Paraeducator serves as mayor of Ukiah, bus driver sits on Pacifica City Council
Classified employees make their mark on local politics
Every day, dozens of CFT members finish their shift, pivot, and begin a second job as an elected official. They bring passion, creativity and a commitment to public service. When Juan Orozco isn’t working with teens in the Mendocino County Office of Education, the Local 4345 member is serving as mayor of the county hub. Pacifica voters have elected and re-elected school bus driver Mike O’Neill to public office for almost a quarter-century.
Paul da Silva became the candidate he wanted to see
First teacher elected to College of Marin Board of Trustees
For years, Paul da Silva, a biology teacher at the College of Marin and a member of United Professors of Marin, Local 1610, wondered about the lack of teachers on the college’s Board of Trustees and tried to talk retiring professors into running. No one took him up on it.
So when he decided in the summer of 2019 that he would retire, he concluded, to paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, he’d have to be the candidate he wished to see in the world.
Four members tell their stories of election success
Our voices must be heard! Members elected to district governing boards
Jeanie Wallace had considered running for office before. As a union rep for the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers and the chair of the local Democratic Party Central Committee, she knew how hard it could be to find candidates for the school board. But she thought she was too busy, and planned to do it when she retired.
Sandra Nichols: Teachers elected to public office can effect social change
Four-time board member has advice for educator candidates
Nichols served three terms on the board of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District while she was a teacher in neighboring Santa Cruz. She moved out of the Pajaro district in 2012 and into Santa Cruz County, where she ran for the County Board of Education in her fourth winning election bid.