Old-timers have a right to gripe, but Dunn's got to go

First, in defense of Marilee Ullmann and her expressing the truth about changes we've undergone in Thousand Oaks, anyone who's lived here for a significant period of time knows it's not the place it used to be. I've lived here for over 30 years, and while there are still many great things about it, there's absolutely no comparison between today's T.O. and the one of my childhood memories.

The nasty attacks on Ms. Ullmann obviously come from newcomers who never knew its small-town innocence of days gone by.

Secondly, in response to Arleigh Kidd, thank you for all your hard work in supporting the extraordinary teachers of our schools.

Before Mike Dunn was elected to the school board, he wrote a letter to the Acorn in which he stated, "God bless Bush," vocally supported our invasion of Iraq, made a ridiculously inaccurate statement about how many American servicemen lost their lives in World War II, and then the next thing I knew, he was on my children's school board.

My second experience with Dunn was at the infamous school board meeting concerning the silly "controversial" textbook matter—which he created. I remember him sitting on the board chomping on a piece of gum and I thought, "This guy reminds me of a trouble-making student with no maturity, discipline or respect for others, and he thinks he's above all the rules."

Dunn's wife sat behind me— scoffing at liberal speakers, my mother in particular—as well as his two young children,the only two in the building that night—and I found it curious that he'd bring his kids, since the conservatives' focus that night was homosexuality.

Dunn's lack of judgment that evening, coupled with his consistently illegal troublemaking behavior on the school board and, most horrendous of all, his shameless, slanderous efforts against two of the most intelligent, experienced, well-respected educators serving on the board make me sick every time I see one of his self-serving, ego-stroking letters in the Acorn.

To Mr. Kidd and our extraordinary school board: Keep up the great work.

And in two years, we'll be done with Dunn. Tina Aschenbrenner Thousand Oaks