The Missing Video – VUSD update

December 7, 2025

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On November 9, 2025, I posted about my attempts to obtain a video recording of the joint Visalia City Council / Visalia Unified School District meeting of October 23, 2025. In that post, I included the school district’s response, which was “After conducting a reasonable search, the District determines that it has no public records that are subject to disclosure under the PRA and responsive to the request. Accordingly, no records will be produced.”

I thought that was a strange way to put it.

I’ve decided to pursue the matter further, since it’s not clear to me if the District means there is no recording at all, or that there is but is not “subject to disclosure”.

I sent an email on November 4, 2025, to the Board Chairman and the trustee covering my area regarding clarification. The Chairman sent me a response on November 5, 2025, indicating she would forward it to the appropriate person in the District administration, but I’ve not heard back from anyone about it.

I’ve sent the following request as of December 6, 2025:

Sara Sanchez,

This confirms receipt of your email dated November 4, 2025, regarding my request for a copy of any recording of the October 23, 2025 special meeting between the Visalia Unified School District Board of Trustees and the Visalia City Council. 

In that response, you said “…the District determines that it has no public records that are subject to disclosure under the PRA and responsive to the request. Accordingly, no records will be produced.” 

Please consider this email another request for information under the California Public Records Act.

Does this mean that there are no video recordings of this meeting created by VUSD, or that video recordings of this meeting made by VUSD do exist, but will not be released?

Looking at the “recent meetings” list on the District’s website, it appears that “special meetings” are not recorded. However, the meeting between the District and the Visalia City Council was held in the Boardroom of the District and utilized the same video equipment as regular Board meetings. Did staff not record this meeting, even though the same video systems were, apparently, used?

If there is a policy of not recording “special meetings”, I would like to receive a copy of that policy, or be directed to its location if online access is available. If there is no specific policy in place, I would like copies of any internal memos, emails, or other directives of any sort that direct staff not to record “special meetings” that occur in the Boardroom. 

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Jim Reeves

I’ve sent this email so that it should be in the district’s possession start of business, Monday, December 8, 2025. We’ll see what happens.

Visalia Unified School District/Visalia City Council meeting not recorded? Follow up –

November 9, 2025

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Jim Reeves & The Missing Meeting: An Analysis of Transparency, Accountability, and the Curious Case of Visalia Unified’s Unrecorded Oct 23, 2025 Session

Paul Flores does a deep dive into the situation regarding Visalia Unified School District and the Visalia City Council’s unrecorded joint meeting on October 23, 2025.

Visalia Unified School District/Visalia City Council joint meeting not recorded?

November 9, 2025

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A previous Visalia Unified School District Board meeting.

On October 23, 2025, the Visalia Unified School District held a special joint meeting with the Visalia City Council. This was the second such meeting held in 2025, and was held in the District’s Board room.

The following is a part of the posted agenda for that meeting:

Members of the public may address the Board on any agenda item when the item comes to the Board for consideration. At regular meetings of the Board, members of the public may also address the Board regarding non-agenda items that are nonetheless within the Board’s jurisdiction during the general public comment portion of the agenda. Pursuant to Board Bylaw 9323, the Board will limit individual comments to no more than 3 minutes and individual topics to 20 minutes.

The District reserves the right to not hear comments, or portions of comments, that violate meeting guidelines.

I was the only member of the public to take advantage of the public comments section of the meeting. In it, I updated the School Board and the City Council on the recent Pride Visalia festival, held on October 11, 2025. During the remarks, I reminded and invited both the City Council members and the Board of Directors for the school district that The Source LGBT+ Center was available to consult with them on LGBTQ+ issues, and provide resources and information they might find useful in both their professional and personal lives.

The Visalia Unified School District takes video and audio recordings of the meetings, and posts them to a YouTube channel for the public to view. No post of this special meeting occurred.

I waited several days for the video to appear, as sometimes delays in posting can occur, sometimes the posters fault, sometimes YouTube’s. No recording of the meeting appeared.

I sent an email to the school district, asking if a recording was made, and when it would be available.

From: Jim Reeves jim.visalia@gmail.com
Date: October 28, 2025 at 5:32:34 PM PDT
To: cgutierrez04@vusd.org
Subject: Board special meeting video

Hi,
Does a video recording of the October 23, 2025 joint meeting between the School Board and the Visalia City Council exist? I’ve checked the YouTube channel, and found no video. I’ve noticed in the listing of meetings that special meetings don’t show a video.
Is there a video available that I can get a copy of? Or an audio recording?
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Jim Reeves
Jim.visalia@gmail.com
Sent from my iPad

After several days, I received the following response:

“After conducting a reasonable search, the District determines that it has no public records that are subject to disclosure under the PRA and responsive to the request. Accordingly, no records will be produced.”

That’s a strange way to phrase it, at least to us non-lawyers.

I’ve followed up with the following email to the Board President, and the Board member for my area:

President Naylor, Boardmember DeJong,

I attended the Special Meeting of October 23, 2025. On October 28, I emailed a request for a copy of the video, or an audio recording, of the meeting since it had not been posted on YouTube. On November 4, I received the attached email, indicating “that it has no public records that are subject to disclosure under the PRA and responsive to the request”.
I have noticed in the listing of prior meetings, that ‘Special Meetings’ often do not have a video recording. Is this a formal policy of the District? If so, can I be directed to that policy?
It seems odd that no recording is made of the meeting, despite it being held in the Board room, and utilizing the audio/video equipment there.
I would like to understand why the District does not record these meetings, and I hope you can clear this up for me.
Mr. DeJong, I’m CCing you on this because I reside in your area.

Jim Reeves
jim.visalia@gmail.com

Board President Naylor responded:

Jim,
Thank you for your email regarding the recording of the special board session with the city. I have forwarded your email to the district office to look into this matter.
Again, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Joy

We’ll see what the next week brings, and if the District responds further.

My goal now is to find out if a recording was not made of the special meeting, why not? Is there a District policy prohibiting it? If so, I want to see that policy, and when and how it was implemented. If it’s just a “we just don’t do that”, I want to know the reasoning why, and under whose authority.

Stay tuned.

Shadow Banned on X

November 1, 2025

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Screenshot

Recently, (11/1/2025), the Twitter (X) account “Republicans Against Trump” (@RpsAgainstTrump) posted this:

Screenshot

I responded with this:

Screenshot

That resulted in the email shown above. I’ve been ‘shadow banned’ for making a comment about how Owen’s comments are simply more insults hurled at straight men, accusing them of being gay.

Twitter used to be an important and influential platform, back when it was actually Twitter. Elon Musk, after buying it and reworking it’s algorithms, has turned it into nothing more than a cesspool filled with misogynists, incels, racists, bigots, and other actual hate-mongers.

I maintain two Twitter (X) accounts. The original was my regular feed, with a wide range of accounts I followed, from science to LGBT to celebrities to local individuals I wanted to keep up with. A few years ago, I created a second account, where I followed many MAGA and other right-wing sites, Republican electeds, and other such nonsense. I, naively, thought I could keep the cesspool away from my regular feed, and only go on the second account when I wanted to see what they were saying.

Now, with Musk twisting the algorithm to its current insanity, my regular feed is frequently nothing but pushed right-wing crap that I don’t follow or interact with.

It may be time to close my Twitter (X) accounts altogether, and stick with Bluesky and Threads. They are quickly becoming what Twitter used to be.

Hate In A Small Town 4 – it’s Déjà vu all over again

March 19, 2025

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The Internet meme definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. I’m beginning to think it might be slightly insane to expect Porterville to ever join the rest of us in the 21st century. Here we go, again.

My previous blogs about Porterville and it’s LGBTQ+ community can be found at these links:

Hate In A Small Town (1) – where a Mayoral Proclamation proclaiming June 2013 as LGBT Month in Porterville is trashed by the rest of the Council and results in the Mayor and Vice-Mayor being removed from their ceremonial offices, the proclamation rescinded (a first anywhere, as far as I could find), and a bland replacement proclamation designating June 2013 as “a month of community charity and goodwill to all in Porterville”. They also changed the rules so that a vote of the Council would be required to issue a proclamation, rather than leave it as a function of the Mayor alone.

Hate In A Small Town 2 – Does Your God Hate? – One the one year anniversary of the Pride Proclamation, the LGBTQ+ community held a rally across from City Hall. Some haters joined in proclaiming the hate of God towards gay folk.

Porterville City Council Still Snubbing LGBTQ Community – (3) the same council as above refuses a Coming Out Day proclamation request.

Fast forward to 2019, and a different City Council.

We thought Porterville was finally growing and becoming a loving place. On May 21, 2019, a proclamation was issued by the City Council (a different council than the first mentioned above, and different from the current one), recognizing Harvey Milk Day In Porterville. On Tuesday, October 15, 2019, by a three to two vote, Porterville’s City Council declared October 11, 2019 as National Coming Out Day in the city. Things were looking up.

We should have known better.

Hate In A Small Town 4 –

The current city council of Porterville, California (ironically enough, an “All American City”).

Mayor Greg Meister
Vice Mayor Ed McKervey
Raymond Beltran
Stan Green
AJ Rivas

The Mayor and Vice-Mayor have teamed up to introduce anti-trans resolutions in Porterville. One would ban trans women and girls from bathrooms, locker rooms, and team sports. The other would require schools in the city to report to parents any requests by students to use names, pronouns, restroom facilities, or play on team sports that do not match their birth sex. (This would violate California state law, but that doesn’t seem to faze this council. They know about it, but are trying to find a way around that messy problem.)

From the March 4 agenda:

24: Consideration of Proposed Establishment of Ordinance to Protect Women’s Safe Spaces

Re: Council direction on the proposed establishment of an Ordinance to Protect Women’s Safe Spaces.

From the March 18 agenda:

21: Consideration of Proposed Establishment of Ordinance Safeguarding Parental Rights in Education and Child Upbringing

Re: Council to provide direction on the proposed establishment of an Ordinance

If you want to find these documents online, go to this page, and select the appropriate date.

A lot of people spoke during “oral communications” (they really need to change that name. ‘Public Comments’ seems much more appropriate). You can see the You Tube video here, but the whole show is almost six hours long! (they love to talk, and talk, and talk. It’s important that they express how MAGA they are) Most comments by the public were against the proposed actions.

Dr. Kathryn Hall, M.D., a long-time pediatrician in the area, who has treated many from Porterville over the years, spoke.

I said a few words, too.

The MAGA runs deep in this council. The Mayor and Vice-Mayor, at least in the two meetings I attended, tried very diligently to out-MAGA each other. Go watch some of their meeting video, if you have the stomach for it.

The Vice-Mayor doesn’t like being challenged on his ignorance. He takes it personally. He views folks who oppose these hate proposals as “triggered activists”. And after I spoke, he amended it to “triggered activists, from out of town”. He said he would not “participate in their psychosis”, referring to anyone who believes differently from him. The Vice-Mayor spoke disparagingly of the local LGBT+ center, essentially blaming it for gains made by the LGBT+ community in Tulare County. He was annoyed that anyone would speak confrontationally, and not grovel or kiss his ring. He condemned speakers for (paraphrasing, I’m not going back and try to find the exact words he used) yelling at them, rather than having a ‘conversation’. He seemed to forget that during ‘oral communications’, the public can only speak, and the council can only listen. There is no ‘conversation’ allowed by the Brown Act. He chastised speakers for being condescending towards the council, when most of his remarks on the issue were truly condescending of the public. I tell ‘ya, it’s all projection with these guys.

I did invite the council to contact The Source LGBT+ Center, and educate themselves with factual information on transgender issues. I’m not holding my breath on that.

Hate in a small town. It hasn’t been rooted out yet. It’s discouraging, but like I said during my comments, “we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going away”.

Porterville Mayor attacks LGBT community

February 28, 2025

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Greg Meister, Mayor of Porterville, California.

Two items on the Porterville City Council agenda for Tuesday, March 4, 2025 are listed below. At the Mayor’s behest, and with the apparent support of at least the Vice-Mayor, the council will consider two items attacking the LGBTQ community in Porterville. The city council has a long history of hate directed at it’s LGBTQ community.

On the consent agenda:

17. Request for Proclamation – Women’s Rights
Re: Considering approval of a request to proclaim Women’s Rights in the City of
Porterville

On the Scheduled Matters agenda:

24. Consideration of Proposed Establishment of Ordinance to Protect Women’s
Safe Spaces
Re: Council direction on the proposed establishment of an Ordinance to Protect
Women’s Safe Spaces

These are the first two steps in an attempt by the mayor to impose an ordinance prohibiting trans women from using women’s toilets or locker rooms, and ban them from women’s sports. Despite there being no credible examples, arrests, or convictions of trans women sexually assaulting cis women in those spaces, and that this ordinance will put the city in violation of California law, Meister has decided this is a solution he can get behind.

The head of the NCAA testified before Congress recently that in the 510,000 athletes in the association, he knew of fewer than ten who were transgender. A check of the sporting records does not show a takeover of top spots by trans women. They seem to fall in a random scale among women taking medals or setting records. There is no evidence of an ‘unfair advantage’ for trans women in any sport.

Let’s look at some research. This is posted at the National Institute of Health‘s National Library of Medicine, the National Center of Biotechnology Information:

An official website of the United States government

(Musk and his minions have obviously not stumbled upon this page. Nobody tell him, OK?)

Trans Women and Public Restrooms: The Legal Discourse and Its Violence

Abstract

Safe access to public restrooms is an essential need for participation in civic life, in the workplace, in educational settings, and other public spaces. This is no different for transgender people. However, access to public restrooms according to gender identity has sparked controversy to the extent that transgender people face embarrassment and even expulsion from these spaces. The lack of access of the transgender population to public restrooms has a negative impact on the physical and mental health of this population. Thus, this article aims to address the main consequences that the ban on the use of bathrooms has for the transgender population, specifically the access of transgender women to the women’s restroom. We covered some legal aspects of “bathroom laws” and the main arguments in this discussion. We understand that the prohibition of access to the restroom constitutes a form of gender violence and discrimination, as we conclude that the arguments that express concerns about safety are not supported.

For the entire publication, check here.

Now, I know research and facts will not sway right-wing nut jobs (not that I’m accusing the Mayor of being one, but if the shoe fits…), but the council should know that the larger LGBTQ community and our allies will not stand quietly by while they attack the trans community with lies and hatred. We will be heard and seen.

A public protest will occur before the City Council meeting, at 4:30pm, across from City Hall. The address of City Hall is 291 N. Main Street. Regular council meeting starts at 6:30 pm. Because of the way Porterville handles it’s council meetings, it could be late in the evening before the matter is handled, and public comments are heard.

Cage Rattling, 2025

February 24, 2025

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Elon’s DOGE gets my email

I asked ChatGPT for an image of Elon Musk, reading emails, with a confused look on his face. It wouldn’t create one, telling me that was a violation of it’s community guidelines. I suspect you can’t use a real person’s image as the basis for a hack job, I mean a creative interpretation. Oh well. This teenaged DOGE simulation will work almost as well.

So last week, Musk sent out that now notorious email to every federal employee, where he ordered them to respond by Friday, listing five things they did last week. He then Tweeted that if they didn’t respond by the deadline, he would take that as their resignation.

Somebody really needs to explain how the government works, because he doesn’t have a clue.

Anyway, I’m on Social Security, after paying into the program since 1974, so I better respond, right? Here’s my letter to Elon:

To: Musk, Elon

DOGE

HR@opm.gov

Here are the 5 bullet items I did last week, Elon. 
(As a Social Security recipient, I figure you’d want my response, too.)
1. I attended a City Council meeting. Two of them. The work session, and the regular session.
2. I attended a local sales tax oversight committee meeting.
3. I mowed my lawn
4. I took my husband to dinner several times during the week
5. I fed, watered, and emptied our dogs. (Thanks, David Gerrold, for the “empty the dogs” line! I love it! Sorry, I digress.)

Sincerely, (well, not THAT sincerely,)
Jim Reeves

Visalia, California

Dogs are children

February 24, 2025

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In many ways, dogs are like children.

There is the obvious way many people treat them, but I’m talking about their behavior.

Today’s missive is about how they act when you tell them to come back into the house, but they want to stay outside.

Once you get them to look at you, so they can’t think “I didn’t hear you” or “I didn’t know you were calling ME”, and they start walking towards you…. they start slowing down the closer they get to the door.

They keep looking at the gate, like they need to go back there and chase away a murderous mob.

You give them “the voice”, and they take a few more steps, each one slower than the previous, as they make their way sullenly towards you.

If you stop with the “get in here!” commands they will stop, turn, and begin to move away.

Children.

Good thing both the real ones and the furry ones are so darn cute.

Most of the time.

Sunnova – our rules only apply to you, not us

February 11, 2025

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So here’s the latest on the solar panel repair fiasco. They, of course, refuse to pay ME $100 for THEIR missing an appointment, although if the missed appointment had been MY fault, they would charge ME $100. My take on the situation? Don’t deal with Sunnova if you can avoid it.

02/11/2025

Dear Jim Reeves,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your concerns about the appointment.

I understand your frustration regarding the missed appointment and the lack of communication surrounding it.

After reviewing your case, I would like to clarify that while we strive to adhere to our service protocols and keep our customers informed, in this instance, the situation did not meet the criteria for a $100 fee as outlined in our policy. As a company, we do not apply fees for situations where we fail to meet the scheduled appointment window, and unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding your case do not qualify for a credit.

Please know that we take your concerns seriously, and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We will continue to review our procedures to ensure better communication and service moving forward.

If you have further questions or need assistance, please reply to this email or log in to your MySunnova portal and chat with one of our friendly agents. They are available to help you with anything from account inquiries to troubleshooting.

Here’s how to get started:

  1. Visit MySunnova: Go to https://www.sunnova.com/mysunnova.
  2. Sign in: Enter your login credentials.
  3. Start Chat: Look for the chat icon in the lower left of your screen and initiate a conversation.

Our agents are ready to assist you promptly from 7 AM to 7 PM, Monday to Saturday.

Kindly,
Jenifer C.
Customer Service Representative
Sunnova Energy Corporation
Hours of operations are (CST):
Monday – Friday 7:00 AM to 12 midnight
Saturday 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Sunday 12:00 PM to 12 midnight

The prior email chain:

RE: System SO0024XXXX
I was scheduled for a repair appointment for 2/5/2025, with the technician scheduled to arrive between 8am and 11am. I was home and available during those hours.
No one came to my home, and I was not contacted about a delay or a cancellation.
In the text message I received confirming my appointment is the following:
“$100 missed visit fee if the tech can’t access the system OR you cancel after 5pm the day before the appt.”

Since Sunnova’s text message says “we reserve the right to charge a $100 missed visit fee…”, I expect you’ll return the favor. I expect a $100 credit on my account for your tech not showing up to the scheduled appointment in the scheduled window (indeed, not showing up or contacting me for the entire day).

Please respond with confirmation that my account has been credited $100, and schedule a repair appointment since the original problem still exists.

Jim Reeves

On Feb 7, 2025, at 6:28 PM, Customer Service customerservice@sunnova.com wrote:

 Dear Jim Reeves,

Thank you for contacting Sunnova Energy regarding your appointment.

Please accept my sincerest apologies for the inconvenience that the rescheduling of your visit has caused. Due to protocol issues, we were compelled to change the date. However, I would like to emphasize that the fee will only be applied if the client is not at home when our technician arrives. If you are not present at the time of the technician’s visit, I extend my deepest regrets for the inconvenience. Nevertheless, I would like to underscore that the visit has already occurred.

Should you have further questions or need assistance, please reply to this email or log in to your MySunnova portal and chat with one of our friendly agents. They’re available to help you with anything from account inquiries to troubleshooting.

Here’s how to get started:

  1. Visit MySunnova: Go to https://www.sunnova.com/mysunnova.
  2. Sign in and enter your login credentials.
  3. Start Chat: Look for the chat icon in the lower left of your screen and initiate a conversation.
    Our agents are ready to assist you promptly from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

Thank you for choosing Sunnova!
Best regards,
Jorge H.
Sunnova Energy Corporation
Customerservice@sunnova.com

2/7/25

“Jorge”,

The problem was not the need to reschedule my appointment due to “protocol issues” (whatever that means), my complaint was/is that the text messages confirming the original appointment included notice that my missing the appointment, or cancelling after 5pm the day before, would trigger a $100 fee.
Sunnova technicians did not arrive during the originally specified window, and did not notify me that they would be unable to fulfill their appointment, and especially for not alerting me to that before 5pm the prior day.
Therefore, since it is clearly Sunnova policy that appointments that are missed without notice prior to 5pm the day before are subject to a $100 fine, I expect no less than the same treatment in return.
I expect and demand that Sunnova credit my account $100 for Sunnova’s failure to arrive during the scheduled appointment window, and for not notifying me before 5pm the day prior.

Jim Reeves
Sent from my iPhone

*********************************************

Here’s the text message I received once sending a confirmation of the appointment they set:

SUNNOVA APPT CONFIRMED for 2/05/2025 between 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM
$100 missed visit fee if the tech can’t access the system OR you cancel after 5PM the day before the appt.
RESCHEDULE/CANCEL via MySunnova appt link OR agent chat.
Reply STOP to opt out of appt texts

*********************************************

So in the final analysis, if the customer screws up and misses the appointment, they’ll charge $100 fee to the customer’s account. If Sunnova screws up and misses the appointment, it’s “oh well, we don’t pay you for our failure”.

EDIT: Addition:

This is not the only problem I’ve had with them, just so you know. They charged an exorbitant amount ($8,400) to remove and then later reinstall the panels to allow a new roof to be installed. They also failed to obtain the proper city permit to do the job, and then took 6 months to “investigate” the issue, all the while charging me for estimated production that my panels did not produce while they sat in my backyard waiting to go back up on the roof. Needless to say, after all that it may be a decade before I see any real financial savings from the system.

If you decide to have solar panels installed on a lease program, or any program where you don’t pay upfront for your own privately held system, be sure you won’t need a new roof during the life of the contract. It won’t pay if you have to remove-reinstall the system. The only benefit now will be in monthly cash-flow, as my electricity bill will decrease by some.

Needless to say, I’m not a happy camper right now.

It Will Always Be LGBTQ+, and more

February 1, 2025

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Screenshot

It doesn’t matter if Orange Dimwit orders the “T”in LGBT be dropped from government websites and documents. It’s not going away from where it really matters: our communities.
It doesn’t matter if the right wing echo chamber talking heads say trans people don’t exist. They’re lying and are fools.
It doesn’t matter because we have your backs, and won’t stop fighting the bigotry and hatred.
This applies to the “Q+” as well. And every other part of the “alphabet mafia”, too.
We’ve come too far, and destroyed too many closets. We’re not going to walk quietly into new ones.
We’re here, we’re queer, and they just poked the tiger.

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