Who’s behind the hit mailer targeting Winn?
Political season is upon us and every day a new mailer gets put in the mailbox, featuring one politician or another telling us why they’re the best man (or woman) for the job.
This week, a different type of mailer hit local mailboxes. They targeted Donita Winn, who’s running for the vacant Trustee Area No. 3 seat on the Antelope Valley Union High School District Board.
The hit mailer makes various false accusations about Winn’s previous record on the School Board. She is currently running against retired judge and longtime school volunteer Dana LaMon, as well as businessman Robert Teller and adjunct instructor Christian Green.
“The hit mailer is completely filled with lies but this person’s attempt to smear my name has backfired,” Winn said in a statement to the Antelope Valley Press.
“So many people have reached out with words of support and encouragement in reaction to the mailer.”
The mailer makes the following claims:
•Winn was responsible for the expulsion of 10,000 students over her 14 years on the Board.
• Winn eliminated Highland High School’s International Baccalaureate program, “negatively impacting over 400 students.”
• Winn was recalled by Highland High parents and students for the elimination of successful programs at the school.
• Winn is under investigation for alleged serious Education Code violations and was suspended in September 2019.
•The mailer blames Winn for an alleged 2,500 student dropouts in 2015.
All the claims are false. To read more about each accusation and to get the real story, read Julie Drake’s story in the Tuesday edition of the Valley Press.
The mailer was paid for by Antelope Valley Parents and Teachers for Better Education and Jobs. However, there is no such organization registered with the California Secretary of State.
The address for the organization is in Inglewood, which is also the address of Political Reporting Plus, a political consulting and reporting business run by two people: Cine D. Ivery and Michelle
Moore Sanders.
Calls to the organization, to find out who paid for the mailers, resulted in Moore Sanders responding via email to say she’d forward an inquiry to the “committee.”
Meanwhile, former Board president Robert Davis posted photos of the mailer on his Facebook page, along with the following: “The real Truth: Eliminated the IB program at Highland High School Still under investigation violation of serious Ed codes Massive (10,000) suspensions during her time on board:”
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who’s behind the mailer. We suspect its the troublesome trio of Davis, Victoria Ruffin and Amanda Parrell. They just won’t give up.
They have shown their destructive tendencies in the past, when they were the Board majority and wielded power on the Board. They have also shown how negative and vindictive they are with more recent votes that went against those of Jill McGrady and John Rush. It didn’t matter if the vote was in the best interest of the students or district; they just wanted to be contrary.
We all thought Davis was out of the picture, but it seems that he still has some involvement, even if it’s just to sling mud at Winn, in hopes that she doesn’t win a seat on the Board again. If that happens, Ruffin and Parrell will be out of luck, as they will likely become the Board minority.
Make sure you elect the right person to the Trustee Area No. 3 seat. If you haven’t voted already, please do so — even if you don’t have children in school. The students of AVUHSD are counting on you.