Menu
Menu
Menu

Conejo Valley

The Godspeak publication "The Conejo Guardian" is often publically trashed or repurposed by community members.

There have been several failed extremist school board campaigns fighting for seats in the Conejo Valley Unified School District in the last three elections. Candidates who supported  book banning, re-opening schools during the pandemic, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-public education positions have attempted to get elected to turn the board in favor of an extremist agenda.Pastor Rob McCoy of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park, and several other Christian nationalist organizations and individuals, have been behind all these campaigns providing financial backing and campaign assistance. Move the Needle, a political PAC, is a large donor. It was created by Tim McCarthy (failed Ventura County supervisor candidate) and Tim Totum. McCarthy is well known for his ties to Godspeak Calvary, and has even been invited to campaign from the pulpit at Godspeak Calvary Church. 

One failed candidate, Amy Chen, was once listed as CEO of a newspaper that is distributed for the sole purpose of discrediting and smearing the CVUSD. The Conejo Guardian, which is distributed throughout the Conejo Valley once a month, also has ties to Godspeak Calvary Chapel, and at one time Rob McCoy admitted to being directly involved with the paper. More information on The Conejo Guardian can be found here. Community members often post pictures of The Conejo Guardian in trash cans and being used in other capacities.

Another Godspeak Calvary backed board member, Sandee Everette, lost her re-election bid in 2020 when she fought to open public schools during the pandemic and pushed for anti-mask policies.

Three more candidates primed by Rob McCoy joined the November 2022 school board race, and that election cycle proved to be even more contentious than the previous two.

Chaos Erupts

In 2022, CVUSD became ground zero for bigots after a local father was unhappy with the state/district policy that protects transgender students and promotes inclusivity. When his daughter’s third grade class was shown a video of a book meant to prepare the class for the return of a socially transitioning transgender student, the father complained to the district. The Conejo Guardian exploited the fathers story, and the father himself, when they featured a story targeting the teacher who showed the video. After that issue ran, the elementary school involved was defaced with grafitti that read “pervs wrk here”.

This incident provoked a strong response from the community, and the CVUSD June 2022 School Board meeting errupted in chaos when pro LGBTQi supporters rallied at the entrance opposite church goers and Rob McCoy associates from Godspeak Calvary. This air of conflict continued throughout the year as the community ramped up for elections, and school board races began. Godspeak Calvary members and their three candidates attended board meetings often,  preaching their greivences from the School Board dias

Demonstrators crowd the entrance to the June '22 CVUSD Board meeting.

Extremist Group Gets The Invite

Far-right group "Gays Against Groomers" advertises local CVUSD meetings

As the November ’22 election drew near, instigators began to invite outsiders to speak at CVUSD Board meetings. Members from Gays Against Groomers (GAG), a far-right anti-LGBTQ organization, made two appearances and advertised CVUSD meetings on social media in hopes of drawing a crowd. GAG members did not have children in the district, and were invited purely for the media attention. One particular member, Mario Estrada, has ties to the Proud Boys, a far-right neo-fascist group that promotes political violence. 

GAG appearances drew media attention and resulted in local and eventually national news coverage of the events happening at CVUSD district meetings.

Mario Estrada of "Gays Against Groomers" appears at School Board Meetings.
Goleta man pleads guilty to threatening T.O. superintendent.

District Recieves Threats

 

The manufactured fiascos at CVUSD school board meetings has reached ears outside of the district, and national attention created by bad actors who are district outsiders has had its repercussions. On Oct. 13, 2022 a Goleta resident left two voicemail messages threatening to kill Superintendent Mark McLaughlin. Randall Earl Graham, a 45 year old man with no known ties to the CVUSD, can be heard in the second message saying “If you guys don’t stop grooming children, we’re going to put a bullet through every single one of you, you demented f***ing people. Here’s a warning. It’s not a threat. It’s a fact. Somebody is going to f***ing shoot you.” Graham pleaded guilty to a Felony charge on April 4th, 2023, and the crime carries up to a 3 year sentence. 
CVUSD Board of Trustees President Lauren Gill commented for the VC Reporter on the incident with an explanation for the criminal threats the district has received. She immediately refers to Pastor Rob Mcoy’s influence on the Conejo Valley, and his position as co-chair of TPUSA Faith. TPUSA added CVUSD to a “school board watchlist” of “radical” districts on their website, and she further explains that “Pastor Rob McCoy was a part of the American Renewal Project that was funded and founded by David Lane with an emphasis on getting reactionary evangelical folks into public office where they could influence public policy.” 
The radical evangelicals in the CVUSD have certainly made their mark, and we at S.C.E.W hope the dangerous rhetoric they espouse will die down, for the safety of the school board members and their families. 
 

Current State of the Board

The three Godspeak Calvary backed school board Candidates where defeated in the 2022 election, a huge victory for the multicultural and LGBTQi Students in the Conejo Valley. DEI programs California encourages to keep schools safe and inclusive continue to function smoothly, as well. Sophia De Domenico, Karen Meyer, and Joelle Mancuso were all groomed by Pastor Rob McCoy to influence and obstruct CVUSD business with your typical right-wing talking points such such as anti-CRT, anti-LGBTQ agenda, suppression of sexual heath education, and the dismantling of DEI and socio-emotional learning programs children of the Conejo Valley depend on.

Looking Ahead in the CVUSD

The Next election cycle in the CVUSD is in 2024 where two school board district seats are up for re-election. For now the board has been protected from extremist agenda by way of a very vigilant and involved community, but  S.C.E.W. will keep a close eye on this district to keep you informed.