Smollar says preparation of such lists was Fleming's modus operandi

David Smollar, The Capistrano Dispatch "But preparation of the list was modus operandi for Fleming. He’s not a great strategic mind; he thinks ahead about five minutes most of the time. He craves information, especially on his many detractors. And he craved information about the recall people. Just examine the raft of e-mails and memos that Fleming prepared and sent across the CUSD universe of parents, principals administrators the weekend of April 23-24, 2005, in preparation for the April 25 board meeting when recall notices were presented. He was consumed with the recall, and had just gotten the 150 names on April 21, off an intercepted Kevin Murphy e-mail. He surely wanted to know who they were. That’s his style. Fleming wrote to trustees on April 22 in a fax that the e-mail appeared to be a “veritable ‘who’s who’ list of San Juan Hills and Arroyo Vista NIMBYS as well as some of the more volatile opponents to the attendance boundary proposal.” The list could not have been done without Fleming’s express knowledge and direction, because its compilation would have required hours upon hours of tedious work using the district’s cumbersome Aeries student information system. No person in his or her right mind would otherwise have spent 10 hours-plus doing it."

Kutnick is a columnist for The Capistrano Dispatch. Smollar is the former Director of Communications at Capistrano Unified School District.