Local political activist Tony Dolz is planning to run for school board again. Here he is with Orly Taitz, a leading birther activist.

I am not surprised that fringe activists believe in these conspiracy theories. I am surprised that the local Republican establishment have supported and endorsed his campaign.

His last campaign focused on selling excess property and banning The Kite Runner.

Click here to read my past entries on Tony Dolz.

He has been endorsed by the Ventura County Republican Central Committee and the California Republican Assembly. The link takes you to the Ventura County Republican Assembly Facebook page.

I think local Republicans can offer education more. Conspiracy theories and banning a book are not going to help local schools.

Is this the best they have to offer us?

Sidenote: The Kite Runner is banned in Afghanistan.

It looks like Republican activist Tony Dolz is preparing to run for school board again. When he ran last time he wanted to ban a book about Afghanistan.

This time he is worried about the Common Core standards. Will Sharia law influence them? Go to his website and read for yourself.

I am not surprised that someone locally wants to campaign on banning The Kite Runner. I am surprised at how much of the Republican establishment supports him.

This is not the best the Ventura County Republican Central Committee can offer local schools.

Many cities, including Simi Valley, vote directly for mayor. In Simi Valley the term for mayor is two years and the term for council member is four years. The mayor does have more influence then the other council members but in many ways they are just another member of the council.

Thousand Oaks elects their city council and then their city council selects their mayor. This gives opportunities for factions to choose a member of their group to serve as mayor. Often an unwritten tradition develops of rotating the position between the council members. In Thousand Oaks there is a debate over how to choose the mayor.

The Conejo Post has more on the latest maneuvers.

As I was researching candidates for school board races I found Mike Dunn's website. MIke Dunn's tenure on the CVUSD Board has seen many controversies with him being at the center of some of the most contentious debates. From being accused of violating labor law to debates over the alleged gay agenda in health textbooks Mike Dunn has been a hero to some and a villain to others. He has been a polarizing figure and a favorite for media coverage because of it.

He took questions from my readers before and he admitted he was wrong to call an applicant for a job. His willingness to speak openly about his values and agenda have made him among the most vocal school board members in Ventura County.

I thought he would continue being a polarizing figure but with this screenshot from his website I am having my doubts:

If Mike Dunn earned the endorsement of Linda Parks I am thinking I should reexamine the conventional wisdom about him.

I am writing about SVUSD Board politics later this week. But what's happening with the election for your local school board?

The battle over the budget might soon be over if the big 5 ( The Governor, and the leaders of both parties in the State Assembly and State Senate) announce their compromise budget as expected within the next few days. But the interest groups, activists, unions, talk radio host and others are putting pressure on legislators to pass a budget of their liking. The plan as of now is to release the compromise budget and then vote on it before too much pressure could be brought against our legislators to abandon the compromise and to stick by their respective constituencies.

Locally, a group of educators, Democratic activists, and PTA leaders rallied outside of State Senator Tony Strickland's office asking him to compromise and help pass a budget. To see pictures sent in to me from that event click on continue reading. Opponents of State Senator Tony Strickland's have begun to circulate "Phony Tony Bucks" in an effort to blame him for the lack of progress on the state budget. State Senator Tony Strickland has not given any sign that he would compromise his no new taxes pledge, even with all of the pressure from different groups and his own governor.

But if State Senator Tony Strickland was thinking of going along with any compromise that raised taxes he would have to deal with conservatives on his side and the outrage breaking his pledge not to raise taxes would cause. So far if the contest between the two sides is over who has the most over the top graphics The John and Ken show has a pretty wild page showing Republican legislators heads on sticks and other objects for considering raising taxes.

If there is a compromise I don't expect State Senator Tony Strickland will be voting for it. But I am curious to see which Republicans vote for the compromise.

Click here for the website of John and Ken of KFI AM 640 Talk Radio.

Click here for my earlier coverage of the rally.

Click here for a report from Marie Lakin who attended the rally.

( Jay, I don't have pictures for all of the leadership of your club but here is your Barack Obama style image. Mike Chandler was correct, this really is addicting.)

The Conejo Valley Democrats sent out their February newsletter. Click on continue reading to see it.

Click here for their website.

I have been very impressed that many of the Democratic clubs haven't taken time off after the campaign but instead are holding events with guest speakers, helping local charities and making future plans. With the change in registration numbers and the better organizations locally Democrats should continue to make gains in Ventura County.

Scott Lamp is amongst the many running for Conejo Valley Unified School Board. Like Besty Connolly, he contacted me to request taking questions from readers.

Click on continue reading to see his answers to questions from the union representing school board employees and from School Board Member Mike Dunn.

Click here to check out his website.

Here are my questions:

1. Will you seek or accept the support of a political party for your campaign?

2. What do you think about the process to fire a poor performing teacher? Do you think it is too easy, reasonable, or too hard to fire a teacher?

3. Have you attended many school board meetings?

4. What is up with that strange question about students leaving campus for nonemergency medical procedures that Mike Dunn asked in his questionnaire? Is that a problem in Conejo Valley schools? ( Click on continue reading to see the question and the response.)

5. What local politician do you respect for the work they have done for our community?

6. Did you see the recent ruling between Mike Dunn and the teachers' unions? What are you thoughts on it? To read the full press release look at the most recent entry about him.

Thanks Scott!

What questions do you have, readers?

The ordeal between Mike Dunn and the union that represents teachers is over with mike Dunn admitting his mistakes and the teachers' union dropping their complaint in return.

Click on continue reading for the press release.

Click here for a past entry where Mike Dunn took questions from readers. What is your favorite response that he posted?

With this maybe all the sides in CVUSD will get back to work.

Another candidate has requested to answer questions on my blog. Betsy Connolly is running for the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

Click here for a link to an article in The Acorn to fill in more information about her before you ask questions. Click here for her campaign website.

Here are some questions from me to get her started but after that it is up to my readers.

1. Will you seek or accept the support of a political party for your campaign?

2. What do you think about the process to fire a poor performing teacher? Do you think it is too easy, reasonable, or too hard to fire a teacher?

3. Have you attended many school board meetings?

4. Is it a conflict of interest to get the support of teachers since you could be voting on their contract?

5. What local politician do you respect for the work they have done for our community?

What questions do you have about CVUSD schools or related issues?

Here is another Q and A with a candidate for the Conejo Valley Unified School District Board.

She already answered some of my questions, so I open it up to you.

What questions for Julie Svitenko do you want answered? Have you already made up your mind who you are supporting for school board?

Another day and another Q and A.

Dennis Hatland has held many positions in education. To see a full listing look at his campaign statement by clicking on continue reading. He is currently teaching at Big Springs Elementary in Simi Valley.

I met with Dennis Hatland and he is a dedicated educator. Before we spoke politics he gave me a run down of the core values he teaches his students and the results from this year's testing. If you want to know more about the way his students performed

Dennis, here are some questions from me to get you started and then it it time for my readers to ask questions.

1. Will you seek or accept the support of a political party for your campaign?

2. What do you think about the process to fire a poor performing teacher? Do you think it is too easy, reasonable, or too hard to fire a teacher?

3. Have you attended many school board meetings?

4. Is it a conflict of interest to get the support of teachers since you could be voting on their contract?

5. What local politician do you respect for the work they have done for our community?

Does anyone know the email address or background information for Michael Thomas Judge? He is listed as a candidate for the Simi Valley City Council.

I had an entry up to ask Rob Collins questions. I took it down to delete off topic comments. I expect to put it back up later this week. Thanks to those asking questions about the Simi Valley school board election.

It looks like CVUSD Board Member Mike Dunn's wife is running for school board. Will they be added to the list of political power couples locally?

I also saw a candidate listed for Moorpark school board with the last name Van Dam. I assume that she is related to council member Mark Van Dam but I will check into it. Here is Mark Van Dam from a few years back: