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October 2004, Volume 19, Issue 1 - More Help is On the Way |
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By Martin M. Goldstein
As per the article published in the September FAB, “Help Is On The Way,” the Faculty Association, the SMCFA PAC, and many of our FA members are getting actively involved in the November election for the three open seats on the college’s Board of Trustees.
Over the summer the FA worked to form community alliances around the common concern of education, and backed two candidates for Board of Trustees, Susan Aminoff and Doug Willis, both of whom received the crucial SMRR endorsement, along with Rob Rader, at the nominating convention in August. As further nail in the plank of unity, the Representative Assembly of the FA, meeting on September 9, 2004, added Rob Rader to our previously endorsed Aminoff and Willis, thus filling out the Education Coalition slate.
But politics is about money as well as unity -- add them together and you usually get victory -- and the PAC has raised and spent (or committed) thousands of dollars over the year proving that point. But to go further, FA President Lantz Simpson made clear in the September 23 Assembly meeting, we need more, and we need it now.
One of the keys to victory in Santa Monica is direct mail. Mailings cost money, a lot of it, but direct mail has been a powerhouse in Santa Monica politics at all levels. If we have a major direct mail campaign, we will be increasing our chances of victory.
And we will be. What it took was a vote from the FA Representative Assembly at September 23 meeting voted to ensure that there will be adequate dollars for direct mail.
The vote was unanimous. It’s a smart move, the right move at the right time, and totally street legal -- it’s been done many times by the LACCD Faculty Guild, who have, not coincidentally, one of the best contracts for Part-Timers in the state.
When the faculty is empowered, the educational environment for everybody involved improves. And in these perilous times, I might add that only when faculty is empowered will that happen for any of us, full or part time.
I can also say, we’re doing it.
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