Bay Area
Jorge Lerma Projected Winner of OUSD District 5 School Board Seat
Lerma described a full house at the Paulista Brazilian Kitchen and Taproom where he and community members gathered to celebrate the campaign effort before the results were officially announced. Priests, firefighters, and ice cream vendors were all in attendance that night, which Lerma says shows the diversity of people who believe in what he’s doing.

By Magaly Muñoz
Post Staff
Oakland native Jorge Lerma was leading the vote with 62% of the ballots cast for the District 5 (D5) school board seat for Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) as of Wednesday morning. Only about 9% of eligible voters participated in the election.
An update on the votes is expected from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters on Thursday, and they will continue counting mail-in ballots that are received up to one week after Election Day. Certification of election results takes up to 30 days.
For several months, Lerma and Sasha Ritzie-Hernandez, had been in a fierce competition for the vacant seat after current school board president Mike Hutchinson stepped down earlier this year to represent District 4.
“I’m giddy and feeling very positive, but at the same time I’m very aware that this is an extremely serious moment in my life and in the life of this community,” Lerma said in a phone call to the Post the morning after the election.
Lerma described a full house at the Paulista Brazilian Kitchen and Taproom where he and community members gathered to celebrate the campaign effort before the results were officially announced. Priests, firefighters, and ice cream vendors were all in attendance that night, which Lerma says shows the diversity of people who believe in what he’s doing.
He said he knew he was going to have to fight hard because Ritzie-Hernandez had more access to money and interest groups. However, he believed that his extensive experience and deep-rooted connections in Oakland compensated for what he lacked in those areas.
Lerma has been involved in OUSD for 34 years as a teacher, principal, and administrator. He has long been an advocate for quality education and social justice, even fighting for these rights alongside the late civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.
Sam Davis, District 1 OUSD director, said Lerma’s extensive career in early childhood education and his fight to get more resources for students of color is what makes him the best representative of D5.
“He’s just been in the fight for students and supporting more services, especially for Latino students, for so long. And so, we’re just really grateful that he’s willing to step up and take on this role,” Davis said.
Davis mentioned the state takeover of OUSD in 2003, during which schools were closed in order to consolidate funds to pay off the district’s debt, and said Lerma was at the frontlines fighting for the schools to stay open. Davis stated that’s the kind of experience that the board needs.
“For me, his passion and commitment to this work and the fact you know, as most of us being Latinos and also immigrants, education is really the only pathway that we have to change our circumstances and he has been a consistent champion of that,” said Karely Ordaz, the chief of staff for The Unity Council.
Ordaz said Lerma unknowingly had an unintentional yet profound impact on her and her family’s lives with his creation of Centro Infantíl de la Raza, Fruitvale’s first bilingual, bicultural preschool.
While Ordaz was too old to attend the school, her sister and mom greatly benefited from it. The school offered her sister a cost-free environment for growth and it gave her mother an opportunity to participate in the education system.
She added that Lerma’s passion for encouraging students of color and their families to prioritize education from an early stage is why she’s happy to support him. Lerma understands that early intervention and support are crucial to producing the outcomes that people want to see.
“His win means Oakland wins,” Ordaz stated.
Lerma said the time to start working is now and that the first step is bringing healing to the community. It’s essential to set aside differences and drama because “we have children in Oakland that need to be educated.”
He stated that he’s going to set aside his personal opinions examine every issue with the aim of bettering the community collaboration with his fellow board members.
He explained that his first objective is to is to find out why there is such a large disparity in student learning based on where they go to school and identify what can be done to turn that around quickly.
“I don’t want words anymore; I want to practice. That’s always been the model for me. I don’t like to make promises, I like to deliver results.”
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025
Activism
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series
The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

By Scott Horton
United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.
The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.
The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.
The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”
In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.
“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.
“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”
In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.
In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.
Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.
Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).
He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.
Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.
Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.
Alameda County
After Years of Working Remotely, Oakland Requires All City Employees to Return to Office by April 7
City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week. These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.

By Post Staff
The City Oakland is requiring all employees to return to the office, thereby ending the telecommuting policy established during the pandemic that has left some City Hall departments understaffed.
City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week.
These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.
The administration may still grant the right to work remotely on a case-by-case basis.
In his memo to city unions, Johnson said former President Joe Biden had declared an end to the pandemic in September 2022, and that since then, “We have collectively moved into newer, safer health conditions.”
Johnson said “multiple departments” already have all their staff back in the office or workplace.
The City’s COVID-era policy, enacted in September 2021, was designed to reduce the spread of the debilitating and potentially fatal virus.
Many cities and companies across the country are now ending their pandemic-related remote work policies. Locally, mayoral candidate Loren Taylor in a press conference made the policy a central issue in his campaign for mayor.
City Hall reopened for in-person meetings two years ago, and the city’s decision to end remote work occurred before Taylor’s press conference.
At an endorsement meeting last Saturday of the John George Democratic Club, mayoral candidate Barbara Lee said she agreed that city workers should return to the job.
At the same time, she said, the city should allow employees time to readjust their lives, which were disrupted by the pandemic, and should recognize individual needs, taking care to maintain staff morale.
The John George club endorsed Lee for Mayor and Charlene Wang for City Council representative for District 2. The club also voted to take no position on the sales tax measure that will be on the April 15 ballot.
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