Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Governing Board will hold a special meeting on Monday to decide whether Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg must resign over his connection to a secret dossier on parents and other political opponents. Greenburg’s father, Mark Greenburg, was the owner of the Google Drive dossier, and Jann-Michael reportedly had access to it – as evidenced by the listing of his name among those granted access to the drive, and his sending a picture of the drive to one of the parents targeted within it.
As AZ Free News reported Thursday, there are other indicators that Jann-Michael may have had more involvement in the dossier than he’s let on, according to past admissions and discoveries of shared computer activity with his family and the nature of some of the dossier’s contents. On one of the bodycam videos on the dossier taken by Mark Greenburg, Mark is heard saying that he and another, unnamed individual hired a private investigator to spy on parents. Additionally, there were recordings on the dossier in which Jann-Michael and Mark could be heard conversing about Mark’s actions – and Jann-Michael doesn’t question why.
Board Member Dr. Libby Hart-Wells’ requested the special meeting to decide on the resignation of Greenburg. The request came around the same time that over 700 parents, elected officials, lawmakers, and community members signed onto a letter demanding Greenburg’s resignation. The letter is reproduced in its entirety below:
On November 9, 2021, The Scottsdale Independent published an article ‘The Greenburg Files: Is there a file on you?’ demonstrating the expansive and disturbing activities of Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg. The ‘Greenburg Files,’ discovered from an email sent directly from Mr. Greenburg’s SUSD email to a former SUSD parent, contains documents specifically surveilling at least 47 community members and numerous others peripherally. Our community is rightfully alarmed. This also comes on the heels of Mr. Greenburg saying, ‘Jesus f****** Christ, you people’ twice during parents’ public comments and disrespecting a requested moment of silence at the August 24, 2021 governing board meeting. As evidenced on the Greenburg Google Drive, during that meeting Mr. Greenburg’s father, Mark Greenburg, was photographing and videotaping children in the parking lot of Coronado High School as they waited to give those public comments stating ‘We’ have hired a private investigator to surveil the parents.
The ‘Greenburg Files’ contain many disturbing documents, audio files, and video recordings of several individuals, including photos of SUSD students. There is no legitimate purpose for any of these background checks, deeds, marital records, financial documents, professional certifications and more to be curated, stored, and shared in such a manner by Mr. Greenburg. The files also contain un-redacted SUSD emails shared with drive editors and viewers and screenshots that included open district email tabs – bringing even more concern that SUSD resources may have been shared or used outside of their intended or legally allowed purposes. Additionally, during the August 17, 2021 Special Governing Board Meeting, Mr. Greenburg admitted to working under the name ‘Mark Greenburg’ on his computer making clear he works under multiple names on his computer.
We are committed to returning excellence, integrity, and trust to our community and the negative and appalling words and actions from this official who was elated to serve this community. We are horrified that such unkind, divisive, and disrespectful behavior has been exhibited against members of our own community, including adults and children.
We believe that hate, harassment, bullying, stalking, and intimidation are not part of SUSD. We seek a restoration of SUSD’s values: Excellence, Integrity, Empathy, Trust, Inclusion, and Unity.
The SUSD Governing Board policies are clear regarding ethics of the board and are outlined by BCA Board Member Ethics. This policy includes: setting positive examples of good citizenship by scrupulously observing the letter and spirit of the laws, rules, and regulations; maintaining a deep sense of social responsibility as a trusted public servant; dedication to the highest ideals of honor, ethics, and integrity in all public and personal relationships; conducting oneself so as to maintain public confidence in the governance of the District and in the performance of the public trust; using the power and resources of public office only to advance public interest, and to not attain personal benefit or pursue any other private interest incompatible with the public good.
We are looking to you to uphold these standards of ethics in spite of Mr. Greenburg’s repeated failure to do so. His actions have made it unequivocally clear that he is unfit for public office. The manner in which you respond will reflect on SUSD and the City of Scottsdale. We stand together in requesting the immediate termination of Jann-Michael Greenburg as SUSD Governing Board President, and we further demand his resignation as an SUSD Governing Board Member.
Signed by other 700 parents, students, teachers, grandparents, alumni, and community members[.]
This latest discovery comes on the heels of a contentious year for Greenburg. In August, Greenburg enjoyed a maskless night at a bar after pushing for mask mandates in his schools. The board president chalked criticism of his decision to not mask up a “baseless attack.”
A few days before that incident, as the demand letter cited, Greenburg uttered an expletive into a hot mic directed at aggrieved parents.
“Jesus f**king Christ, people,” said Greenburg.
In May, Greenburg shut down a meeting over “belligerent parents,” in reference to those parents who’d shown up to discuss or protest masking and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the district.
The special meeting to determine Greenburg’s continuance on the board is scheduled for Monday, November 15, at 6 p.m. at SUSD’s administration building.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) may not prohibit nursing students with a religious objection to the COVID-19 vaccine from completing clinical rotations due to being unvaccinated, according to the U.S. District Court for Arizona. U.S. District Judge Steven Logan issued the ruling Friday, as he’d promised at the hearing on Monday. The two plaintiffs – nursing students Emily Thoms and Kamaleilani Moreno – were granted a preliminary injunction against MCCCD’s vaccination requirement. Thoms and Moreno will be able to complete their nursing programs one way or another, whether by accommodation or through regular clinical rotations, by their scheduled graduation date next month.
“Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of both of their claims, that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm absent injunction, and that the balance of equities and the public interest weigh in their favor,” wrote Logan. “Their case is not doubtful, and the harm that they have alleged – the violation of their constitutional and fundamental right to free exercise – is an injury of the highest order under the Constitution and the law. Such an injury cannot be remedied by damages.”
While MCCCD claimed that they required universal vaccination due to their clinical partners’ requirements, Logan cited evidence given by the plaintiffs to the contrary. This evidence included MCCCD previously providing similar accommodations to other students for both religious and non-religious reasons: simulated clinicals, extra assignments, finding new clinical sites, and swapping assigned clinic sites requiring vaccination with those that didn’t.
Logan did note that Thoms and Moreno hurt their case by framing the lawsuit as a challenge to a “vaccine mandate,” because MCCCD doesn’t define its vaccine requirements as a mandate. For that reason, Logan modified their request for relief.
“The only vaccine mandates in this case belong to Defendant’s clinical partners, who are not parties before the Court. Rather, Defendant’s Policy is a set of requirements that together, when applied to Plaintiffs, are likely to substantially burden Plaintiffs’ right to freely exercise their sincere religious beliefs in violation of FERA and the First Amendment, to cause Plaintiffs irreparable harm, and to go against the public interest,” wrote Logan.
Both Christians, Thoms and Moreno objected to the COVID-19 vaccine due to its reliance on fetal cell lines during its testing, development, and production.
MCCCD Board Member Kathleen Winn criticized the district’s decision to hire a group of attorneys just to fight two nursing students. She also asserted that the nursing department head lied in court.
When this started back in August the administration could have done what this judge ordered us to do here. Instead we hired 5 attorneys to fight against these nursing students who represent thousands more in our state. The head of our nursing department lied in court, was caught and the judge made the best decision for these students allowing them their religious exemptions. If we appeal we are using taxpayers money to do so. Stand with these nursing students…I am proud of them and the moral courage to put it all on the line for the greater good!
A letter sent last week to President Joe Biden by Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee and the top financial officers of 17 other states is drawing attention to the growing bipartisan opposition to Biden’s nominee for Comptroller of the Currency.
“Biden wants Saule Omarova in charge of our banking system, who studied in Moscow under a Communist regime and prefers the centralized banking system of the Soviet Union to America’s own free market system,” Yee said Friday. “The American people deserve better.”
The Office of Comptroller of Currency is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury responsible for chartering, regulating, and supervising all national banks and thrift institutions, as well as federally licensed branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States.
Omarova, a 55-year-old professor at Cornell Law School, was formally nominated by Biden in September to head the office, subject to Senate confirmation. Since then, a ground swell of opposition has developed Omarova’s her self-described “radical reform” ideas.
“Her public policy positions are really, really problematic if you want a free-market banking system,” says Rob Nichols, president of the 1,100-member American Bankers Association. “It is a blueprint for nationalization.”
Much of the concern with Omarova’s nomination stems from her documented positions which appear to run counter to the objectives of the Comptroller of Currency. Those objectives include ensuring the safety and soundness of the nation’s banking system, ensuring fair and equal access to financial services to all Americans, and enforcing those anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism finance laws which apply to national banks and federally licensed branches and agencies of international banks.
As recently as February, Omarova wrote of her support for what she described as an “overtly radical reform” of the banking system in the United States. Such reform -which Omarova said would “effectively end banking as we know it”- could result in American’s deposit accounts bring held by the Federal Reserve Bank instead of in private banks.
Biden nominee Saule Omarova saying the quiet part out loud. On the oil, coal and gas industries:
The growing scrutiny of Omarova’s nomination will soon come to a head when the U.S. Senate Banking Committee decides whether to advance her nomination to the full Senate. Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is a ranking member of the committee and a skeptic of Omarova’s nomination.
“In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more radical choice for any regulatory spot in our federal government. I know that is a very sweeping statement to make. I think I can stand by it,” Toomey said back in October, adding that Omarova “clearly has an aversion to anything like free market capitalism..”
Omarova’s supporters are quick to allege it is her ethnicity and gender -not her policy positions- prompting the pushback. But Republicans are not the only ones expressing concern. On Nov. 9, Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana went public with his hesitancy over Omarova’s nomination.
“Some of Ms. Omarova’s past statements about the role of government in the financial system raise real concerns about her ability to impartially serve at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and I’m looking forward to meeting with her to discuss them,” Tester said.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is also a member of the Senate Banking Committee. She has not publicly expressed an opinion on the nomination.
America’s banking system, however, is not the only economic system Omarova believes could be reformed or even replaced. She has openly supported a proposed National Investment Authority which would be responsible for “devising, financing, and executing a long-term national strategy of economic development and reconstruction.”
The result, according to Yee and the other states’ financial leaders, would give the Federal Reserve systematic control of prices for fuel, food, raw materials, metals, natural resources, home prices, and wages.
“I join my fellow financial leaders from across the country with deep concern that Ms. Omarova’s radical, socialist views would lead to her abusing her supervisory power as Comptroller to expand political control over the private banking sector and disrupt both Arizona’s and the nation’s economy,” Yee stated Nov. 12 in a separate letter.
However, the White House has doubled down on the nomination in a statement which notes Biden continues to “strongly support” Omarova. The statement refers to the nominee being “eminently qualified” for the position.
A biography shows Omarova was born into a Muslim family which lived in what was then the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. She was awarded the Lenin Award at Moscow State University before moving in 1991 to the United States where she completed her Ph.D. in political science at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Omarova holds a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law. She served as a special advisors for President George W. Bush’s Department of the Treasury under the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance.
In addition to Arizona, the financial officers who signed the Nov. 12 letter to Biden represent the following states: Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation was also a signee.
Since May, the acting Comptroller of the Currency has been Michael J. Hsu. He is overseeing 3,500 employees based in the main Washington D.C. office as well as district offices in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and New York City.
A private plane in Phoenix went viral after its flight path drew “FJB,” the acronym for “F**k Joe Biden,” alongside a middle finger. The flight occurred on Wednesday and took just over half an hour and nearly 30 miles to complete, according to the travel log. The website that tracks these types of flights has a replay option to show how the pilot completed the drawing.
The pilot behind this artistic expression of flying skill was Dennis J. Vegh, or DJ Vegh, the co-founder of AerialSphere, an acclaimed, innovative company that’s the first and only to provide 360-degree aerial imagery with location data. In a statement to AZ Free News, Vegh expressed how much he enjoyed being creative while flying.
“I enjoy making flight art every now and then. It’s challenging flying but plenty of fun,” said Vegh.
On his Instagram, Vegh describes himself as a “Minarchist Libertarian” and a “aviator/industrial designer/creative/free thinker experiencing The Great Simulation.”
A private pilot flew a FJB track in Arizona… this takes some serious skill and dedication. ????
I just confirmed this myself on FlightAware with the plane tail number. It’s legit. pic.twitter.com/UM1v3Iqj17
The plane, a 1968 Cessna 150H, was registered in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) database to Aviato Research LLC, a Phoenix-based company; established in June, per the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC).
This wasn’t Vegh’s first right-leaning artistic feat. Last January, Vegh completed a flight that drew the profile of then-President Donald Trump. That flight path appeared to fly under the radar of the news and right-wing personalities, however.
The phrase “F**k Joe Biden” became popularized around mid-August to early September. Crowds began chanting the phrase at college and professional sporting events, and eventually other events as the phrase gained more traction. In early October, the phrase was translated to “Let’s Go Brandon” after a reporter mistakenly told a NASCAR driver named Brandon that the crowd, chanting the explicit phrase, was saying “Let’s Go Brandon.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Senate candidate Blake Masters believes that the modern school system is broken, characterized by “twin tower issues,” he told AZ Free News: teaching “junk” instead of what they need to know. Masters delivered that message in his latest campaign video, similar to his last: a monologue on conservative values delivered in a field, hearkening back to the simplicity of Thomas Jefferson’s yeoman farmer.
“Here’s a harsh truth for you. Our schools are making our kids dumber. The 1619 history curriculum teaches kids that America is somehow fundamentally evil, or racist. Critical Race Theory teaches kids to identify with each other in racial terms. You’re either a victim, or an oppressor based on the color of your skin. And even if you wipe away all this left-wing toxic ideology from our schools – the schools are still failing to teach kids the basics. We’re graduating kids that can’t even read or write. I’m Blake Masters. I’m running for the U.S. Senate in Arizona. And I approve this message because we’ve got to fund students, not systems. We’ve gotta make sure that young people are learning to think for themselves.”
“We’re going to stop woke teachers and schools from turning our kids into losers,” tweeted Masters.
We’re going to stop woke teachers and schools from turning our kids into losers. pic.twitter.com/dkWMCG7NnR
In an interview with AZ Free News, Masters explained that his video was a sort of thought experiment to inspire a critical assessment of our modern school system – every type from public to private schools. He remarked that the focus on pushing social justice agendas at the expense of “teaching real history and cultivating actual skills and talents” was both a cause and effect of deep-rooted issues in the school system.
“I think that’s both a driver of the poor performance but also somehow a symptom of it,” said Masters.
Masters believes the problematic school system is why Republican Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin secured victory in a presumptively deep-blue state.
“I think we just saw the Youngkin win in Virginia had a lot to do with the school issue and parents frustration and that one gaffe [by Democratic candidate Terry McCauliffe], but it wasn’t a gaffe it was really what he thought: that parents shouldn’t have a say [in their children’s education,” assessed Masters.
Just over a month before Election Day, McCauliffe declared that parents ought to have no power when it comes to their children’s curriculum.
Masters has firsthand experience of political indoctrination in the school system, all the way back in 1994. He told AZ Free News that his teacher had his second-grade class write letters to the editor of the local paper, The Arizona Daily Star, to object to a housing development that razed desert land next to the school.
“I remember in second grade my dad got really mad because [… the school] had us write letters to the editors. There’s a letter that’s printed from me saying it’s so unfair that the developments would do this and that to the lizards and cacti,” recalled Masters. “That was the beginning of some kind of left-wing environmentalist indoctrination. [Other students said that] people shouldn’t even live in houses, they should live in mud huts. The teachers were pointing us in a certain direction. My dad wrote a very scathing response and it was published [as well].”
AZ Free News found the young Masters’ letter to the editor: in 1994, letters from Canyon View Elementary School second-graders were published in a full-page spread titled “Damaging the Desert” in The Arizona Daily Star. The students all echoed similar messages about how “the animals must find new homes,” and condemned both the developers and homeowners for their greed and “killing Mother Nature.”
“Man is killing Mother Nature just for money,” wrote one second-grader, Brian Benhke.
It appeared that one or more teachers took the students into the desert after it had been razed by developers, where they reportedly found blood-covered rocks and animals’ remains. It is unclear if that was the intent of the educators.
Reproduced below is the letter from a young Blake Masters:
“I am concerned because next to our school they are destroying the environment to build new houses. I think they should make sure all the houses in Tucson are taken up before constructing new ones. Why do the workers listen to the boss? If the boss told them to jump off a cliff, would they do it? For the money, sure, just for the money, they’re destroying other animals’ habitats when they don’t have to. Pretty soon we won’t have enough oxygen to live on. In a few years the Sonoran Desert could be ruined. We should make a Desert Belt like the Green Belt in Boulder, Colo[rado]. Maybe if more people lived together, we would not need to build so many houses. If someone doesn’t do something, the Earth will be gone, and we have only one. Maybe people who have more money should not build a huge house. When workers finally realize what they have done, they will say they’re innocent.” (emphasis added)
A month later, Masters’ father issued a lengthy response criticizing the public school system for prioritizing a social justice agenda over educating the second-graders about American freedoms such as private property. The senior Masters pointed out that the vacant land was the private property of the developer, anyway, and that the children who grieved over losing their playground were actually trespassers on that private property. Masters also pointed out that the developed land was for multi-family housing, His remarks strike a familiar tone with parents’ current grievances with the school system.
“These letters these children authored demonstrates that they are being taught (by intent or default) the antithesis of economic freedom. Inherent in our free enterprise system is the vital concept of private property. Without economic freedom and its private property derivative, all other freedoms are meaningless. Along with other constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms, grade school children can understand the critically important concept of private property. After all, what child by the age of 2 has not mastered the usage of the word ‘mine?’ If the children had been exposed to the importance of private property rights, wouldn’t one expect that at least one of the letters would mention that vacant land was the developer’s private property? Had anyone pointed out to the children that when they played on this vacant land, they were in fact trespassing on the private property of another? My surprise at what they are not being taught is surpassed only by what they are being taught. That they are not being taught the basic American values of the individual over the state, economic freedom, and private property is bad enough. What’s even worse is that these letters reveal that our children are being taught that mankind is subservient to plants and animals. Even more alarming is that they are being taught so with scare tactics.”
After that, Masters attended public school until the fifth grade before switching to a private school from sixth grade through his senior year of high school. He recalled learning that Christoper Columbus was a “murderer” in the fourth grade. It wasn’t all bad, however – Masters said he had some unadulterated history education, such as the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I think that stuff has gotten way way worse since I was a kid,” remarked Masters. “I remember learning about MLK and why that was important. I remember that people used to treat people badly based on the color of their skin. I remember learning about that. Now that seems so old-fashioned. That’s just not what kids learn in K-2 anymore. It’s really shifted since I was a kid.”
Both of letters from the senior and junior Masters are available here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
State Senator Victoria Steele (D-Tucson), minority whip, voiced opposition to the recent threats made against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, but records don’t show her speaking out against any of the multiple threats made against Senate President Karen Fann this year.
“I’m so sorry you are the target of so much sick, hateful behavior,” wrote Steele. “Please, please Katie, be safe. We need you.”
I'm so sorry you are the target of so much sick, hateful behavior. Please, please Katie, be safe. We need you. https://t.co/ESmH3c9yul
AZ Free News inquired with Steele about not speaking out against the death threats to Fann. Steele didn’t respond by press time.
Steele has spoken out against other threats to Republicans before. Last December, Steele condemned death threats against Governor Doug Ducey.
Hobbs’ office received multiple voicemail threats from supporters of previous President Donald Trump. The callers told Hobbs she would hang or be executed in another way for treason. The secretary of state submitted two of the calls to the FBI. The men behind the call were unapologetic, according to interviews they had with Reuters. Reports showed that FBI agents visited at least one of those men for other threats he’d made in calls to other elected officials, giving him a warning and instructions on how to lawfully express grievances – they did not arrest him.
Fann received death threats for a different reason: her leadership and support for the Cyber Ninjas audit.
“You are a completely worthless human being and an evil s**t. And you will die very soon. It will look like an accident. I’ve done this before. I have killed people,” wrote one anonymous individual. “I will kill again. I will kill you. Sleep well.”
Even those critical of the audit on the Republican side have received threats. State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale)received email threats in early September after she signaled that she no longer supported the Senate’s audit.
“Listen up you s**c b***h, you have one chance to give the American people the Audit report or were [sic] coming from [sic] you, we know where you live, we know where you get your groceries, and we know where your family lives. You better do the right thing or your [sic] going to feel the consequences. Do you understand? We the people are no longer willing to play….”
Got this yesterday. It’s been sent to law enforcement. My family’s safety is my #1 priority & I will NOT tolerate anyone going after me or my family. Due to misinformation & the unmet expectations of the public surrounding the audit, threats like this will unfortunately continue. https://t.co/wjlNeaSeMdpic.twitter.com/bZhKi9He0l
