Dear Colleagues,
In the most dramatic come from behind electoral victory I have ever witnessed, San Diego Continuing Education teacher Elena Adams erased an election day deficit of 440 votes to emerge as the victor by 124 votes as the Registrar of Voters finished counting all provisional ballots tonight!
This stunning victory caps AFT’s complete sweep of all local elections we actively participated in during this election cycle!
To re-cap:
- We elected Elena Adams to the Grossmont-Cuyamaca CCD Governing Board, filling the vacant seat due to Mary Kay Rosinski’s retirement;
- We re-elected Cuyamaca College faculty member Mary Graham to her third term on the San Diego CCD Governing Board;
- We re-elected Rick Shea to the County Board of Education, maintaining a pro-public school majority, despite the Charter Schools Association spending over $1 million against us;
- We elected teacher Chris Fite and City College faculty member Elva Salinas to the Grossmont Union High School District Governing Board;
- We worked in coalition with other unions to defeat Measure A, the ill-conceived transit tax initiative.
This latest round of victories brings our cumulative school board election victory total to 49!
Hopefully, these local victories can help ease the pain a bit from the grim reality of the national elections.
With Trump and Company soon to be in control in Washington, there is no more critical time for us to have solid allies on our local Governing Boards to help mitigate the attacks we and our students will soon be under. However, these victories come at great expense, and the only way we can guarantee continued electoral success is by maintaining a healthy COPE fund. You can contribute now by clicking here!
Congratulations to all of our students, classified staff, and faculty who will benefit from these great local victories!
In Unity,
Jim
Jim Mahler, President
AFT Guild, Local 1931
San Diego & Grossmont-Cuyamaca
Community Colleges
