Xanthi Gionis Scandal: GOP should be bold in its repudiation of fools
Xanthi Gionis, a Republican candidate in the March special election to fill the open 40th State Senate District seat, is embroiled in some controversy of late, as you may have seen…
- U-T San Diego: Public Health School Called a Fraud
- Patch: State Senate Candidate Ran University Without State License, BBB Says
- NBC San Diego (which first reported on the story): Aristotle University Dean Denies Allegations
In a nutshell, the articles note allegations of Aristotle University being a worthless diploma mill, if even that, while taking thousands of dollars from hapless students.
Some moments of brilliance, courtesy of the U-T article:
In an interview with U-T San Diego Thursday, Gionis was unable to provide a list of faculty members. She also could not provide the names of individuals she said serve as the school’s board of directors.
“There are plenty,” Gionis said after conducting a news conference in downtown San Diego to refute allegations from students in a report broadcast by NBC Channel 7 this week.
It should be pointed out that Gionis called the press conference, then couldn’t answer simple questions about the school’s operations. It wasn’t as if someone asked her for a list of faculty and directors while she was at the grocery store and couldn’t come up with names on the spur of the moment.
First, let’s be brutally honest. The “open Juan Vargas seat” will not be won by a Republican in the heavy Democratic district. Of the four candidates, two of them GOPers, it’s so likely Assemblyman Ben Hueso will win, it’s almost not even worth mentioning other names.
Second, but also honest: Innocent until found to be guilty, yep, sure, absolutely. But, we know deceit and fraud when it’s blatantly obvious.
Ms. Gionis, also a candidate for Congress last year, wants to be the Republican standard bearer for State Senate. She’s also an embarrassment.
The local Republican Party has not endorsed a candidate for the seat and possibly won’t at all. Yet, other than simply staying clear of the race, the Party needs to make a clear statement it will not stand for it’s candidates to be total buffoons or worse, while doing everything in it’s power to check the backgrounds of candidates when feasible, even so far as to “out” shady personalities when necessary, before the media have a field day.
It may not have been possible in this case, given the timing, that is understood.
But, in the wake of this matter, a bold statement from the GOP about the future would be very meaningful.
We do such a good job of cultivating our bench…
As a Republican, I am a firm believer in the 11th Commandment. I have never seen Xanthi Gionis as my opponent, as a matter of fact, when I met her I told her just that, and applauded the fact that she stepped up to the challenge in this special election.
My primary goal is to force a run-off with the Democrat candidate, so I have been connecting with potential voters in San Diego and the Imperial Valley. The secondary goal is to remain active in politics and help the party that I love so much get better.
We say we want to recruit the Latino vote, and it starts with me, we need Latino candidates to attract that vote. After the election of 2012 I was sickened (as I am sure you were as well), and I said to myself, “If I want change, it starts with me, and I need to lead it.” We need to break the super majority the Democrat Party has on the State Senate and Assembly, we need a 2 party system in California.
My two priorities are:
1) We need to create private sector jobs by lowering taxes and regulations on businesses and individuals. We cannot expect our economy to grow by spending more, it grows with an economy generated by the private sector.
2) We need to improve our Education. We cannot improve our economy long term if we are not producing good students in our schools. We will not solve the problem with pointing fingers or raising taxes. I would like to see more charter schools, vouchers and imparting a stronger pre-K curriculum. I am also very encouraged by the CFO for San Diego Unified. http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/education/article_a9dfb440-6cbd-11e2-a951-001a4bcf887a.html
I was told by someone at the beginning of this process to run as an independent because it would be easier, and immediately I stopped him and said NO!!!, if and when I run I will run as a REPUBLICAN, as the core values of the party are compatible with the people we represent. I was told by another friend to run in a safe GOP area, and I said NO!, the only way we get our state back is by running in their territory and giving them a fight there.
Like my Mom has always said, “It is not what you say, but how you say it.” The fact that the good folks of district 40 are listening to our message from me as a non-politician, in simple terms, and in many cases in Spanish, is making a genuine connection with them. My heart is in the right place and I genuinely want to help the people of district 40, and it starts with the creation of private sector jobs and improving our education.
I am very excited about this process, but I need your help. I will do everything in my power to try to earn the party nomination, and to represent OUR party. District 40 is ours to take, it is full of Republicans, they just don’t know they are Republican. 60% of the electorate is Hispanic, and this is the first time in more than 20 years we have a Hispanic Candidate, this is a special election with expected low voter turnout. We have a chance!
This is an uphill run, and as a former pitcher I know that running uphill makes you stronger. We cannot give up on a district and take it for granted that it will go Democrat.
I would be humbled by your support, in order to win an election we need votes, and in order to reach the voters we need money. Please contribute to my campaign, here is the link.
The link to Hector Gastelum in the response is BOGUS.
Wayne, please clarify: Are you referring to Gionis’ response to the media? Are you referring to Gastelum’s response above; is there a bad link included? Please let us know.
@Wayne The link is not bogus. I am the candidate and the link is for campaign contributions. I would not tarnish my father’s name, my party’s name with a bogus link. My website voteforhector.com will be up again in the next 5 business days per the response from the Web company. I took down the site temporarily in order to make adjustments and make it compliant, it should be up shortly. Initially the hectorvote.com site was not setup correctly, I came up with voteforhector.com (English) and voteporhector.com (Spanish). I gave specific instructions for hectorvote.com to redirect to voteforhector.com
Let me assure you that nothing is bogus about me, my site or candidacy.
To Thor’s assistant and Hector:
This link goes to a page under construction. Hector Gastelum. It goes to http://www.voteforhector.com.
The link at the end of Hector’s first comment above goes to his contributor page. That’s what a contributor page often looks like. In his second comment above, Hector makes it very clear that his website that Wayne references is temporarily down and will be up in a few days. Readers may not like that his site is down, but he’s been pretty clear above as to why. We’re not clear how “bogus” comes into play here, as that term usually refers to something that is fake or misleading. Let’s move on.
According to her LinkedIn account, Xanthi Gionis is the self-described owner of Carlsbad’s Aristotle University College of Law. As a former university administrator, I found that a curious title for the chief executive of an academic institution. So after watching the video of her Thursday press conference, blasting local reporters for smearing her school, I took a closer look. What I found suggests she probably should have taken Abe Lincoln’s advice about silence and fools.
The school’s website is currently unavailable because it’s “Under Maintenance.” But I found its archived version, which has the look of most university websites. There’s a “Dean’s Welcome,” followed by overviews of the school’s mission and curriculum and a much more detailed account of tuition and fees. What’s missing is any evidence of a faculty, enrolled students, instructional methodology or a campus. The school’s address says it all–Suite #200B.
Here are the major claims the school’s owner made at her press conference and what I found out about them after a little online research.
Claim #1:
“Aristotle University was, in fact, accredited by BPPVE (Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education) from May 1, 2007 to April 30, 2012.”
Fact:
The BPPVE ceased operations on July 1, 2007. The school’s five-year approval was meaningless. There was no state oversight of private postsecondary institutions until 2009, when the new Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) was created. Aristotle University is not on the list of BPPE approved schools. Five other Carlsbad private postsecondary schools appear there.
Claim #2:
“From 2007 to 2010 Aristotle operated 3 law schools that were fully registered with the State Bar of California and graduates were eligible for licensure to practice law in the State of California.”
Fact:
Aristotle University cannot be found on the California State Bar Website under either accredited or approved unaccredited schools. A search revealed that in 2009 one student from “Aristotle University Institute of Law” took the First-year Law Student Exam and failed. Maybe Aristotle’s owner could shed some light on why more light’s not shed on her school by the California Bar Association.
In my 30 years in education I’d never heard a school official call a student a liar in public, the final clue to this school owner’s lack of professionalism.
See follow up…
This person wants to be an elected official
http://sdrostra.com/?p=32775
I’m happily retired and have no interest whatever in running for office. But thanks for your support, TA.
To clarify, Richard, we were referring to Xanthi. Click on the link for the video. Thanks for commenting and providing your research on Aristotle.
That was tongue in cheek, which obviously couldn’t be seen without : )
In that case, you should run!
Leaving the whole Xanthi fake college debacle, I disagree with Mr. Larkin about Republicans not having a shot here. While it is a Democratic district, it’s not completely out of reach for Republicans, especially in a special election. In 2010, certainly not a good year for us with eMeg and her joke of a campaign, Brian Hendry took 40.5% of the vote. We should be asking how come the central committee wasn’t able to recruit better candidates. Since Shirley has moved on to other things, how about former Assemblywoman Garcia, Mr. Hendry, or some of our other recent candidates in the 78th district.
This is exactly the district the party should be trying to focus on. We need to reinvigorate our GOTV effort, and this is a good starting place, because a better foundation for our GOTV is what we need for local and county elections, in addition to state and federal contest. We have gun grabbing liberals trying to do away with the 2nd amendment in California, how come with aren’t forging alliances with the NRA, GOC, and GOA to get there members to vote for Republicans candidates.
Yes, the district is a long shot, but at this point for Republicans in California, everything’s a longshot. Plus there is precedent for an upset . When Larry Stirling left the state senate for the bench, there weren’t a lot who thought Republicans could lose that seat. Well they did, and have held it ever since.
Is this the same Gionis the local GOP endorsed in the 2012 Congressional election, over Crimmins? Crimmins the military officer. All the facts that are now coming out about Gionis were present in 2012. All Krvaric and the GOP leadership had to do was a little research to see how difficult things might become for Gionis. Plausible deniability will only go so far. Oh wait, I forgot, the really important thing…Kissing the Krvaric ring.
Under Krvaric’s leadership how many elections have been won? How much money has been wasted? How many GOOD political careers ruined?
Gionis is a fraud that Krvaric supported. Oh the fleas….
Gionis? The same Gionis that ran against Crimmins in the 2012 Congressional race?
Crimmins the military officer? Perhaps one of the best candidates I have seen in a long time.
If Krvaric had done about 1/2 hour of research he would have known Gionis was…other than honest. Move over Duke you got company coming over. The question is will it be 2 or 3 additional cells? Plausible deniability only works for so long.
Is there an echo in here?
Who knew Crimmins’ real name was Susan?
I do not know Crimmins, and in fact thought he might be a little hardcore. As I have followed his writing’s I find that he speaks more truth than most folks.
If anyone knows of any events he might be speaking at please, let me know.
Thanks
Let’s see how this bounces and plays off the echo chamber walls that is sdrostra.
Here comes our larger than life candidate, Xanthi Gionis, yet again. The gift that keeps on giving. Another Groundhog Day settling on the doorstep of the San Diego County Republican Party.
A recurring bad dream haunting the county party primarily due to the actions that can be laid directly at the feet of its, as it certainly appears, “Leader for Life”, the long serving volunteer (please, you seriously believe that…. volunteer?) chairman, the great uniter oops sorry, Divider in Chief Tony Krvaric. Paraphrasing Videodisc, he does such a good job of cultivating our bench or more to the point, chasing them away.
Should Central Committee members and the “donor base” want to stop this madness and get better results for their efforts, consider removing both Krvaric and Nehring (now just why would Ron Nehring, both the previous past county chairman and state chairman want back on the Executive Committee in a diminished capacity anyway? Show of hands. Answer: access to the party’s donor money. It’s that simple. Take that access away and these two would be dust in the wind. Literally.). Be forewarned tho,”the buck never seems to stop there” with any modicum of accountability for ones’ actions. Should a CentCom member be caught rocking the boat, adios to you. Knuckle under or else.
Rearranging the deck chairs on the proverbial Titanic is not the answer. Changing out the captain and his entire leadership crew would be a breath of fresh air and send a clear message that unaccountability for one’s actions and a lack of transparency will no longer be tolerated. Additionally, putting up vetted candidates for public office that have demonstrated basic character traits of integrity, honesty, moral clarity and trustworthiness with the ability to answer questions put to them truthfully would be a distinct plus. One would think.
Organizations generally take on the traits of its leaders. You need to look no further than Obama’s Administration cabinet secretaries to observe what has come to fruition right before our eyes with policies, regulations and routine stonewalling answering committee questions. Here in San Diego, if you can’t prevent ethically challenged individuals, with skeletons falling out of the closet and shadows following them around, from occupying senior party leadership positions and running for public office, then why serve as a volunteer mushroom on the CentCom? Either you are part of the ongoing problem or potentially a change agent for honest, trustworthy, transparent leadership. Today, the Central Committee as a whole does not even remotely resemble the latter scenario or reflect those values.
So just keep on doing what you have been doing and getting the results that you have been getting. Such the rosy future in store for you all.
Is this the Hector Gastelum that is running against Xanthi Gionis?
http://t.co/wLd3YLxnFg
And which one is the SD GOP endorsing: the fake college candidate or the one who filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy?
Evan,
This is Hector Gastelum, the one who filed for Chapter 7 Bk. I told the Executive Committee about the BK in the candidate questionnaire as well as offer my explanation. The past years have been extremely difficult for folks in the Real Estate & Mortgage industry, and that doesn’t make me a lesser candidate.
As you can see, I started this process before I became a candidate. I saw that nobody had signed up for District 40 and it was a great opportunity for me to get involved in public service. This has been a learning process and I am doing this for all the right reasons and will continue to stay involved with the party that I love and respect so much.
But you know what is even more embarrassing? That the candidate that filed for chapter 7 was the superior candidate at the Candidate Forum sponsored by the Desert Sun this past weekend. I would love to have more debates with Assemblyman Hueso to show you and everyone that I am the best person for the job.
There will be another forum March 9th, at Southwestern College, and I believe that NBC is trying to put something together. I invite you so you can see for yourself who is the superior candidate and the better choice…
My goal remains the same, to make it to the second round and with debates show that I am a much better candidate for the job.
Don’t be surprised if that Evan is attacking you Hector–you’re gaining on Hueso and the Union bosses can’t have that.
Hueso and Evan have history together–they tried to buy the City Council election for Hueso’s brother, a few years back.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/28/hueso-funds-for-brothers-campaign-withdrawn/
They got caught:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/13/hueso-agrees-to-fine-over-money-for-brothers/
Hector: I hope to be available to attend and to meet you in person. I have a ton of sympathy for anyone who has to file bankruptcy, although it seems sometimes that such a life experience can conflict with one’s ability to espouse “fiscal responsibility” as a candidate. Nonetheless, you seem like you genuinely care about the issues and I wish you luck.
Evan
If someone loses their income and can’t pay their bills…that’s not being fiscally irresponsible. If the government keeps spending well beyond their income even though they know about how much is coming in…that’s not being fiscally responsible.
Trying to buy elections…that’s just unethical. On to victory, Hector!
God I love Rostra………Being a desert shut in, and a Central Committee Groupie……..Just Paradise.
What a crop of Gen X bufoonos…….While chewing on desert Peyote buttons, I get this urge to Poly Hack…….
The Desert Father has come to me in an apparition. The Republican Party is dead. If the political life is your poor choice, the Desert Father has one word……….Move.