If you’re a reader here at JCW then you know that our friends in the so called leadership positions are not leaders at all. They’re a bunch of high-paid lemmings that know they could never get a gig like this anywhere else on earth. The real leaders are down in the supervisor/senior levels that keep everything from flying apart while those above them bullshit and brown-nose their way into the next leadership position by creating a new management title and structure.
What all of these people are is appointees of the Chief Justice who, much like the Chief Justice before her, reappoints these people to so-called leadership positions. Occasionally, they actually switch a committee chair but they’re pretty much there as long as they want to be regardless of their competence. It’s more of how willing are they to look the other way at branch concerns while trying to placate the rest of us with a heaping plate of cow dung.
For nearly four long years, empress Tani has worn no clothing. She has demonstrated a woeful lack of leadership skills in the many areas that matter most to the public and judicial branch employees, judges and justices alike.
Her lobbying team within the AOC and on the council has absolutely no credibility in Sacramento because every turned page of this epic saga is yet another measure of sheer disbelief and chutzpah. If they can’t take your word for it in Sacramento, it’s probably not the best thing for our relationship for you to be promoted. Yet, that’s exactly what Tani did.
It was probably equally as bad in legislative circles for Curt Child to get the promotion as it was for Tani to assail the legislature over the suggested termination of Mr. Vickrey. And then she has the sheer audacity to name a conference center after a very controversial living figure – because she knows it will serve as a cloak of immunity. At least on a state level.
In a mere fifty five days you are all supposed to believe that branch transformation has been completed and it is now the epitome of transparency and accountability because this is what you are currently being conditioned to believe.
It doesn’t matter that there isn’t a shred of truth to it. This is the speak with one voice mantra moving forward into 2014. Even our former SEC members are gloating at the wonders of their (lack of) accomplishment in reorganizing the council and the AOC. Of course, no one has been held accountable for anything and there are quite a few major transparency issues that remain unresolved but you are supposed to just forget about that. That was so… Monday.
Today, and throughout the rest of 2013 you can trust that we will hear much about the stellar accomplishments these turn-around experts have made. What many of us know is that the turn-around experts are the same bunch of people who caused the mess to begin with, save a few people who got to ride off into generous California pension sunsets.
True leadership is about holding people accountable. It is amazing that many of these same people can render a decision and a sentence in a court of law but can’t bring themselves to hold their own people accountable. As we’ve said before and Tani has spent four long years proving, the bigger the fuck-up, the larger and more prominent the reward or promotion.
unionman575
November 5, 2013
Nice work JCW.
😉
Wendy Darling
November 5, 2013
Quote of the day: ” It’s more of how willing are they to look the other way at branch concerns while trying to placate the rest of us with a heaping plate of cow dung.”
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
November 5, 2013
And the JC/AOC/CJ creeps serve up the “heaping plate of cow dung” to us steaming. Yuk.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
November 5, 2013
http://blog.ted.com/2013/11/05/my-10-favorite-before-i-die-responses/
Before I die I hope to see the California justice system brought back to its former glory, optimism springing up for decentralization and rejuvenation of local, neighborhood courts, democracy brought to the JC and the AOC de-funded. Hope that’s not too ambitious. It’s not like wanting to jump out of a plane at 100 years old. 😀
unionman575
November 5, 2013
More to follow on the “house that Rosenberg built”
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2013/11/05/yolo-county-economic-development-court.html
Nov 5, 2013, 5:44am PST
Yolo County looking for new uses for old courthouse
😉
The OBT
November 6, 2013
HRH-1 has not gotten off the stage as many had hoped or expected. He has now apparently written a book about his life and times, Pretty unbelievable . I am sure CCMS and the ruin he caused the trial courts got left out of this self congratulatory holding forth. Rumor has it that this bitter, arrogant and now irrelevant man refers to his critics as “creatures” in the ” insect hierarchy ” I wonder what reform minded HRH-2 who calls him the ” great Ron George” will have to say about that ? .HRH-1’s comments if true just prove the point his critics here and elsewhere have made. The arrogance of the Judicial Council and AOC needs to be addressed now. They will never accept any responsibility for the wreck they have created within the branch or the billions they have wasted. The solution is to rid California government of this arrogance by defunding them forthwith.
Lando
November 6, 2013
Ronald George recently claimed that calling his judicial critics “ants” was “being charitable” in making a comparison to ” creatures that occupy a much higher rank in the insect hierarchy ” Very judicial and respecting of the First Amendment. Thanks to the CJP for ignoring all the comments this arrogant man has made to undermine the judiciary . The CJP punishes the trivial transgressions of trial court Judges claiming in each instance that their actions undermine public confidence but gave a pass to the HRH-1 who demeaned any one who spoke in opposition to him. They do the same now for other insiders like J Hull who blocks and ignores proper requests for public information. The end result? A judiciary with no credibility. It is time to strip the AOC of all of its’s funds . And maybe just maybe the legislature should also look at the over bloated staff at the CJP and ask them to justify their budget.
Nathaniel Woodhull
November 6, 2013
OMG! Revisionist history at its finest; HRH-1’s “tell-all” book. Did you know that he “masterfully engineered” reforms that transformed the judiciary from a collection of splintered local trial courts into a bona fide statewide branch of government. (The bucket is full, pass me a new bucket.)
When referencing the complete disaster that is CCMS; HRH-1 has the unmitigated gall to say: “I do not in retrospect fault myself for any difficulties that took place with CCMS” He suggested that the AOC Administrative Director (Vickrey) should have managed it better. Really, is that all you can offer for destroying the Judicial Branch and flushing $500+Million down the toilet??????
Ronald George said that he would often “draft” two tentative opinions expressing opposing sides in cases, so that if he became the swing vote he could decide which opinion to sign. First of all, Beth Jay wrote that which was signed by HRH-1. If in fact he “penned” two drafts to most opinions that is clearly a sign of an unprincipled, weak-minded, individual with little ability to perform critical thinking.
John A. Clarke, the retired Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Superior Court summed up HRH-1; responding to a journalist’s question about his being criticized in HRH-1’s new autobiography (fiction section): “This is classic Ron George. His greatest shortcoming is his fear of legitimate public debate and open policy discussions. He frequently resorted to attacking anyone who dared to express a different viewpoint.”
With over 40 years of public service in both the executive and judicial branches of government, it is my opinion that the Judicial Branch was much worse off on January 2, 2011 than it was on March 28, 1996, the term during which HRH-1 served as Chief Justice. “Consolidation” in many trial courts has been nothing short of a disaster. Measured steps could have been taken to eliminate duplication of certain administrative aspects of the courts, but the wholesale change to a one-size fits all approach to justice has not worked. The reason the trial courts are suffering now is because of HRH-1 and his “vision” for creating a bona fide “Judicial Branch” within California. Stewardship was transferred to HRH-2, but she has done nothing more than continued the course set by HRH-1. Remember, even during the Great Depression the trial courts stayed open. Now, “access to justice” has been reduced to a trickle from the stream many of us helped develop over the decades.
In the end, HRH-1’s efforts at self-aggrandizement by way of re-writing history will fail. Those of us working in the trenches know what really happened, sadly most of the public will not have a clue…
Wendy Darling
November 6, 2013
“Stewardship was transferred to HRH-2, but she has done nothing more than continued the course set by HRH-1.”
Ron George in a skirt.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
November 6, 2013
Ron George’s “one size fits all” should translate to clown shoes to be issued to the JC/AOC/CJ! Always good to hear from The General NW. Yes, the buckets are full, please pass us all some more buckets.
unionman575
November 6, 2013
Did I hear HRH?
Check out the LA Times…
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-george-20131106,0,1593214.story#axzz2jqA6fnfN
😉
Judicial Council Watcher
November 6, 2013
Fascinating. He tosses Vickrey under the bus for wasting a half billion dollars yet the current chief justice embraced Vickrey and named a conference center in his honor. Heck, let’s blame Vickrey for Ron George’s lack of oversight.
Lucky for all of us, this megalomaniac is true to form and can’t seem to stay on message even though he created the message because it disagrees with the self image he wishes to portray.
MaxRebo5
November 6, 2013
Nice point JCW. Shouldn’t “the Great Ron George” (as Tani calls him) have spoken out in protest about the JC conference center being named after Bill Vickrey at the time if it was indeed Vickrey who was to blame for CCMS? I don’t recall George saying anything out of retirement advising the new Chief and JC to refrain from such an unwise action.
He is now throwing Vickrey under the bus which is no class on George’s part. Don’t think I have great sympathy for Vickrey though as he left CA years ago and lives on a full CA taxpayer paid pension despite CCMS costing CA taxpayers $500 million on a failed system. Reviewing the CA Courts for the past 15 years is likely to be like investigating the city of Bell. The whole lot of them were serving themselves first. What is most shocking is and the leadership of CA Courts under Tani has not changed with Jahr the one exception.
If George was just the visionary on CCMS and the State Court Administrator botched the job then how about all those JC meetings while Ron was chief where CCMS was discussed? The buck does stop with him as Chief over the policy making body right? He alone appointed every member to that body to oversee the Director. So Ron can’t have complete control over the oversight body and then blame the Director 100%. It’s that darm SEC Committee flow chart problem again with the Director not reporting to the JC. The perfect structure for no accountability and mismangement.
Clearly Ron George is ultimately responsible on CCMS just as Obama is ultimately responsible for the healthcare internet roll out that Kathleen Sebelius is doing right now at the Federal level. That’s how “the Buck Stops Here” Harry Truman would likely call it. If Obama is disapointed in his cabinet member’s management of the roll out for Obamacare’s web page he could ask for her to resign. If George was upset with his state court administrator he was in a perfect positition to act and could have asked for a resignation. That never happened. It was the legislature that had to step in an tell Tani to fire Vickrey over CCMS after George had retired.
I’m glad George has written a book. It’ll expose his massive ego for history and future generations will see the problem of having one person dominating all public policy debates for CA Courts. Hopefuly the JC will be democratized soon so we don’t see another decade of bad policy making like HRH1 gave CA.
(I have no training to critique George as a Supreme Court Justice – just as an administrator)
unionman575
November 6, 2013
“I have no training to critique George as a Supreme Court Justice – just as an administrator)”
Me either Max, but we ALL give King George him a rough time here on JCW…
😉
courtflea
November 6, 2013
does anyone know how one may obtain a copy of this delightful tome? sounds like a perfect sleep aid.
courtflea
November 6, 2013
well if anyone really cares, it is out of stock on Amazon and not available that I can see for a kindle. I guess the AOC must have purchased all the copies for 30 some odd bucks each to boost HRH 1’s sales/ego 🙂
wearyant
November 6, 2013
😀
NewsViews
November 15, 2013
Reblogged this on News and Views Riverside Superior Court and National Family Law Abuse.