Funding the SMCFA PAC

by Lantz Simpson

Eight years ago, in the spring of 2000, the Faculty Association made an important strategic and political decision, which was for the first time to actively support candidates for the SMC Board of Trustees.  This meant activating a dormant PAC and reaching out into the Santa Monica community to recruit good Board candidates, spreading our message of the need for better leadership at SMC, and making alliances with community groups.  Some argued at the time that such an effort might backfire and others even laughed and said such an effort was futile.

Eight years later, the rightness of that strategy has proven true.  The Faculty Association's efforts since 2000 have been greatly rewarding for the faculty at SMC.   Not only does SMC have a new and better president as well as a new and better set of trustees in place, but the FA has just negotiated one of the best collective bargaining agreements in the state.

None of the above came about because of an accident, coincidence, serendipity, being nice, or plain old good luck.  It came about for two basic reasons: first, the time and effort of many people in the FA, and second, spending a lot money on political campaigns.  In each two-year election cycle the FA was more and more successful in Board elections, culminating in the 2006 election in which all four FA endorsed candidates won.

Up until 2006, the FA mostly funded its PAC on a voluntary basis.  During 2006 it became clear that in order to succeed in that fall's board elections, more money would be needed.  The Representative Assembly then voted to lend the PAC $45,000, an amount that helped ensure election success.

What has became clear, however, is that the amount of money the FA PAC needs to continue to win in future Board elections is more than can be raised through voluntary payroll deductions and fund raisers.  Therefore, I believe that the FA membership needs to take a pro-active step to ensure FA success in future Board elections, and that is, to vote for an annual allocation from the FA general fund to its PAC. This does not require raising dues; it simply means we agree to spend part of our dues for this purpose.

Our friends at the Los Angeles Community College Guild have been doing this for many years, with great success.  The faculty-friendly Board in Los Angeles has hired people like Rocky Young for its chancellor, while collective bargaining in L.A. over the last few years has been collegial if not congenial.  Our friends in L.A. got a better Board not through accident but through hard work and adequate money from its PAC via annual contributions from its general fund. It tries to make sure good people are elected.

We should do the same here. Here's how it would work for FA members.  Each year the Assembly would vote an amount per faculty member that would be allocated to the PAC.  It has been suggested that $25,000 total go from the general fund to the PAC.  This would amount to $4 tenthly per full time faculty member and $2 eighthly per part-time faculty member. Again, this would be strictly a bookkeeping allocation of existing dues money; everyone's dues remain the same.

Some believe that the PAC should remain strictly voluntary and that PAC money should only be raised through payroll deduction and fundraisers.  I believe that such a view is wishful thinking.  The 2006 election has shown that the FA cannot succeed on a voluntary PAC alone.

Yes, the college has turned around.  And yes, the FA should take a lot of credit for that turnaround.  But that is no reason to rest on our laurels.  It is all the more reason to become even stronger and more influential in Board elections. And if there are those who do not want their dues money spent for this purpose, they can easily opt out by filling out a simple form; in this case the member's dues would remain in the general fund and would not be allocated to the PAC. It's that simple.

I urge a “yes” vote by FA members on the question of general fund allocation to our PAC.  Such a “yes” vote will build on the foundation the FA has laid down in past elections and would give the FA the greatest chance for success in future elections.  In addition, such a “yes” vote will let community groups in Santa Monica know that the FA will be there in the future to maintain and strengthen the already effective alliances we have created in Santa Monica.  It will let the trustees that we support know that we will continue that support.  And the faculty can know that their FA is doing everything it can to have the best possible college at SMC.