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Torres, Hutchinson and Trenado Run in Oakland District 5 School Board Race

Published

8 years ago

September 29, 2016

Three candidates are actively campaigning for the District 5 seat on the Oakland Board of Education: incumbent Roseann Torres, Oakland native and school activist Mike Hutchinson and middle school teacher Huber Trenado, who is part of the slate backed by the pro-charter organization Great Oakland (GO) Public Schools.A fourth candidate, Michael Hassid, is on the ballot but has not appeared so far at candidate speaking events.

Torres, who practices law in Oakland, is married and the parent of a high school senior. Originally from Stockton, she has lived in Oakland for about 12 years.

Speaking of her accomplishments, Torres said she is most proud of the 14 percent teacher pay raise that the school board negotiated with teachers.

“This is very big accomplishment to give a double digit raise to teachers” in a district that loses teachers frequently to nearby districts that pay $8,000 or more a year than Oakland, Torres said. She is also proud of her efforts to initiate and pass an ethnic studies requirement at all Oakland high schools.

Torres began working with a teacher in 2014 to develop the policy. Before that, she said, there were only a few teachers who taught ethnic studies “under the radar, without permission.”

Ultimately, the policy passed the board on a 7-0 vote.

When she first ran for the school board, Torres said she had no idea what the pro-charter corporate lobby was or the role of GO Public Schools in Oakland.

“They thought I was going to be a blank check for charters and not just do what I thought was right,” she said. “I started getting checks from all over the country (to support her candidacy).

“I didn’t know they wanted to control what I did and how I vote. Their assumption was: we brought in all this money, and you have to vote way we expect.”

Torres said she supports charter schools and charter school renewals that she thinks are good for the students and the community but that she is not a blank check.

However, GO and other charter school backers have turned against her for taking an independent stand, she said.

Mike Hutchinson, born and raised in Oakland, attending public schools. He is not a teacher but has worked in local schools in many capacities, including as a coach and in afterschool programs.

Hutchinson speaks at most school board meetings, pushing the board and the administration to be more responsive to community needs, he said.

He says he has three top priorities.

First he wants to see the district adopt “authentic community engagement,” to listen to parents and the community to incorporate what they say into policies and decisions.

At present, he said, “district staff shows up and tells the community what they plan on doing,” he said.

Second, he wants to “reprioritize” the district budget, which this year is $792 million. About $80 million of the funds are spent outsourcing district functions to highly paid consultants. The saved money can be invested in improving neighborhood schools, he said.

His priority would be to stop privitization.

“Oakland has over 40 charter schools, but San Leandro has none, and San Francisco and Berkeley only have a few,” he said, emphasizing that the district is giving too many of its resources to charters.

Huber Trenado works as a seventh-grade humanities teacher at Lazear Charter Academy in the Fruitvale District.

His family emigrated from Mexico, and he was born in Los Angeles. He later moved to Oakland, where he attended school and lived in a small apartment with his mother and six siblings.

If elected, Trenado said he would be the first openly gay school board member.

The loss of teachers has lot to do with the lack of support they receive in their first few years in the district, he said.

“Teaching is a really hard thing, and it crucial to help them grow during their first years in the profession,” said Trenado.

He said he wants to improve the schools so all students get served. At many flatland schools, as many as 50 percent of the students do not graduate or have the coursework to go to college.

He has the backing of GO Public Schools but is not a member.

“I’m not pro charter,” he said. “I don’t support new charter schools being opened. I don’t think opening new charter schools is fiscally responsible.”

However, he said, “the whole debate is political,” not focusing on what is good for students and families. “It’s a lot of privileged people” who are complaining about charter schools, he said.

Addendum:

Great Oakland (GO) Public Schools responds:

“The GO endorsement process is driven by the recommendations of parents, educators, and community members evaluating school board candidates on a broad policy agenda, not a candidate’s willingness to support charter growth. GO did not endorse Rosie Torres because she did not do the job- for example, she has been absent or late to at least 1 out of 3 school board meetings. Attendance at school board meetings is the lowest bar you can set for a school board member and Rosie didn’t clear that bar. Our parents, educators and community leaders believe students, families, and voters in District 5 deserve better.” – Ash Solar, Executive Director, GO Public Schools Advocates

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Related Topics:District 5 elections Huber Trenado Mike Hutchinson Oakland Roseann Torres School Board

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City Government

San Pablo Appoints New Economic Development and Housing Manager

Kieron Slaughter has been appointed as the economic development & housing manager for the City of San Pablo. Since 2017, Slaughter has served as chief strategic officer for economic innovation in the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. Previously, he served in a 2.5-year appointment in the Pacific West Region as one of 10 Urban Fellows in the United States National Park Service.

Published

10 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Kieron Slaughter. Photo courtesy of the City of San Pablo

The Richmond Standard

Kieron Slaughter has been appointed as the economic development & housing manager for the City of San Pablo.

Since 2017, Slaughter has served as chief strategic officer for economic innovation in the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. Previously, he served in a 2.5-year appointment in the Pacific West Region as one of 10 Urban Fellows in the United States National Park Service.

Before that he was an associate planner in the City of Richmond’s Planning and Building Services Department from 2007-2015.

San Pablo City Manager Matt Rodriguez lauded Slaughter’s extensive experience in economic development, housing and planning, saying he will add a “valuable perspective to the City Manager’s Office.”

Slaughter, a Berkeley resident, will start in his new role on Nov. 12, with a base annual salary of $164,928, according to the City of San Pablo.

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City Government

Aaron Osorio Rises Up Ranks to Become Richmond’s Fire Chief

For Aaron Osorio, it started with a ride along on a firetruck at age 10. “I thought it was the coolest job,” he said, adding, “I knew being in fire service would make a big difference in the community.” Now a 27-year fire service veteran, Osorio appears to approach his work with the same youthful exuberance. And that’s good for the city as Osorio was recently named chief of the historic Richmond Fire Department.

Published

10 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Richmond Fire Department Chief Aaron Osorio. Courtesy photo

By Mike Kinney

The Richmond Standard

For Aaron Osorio, it started with a ride along on a firetruck at age 10.

“I thought it was the coolest job,” he said, adding, “I knew being in fire service would make a big difference in the community.”

Now a 27-year fire service veteran, Osorio appears to approach his work with the same youthful exuberance. And that’s good for the city as Osorio was recently named chief of the historic Richmond Fire Department.

Osorio is a San Francisco native who rose up the ranks in the Richmond Fire Department over the last 21 years before being elevated to chief.

He joined the department in 2002 and has served in multiple roles including firefighters, engineer, captain, battalion chief, training director and deputy fire chief. He said he truly loves working in this community.

While it isn’t common for a fire department to hire a chief that came up through its ranks, Osorio was credited by the city for serving Richmond well during uncommon times.

The city lauded him for developing internal policies and vaccination clinics during the initial COVID response, for supporting activation of the emergency operations center in response to a potential mudslide disaster in Seacliff last year, helping to draft mutual aid agreements and working to increase fire response capabilities for industrial incidents.

He’s also led departmental hiring and recruitment since 2018.

Osorio said it is an honor to be hired as chief and has big plans for the department moving forward. He said he wants to continue hiring and promoting for vacant positions, and also completing a strategic plan guiding the direction of the organization.

He also aims to replace and renovate a number of fire department facilities placed on the Capital Improvement Plan and create new ways to recruit that will enhance the diversity of the department.

Osorio said his experience within, and love for, the city of Richmond puts him in a good position to lead the department. He says he knows what is needed and also the challenges that are unique to the city.

“I look forward to utilizing that institutional knowledge to move the fire department forward in a positive direction and enhance the services we provide to the community,” the chief said.

Osorio holds a bachelor of science degree in Fire Administration and is also a California State Fire Marshal-certified chief officer, company officer, and state instructor.

He also holds numerous certifications in fire, rescue, hazardous material, and incident command.

The chief has been married to his wife, Maria, for 26 years and they have two sons, Roman and Mateo.

Oakland Post

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Reflects on Historic Moment Less Than One Week from Election Day

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm.

Published

10 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm:

“As Election Day approaches, I’m reflecting on a few dates and numbers that mean something to me.

Zero: the number of Black members in Congress 56 years ago. Next Congress, we hope to swear in over 60 members in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Three: The number of Black women to ever serve in the United States Senate since the first Congress in 1789.

Two: The number of Black women that will be elected to the Senate this year alone if we do our job.

1972: The first time a Black woman, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, ran for president in one of the major political parties of the United States.

Zero: the number of Black women to ever serve as president of the United States.

IF we do the work, we can change that with President Kamala Harris.

As I reflect on what would be Congresswoman Chisholm’s 100th birthday next month, I could not help but remember that my first official involvement in U.S. politics was working for her presidential campaign in 1972.

Over 50 years later, I have been involved in every single campaign since. Shirley was my mentor — she was a bold visionary, a progressive woman who understood that working together in coalitions was the only way to make life better for everyone, to build an equitable society and democracy that lived up to the creed of “liberty and justice for all.”

The historic moment we are in today is not lost on me. I have had the privilege to have known Vice President Kamala Harris for over three decades. She, after all, is a daughter of the East Bay. She, like Shirley, truly is a fighter for the people.

And I know she can move our country forward in a new way. As a member of her National Advisory Board, I have campaigned across our country to help take her message, her legacy of service, and her “to-do list,” as she says, to voters who were almost starting to feel hopeless, but are now feeling hopeful once again, captured by the politics joy and the bright possibilities brought upon by a possible Harris-Walz administration.

Recently, I visited churches in North Carolina with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The chair of our CBC political action committee, Chairman Gregory Meeks from New York’s fifth district, eloquently and powerfully presented a vision of what Dr. Maya Angelou wrote in her famous poem, “And Still I Rise:” “I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”

Meeks remarked that on Jan. 20, 2025, we will observe the birthday of our drum major for justice, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He also described that on Jan. 20, IF we do the work — if we knock on doors, if we make those phone calls, if we spread our message — standing on the podium at the U.S. Capitol will be the first Black speaker of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries.

In the wings will be over 60 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Holding Frederick Douglass’ Bible will be the first African American woman appointed to the highest court of the land, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She will be swearing-in the first Black woman to serve as president, Kamala Harris, in front of the shining white dome of the United States Capitol, built by enslaved Black people.

In front of her and beyond, the tens of millions of Black men and women who voted for her. The world will witness the hope and the dreams of our ancestors ushering in a new way forward.

As I sat in front of the stage this week at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., as Vice President Harris delivered remarks with the Oval Office behind her, I could not help but feel that our country was ready for this historic moment.

We are not only voting for a Black woman as Commander in Chief of the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. We are definitively stating that we will not allow the clocks of freedom and justice to be turned back.

We are voting for our ancestors’ hopes and dreams. We are voting for the generations that will come after us, long after we are gone. We are voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Let’s get this done.