendent takes home like at least 400k a year not counting pension or other bonuses. (That’s old data. You can google it for the latest). There are a lot of reasons why they want to keep control over that money.

I have been a thorn in the side for IUSD for many years. I am proud of my advocacy and for fighting for my kids. IUSD is almost never held accountable for their misconduct or how much they are busted hiring/enabling sexual predators in our schools, not even mentioning the misuse of funds. IUSD board is 100 times worse than the Irvine city council!!! You just never hear about it because it’s all hidden under “student privacy”.

To put it into context of how bad IUSD Board and super is… No matter how bad you think Farrah Khan is. She is a saint compared to the IUSD board and that super.

I ran for IUSD Board and almost won in 2016 and I should have run again. Due to what they did this past week I might run again in 2020 (sic). Since they are elected in trustee areas as of 2018 it will be much easier now.

You should know it’s no secret if given the chance I would fire the superintendent in a second. For not only them covering up sex crimes on my child but many in the community that I have been told about. Countless parents have reached out to me in utter pain at what IUSD did to them. I have shed tears with and hugged parents to ease their pain as I have been there. I have helped other parents with their litigation as well (IUSD knows this). It’s so F’d up what IUSD does and it’s all hidden the victims all suffer alone not knowing there are many others. It is just disgusting. IUSD have lots of reason why they want me gone. They pretend to be good people but in reality… they are not. I also served with one of the IUSD board members on the mayors advisory committee for like a year. I know them and they know me.

I also sued IUSD board for what they did to my daughter and they settled with me. I am not allowed to talk about how much $$$ they settled for but it’s nothing compared to the damage they caused to my family that we still deal with.

This short post doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the history.

Mark Newgent

 

So, I sent IUSD a Public Records Request about the Lawsuit.  Even if there was a settlement, the initial lawsuit filed by Newgent is a public record.

Here’s their response:

Request: Copy of the lawsuit Mr. Newgent says he filed against the district and any written communication about this lawsuit that is considered public and non-confidential.

Response: There are no responsive records, as no lawsuit has been filed or received by the district.  There have been two administrative claims filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings related to confidential educational plan issues (one filed by IUSD and one filed by Mr. Newgent).  To date, no amount or services have been rendered related to these claims.   

For those readers concerned about the cover up of alleged sex crimes, this issue was thoroughly investigated by Irvine Police and IUSD which found no evidence a crime had occurred. Given Newgent’s history of lying, file that here.

Newgent has run for office in the last three elections but somehow believes an examination of his record, his public statements in communications to government entities and public comments that portray him in any sort of negative light is harassment.  I went back again and looked at the file sent to me of his emails to IUSD trustees, administrators and school principals and the guy is simply abusive to them.  So much so that the district threaten to sue him for defamation.

Newgent5.11.2020 051120 Newgent Cease and Desist (002)

His ongoing communication with the district suggests he is planning to run for school board in 2022 against Ira Glasky, a well-respected Republican and an outstanding school trustee.

So let’s review:

• Newgent says he sued the district; he did not.  There are no records.  None.  He lied.
• He says Betty Carroll leaked me his children’s confidential school records; she did not and I do not possess confidential records.  I wouldn’t know Betty Carroll if I passed her on the street.
• He says I harassed him in the last election cycle; nope.  I wrote about this record from his social media statements and public records request documents he wrote.  He says more confidential things about his kids in public that I could ever do, and perhaps he ought to examine his harassment of Mayor Khan.  Just look at what he wrote in his OJ blog comment above.
• Newgent says I went to his kids’ school to get their records.  Nope.  I did go to Northwood High to take photos of the wildfire in 2020 and I do walk past CanyonView Elementary which is near my home but I honestly have no idea where his kids attend school these days.  Nor do I care. My kids had a great experience in the schools in my neighborhood and we still keep in touch with their teachers who were amazing.

What is true is I challenged his 2020 ballot designation because I actually believed his PPE business was successful because the OC Register reported it.  I trusted their reporting.  I was wrong to do so in this case.  And a judge found in favor of Newgent because his PPE business was a failure and he admitted so in court documents. So I lost.  He is only a “retired Army captain.” The fine was paid and, per my lawyers, every dime went to cover legal fees.  My lawyer believed Newgent’s team took the case on contingency so if Newgent paid anything upfront, he got his money back.  It’s not a Supreme Court case.  It’s not about harassment.  It was about a ballot designation challenge that happens every election cycle.  There’s no scandal. Sorry to disappoint.

What Newgent is here is a munchausen-by-proxy parent.  He creates conflict and a toxic environment with some of the best public education professionals in Orange County, if not the state, by using his children as human political shields, while claiming to protect them.  Newgent didn’t get the hint the first three times he ran for office.  Maybe he ought to now.  If and when he runs again, his record on being truthful will define him.