LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Why Would Jim Reardon Support Kim McCarthy?

By Shelly Wellcome

I opened up my email yesterday morning to an email from Roy Byrnes. It stated, “Kim McCarthy and I have been busy talking about our vision of the future for San Juan Capistrano.” And at the bottom it stated, “This message was sent to “(my e-mail which I removed for this letter) from: Jim Reardon.”

Jim Reardon is running for the Capistrano Unified School District school board. He will be representing the schools and children of San Juan Capistrano. He is a supporter of SJC City Council Candidate Kim McCarthy, who wrote a letter to CUSD in 2008. In it she stated:

I have spent a significant amount of time at Marco, yet I have never been comfortable there. Why? Because this school is operated as if it is a Mexican Public School, not an American Public School.

• The Mexican flag is painted on the multi-purpose room wall next to the portrait of a Mexican man with a quote in Spanish”…

“• The messages on the phones are in Spanish, all of the paperwork is in both Spanish and English.

• On parent teacher night when parents only are requested, many of the Latinos bring their children anyway, as interpretors.

• An awards ceremony at the end of the school year was given in English and then parents had to painstakingly sit through it interpreted by teachers in Spanish to the gasps of the many English-speaking parents.

What Ms. McCarthy fails to mention is that the materials that are provided are parent information material so that parents can be informed and better help their child. On parent-teacher night, parents are given information about their child’s classes. Informed parents are better prepared to help their children be better students.

And what Ms. McCarthy fails to mention is that the Mexican flag, the portrait of the Mexican Man (Pres. Benito Juarez), and the quote in Spanish, which is also in English, are contained in a mural that was painted by Marco Forster students in 1994 to heal racial tensions after racist flyers signed by the WAR (White Aryan Resistance) were stuffed into 1,200 lockers at Marco Forster.

The quote in the mural is from Pres. Benito Juarez it states in Spanish and English, “"Between individuals as between nations, respect for another's rights is peace."

Kim McCarthy also wrote in the Capistrano Dispatch in 2009:

So, if you are wondering why you see so many pregnant Latinas and male Latinos not at work, with their well-dressed, well-fed, well-accessorized families, driving their new SUV’s or trucks around town, now you will understand. They come over the border, move in with their families, put their kids in school, are fed breakfast and lunch virtually for free, then they are directed to CHEC who hooks them up with tax-payer funded money and services galore.”  

— The Capistrano Dispatch, Kim McCarthy, April 24, 2009

If this is the opinion that Kim McCarthy has of San Juan Capistrano what is her vision for the future of our city?

And if Jim Reardon supports Kim McCarthy, does he share her view of Marco Forster Middle School which he will represent and does he share Ms. McCarthy’s view and vision of San Juan Capistrano?  And if Jim Reardon shares Kim McCArthy’s view, how will he represent all the children of San Juan Capistrano?

Sincerely,

Shelly Welcome

San Juan Capistrano Resident

Mother of Four