El Monte Teachers Get Phony ‘Tanner’ Letter Full of Insults

Phony Letter: Russ McFann, a teacher at Mountain View High School in El Monte, was startled when he received a letter from his longtime friend Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-Baldwin Park) thanking him for his views on the state budget, but calling him and and other educators “misinformed” and “self-righteous.”

The letter closed by saying: “Once you can prove that you are capable of handling your responsibilities in the classroom, then maybe I will consider your perceptions on how state government ought to be run.”

McFann, outraged, rushed to Tanner’s office to find out what was going on. It turns out that someone took a form letter that Tanner sends to people who write about education funding, replaced the final two paragraphs with insulting remarks, and mailed it to McFann.

At least three other teachers at Mountain View High School received similar phony letters.

Tanner has alerted school superintendents in her district to the letters and asked the attorney general’s office to investigate.

“How dare somebody do this!” she said. “It’s incredible.” The letters not only insulted teachers, she said, but threw in some bad grammar to make her look worse. Tanner said this is the sort of dirty trick that sometimes shows up in the final days of a political campaign.

But maybe things are just ahead of schedule this year. Tanner has already announced that she will run again in 1992, even though the primary election is more than a year away.

CSH4USC: Will college alumni pay an extra $50 for an automobile license plate promoting their school?

Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier) thinks so, and has introduced a bill that would create special license plates bearing college logos that would sell for $50, with the money split between college scholarships and environmental protection.

The program would be open to colleges that can generate orders for 5,000 license plates. The plates would carry the college logo on the left side and the name of the school at the bottom.

Hill said that if USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley and Stanford sold 10,000 plates apiece, they could raise $2 million, with half that money going to scholarships. The University of Miami raised $1 million with a similar program in Florida, according to Hill aide Robert McNitt.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill Monday, clearing the way for a vote by the full Senate.

Meanwhile, another San Gabriel Valley legislator, Assemblyman Pat Nolan (R-Glendale), is sponsoring a bill that would provide special license plates to veterans who are members of the Legion of Valor, an organization open only to recipients of the nation’s highest awards for bravery.

The bill has passed the Assembly and is pending in the Senate.

Short Subjects: Matt Fong, recently appointed to the State Board of Equalization, will speak to members of the California Lincoln Clubs at noon Wednesday, at the Industry Hills and Sheraton Resort. Luncheon is $30 for members and $35 for non-members. . . . Ed Griffin-Nolan, a New York-based writer who recently returned from the Middle East and was a member of the Witness for Peace staff in Nicaragua from 1985 to 1988, will speak on U.S. policy in Central America and the Persian Gulf at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Claremont United Church of Christ. The program is sponsored by the Pomona Valley-Nicaragua Friendship Project. . . .County Supervisor Deane Dana has opened a field office at 1199 S. Fairway Drive, Suite 111, Rowland Heights, to serve constituents in eastern Los Angeles County. The phone number is (714) 594-6561 and fax number is (714) 594-1621.