Friends and Colleagues,
We have been anticipating this day for a very long time. A day when our students and college would have the robust investment and sound leadership they deserve. And while the final results aren’t in, it appears that despite our best efforts, Proposition O, our proposed parcel tax to fully fund CCSF, will not prevail.
This hurts, but, on the plus side, our collective hard work helped ensure that all three of 
our candidates for four-year seats–Vick Chung, Anita Martinez, and Susan Solomon–have won, defeating incumbent board members John Rizzo, Thea Selby, and Brigitte Davila. So while we have achieved some of the change we envisioned and worked so hard for, it is evident that our win is incomplete, making this long-anticipated day bittersweet.
Let me be clear: We didn’t get to this point by passively hoping for change. We formed a historic coalition among labor siblings and together envisioned the future we wanted to see for our college and our community. And you and your colleagues worked with students, classified staff, and community allies to produce one of the largest grassroots campaigns in the city. We gathered over 20,000 signatures, hand delivered literature to over 150,000 homes, called over 40,000 voters, and all in the face of corporate opposition that spent more than $1 million to defeat us. And as a result of our herculean efforts, we stand today defeated on Proposition O, but victorious in our effort to win better leadership on the City College Board.
I never imagined myself leading such a fight. I am a math teacher who wants first and foremost to help my students learn and succeed–to help them unlock the mystery and beauty that is mathematics so that it does not stand in the way of their dreams, but perhaps even becomes a part of their goals. Like all of you, for a decade now, I have longed for a sense of normalcy and hope at work. And for the first time in a long time, even in the face of the impending loss of Prop O, I have hope.
Yes, it is beyond disappointing that Proposition O was defeated by corporate greed and deception, denying City College $45 million a year in critical funding. But, on the other hand, we now have a majority of trustees who are student, worker, and community centered. From this perspective, a brighter future awaits City College. We took on incumbents and WON. We are closer now to a time when austerity will no longer reign here–closer to the time when the people’s institution will finally achieve its full potential as the heartbeat of our city.
Do not for a moment doubt our power when we work together. If creating the kind of world we all deserve were easy, it would already be done. So yes, today we grieve the growth that we tried to win–the growth our community needs and deserves. But this is also a moment to take notice of what we did achieve and celebrate the forthcoming change in leadership before turning our commitment to the fight for the working and learning conditions that we and our students deserve.
Earlier this year we lost dozens of staff and faculty. Since 2019 we have lost over 500 of our colleagues both part time, and full time, as well as untold numbers of staff. We have lost thousands of students. We have lost three campuses (Fort Mason, Airport, Civic Center), and we have lost and shrunk programs that lead to certificates and to good paying jobs. We’ve lost most of the lifelong learning opportunities for our older adults. Our working conditions and salaries have suffered. And in the pandemic, we lost our loved ones along with so many of the connections that make us human, that make us teachers, and that make us a union. For this reason, in this moment, it’s time for us to rebuild our solidarity as a union; it’s time for us to rebuild our power and to support one another as colleagues engaged in a common struggle.
When we work together, we can win for all of us. When we are divided, we can be used against each other. Better working conditions benefits all of us, as does better pay. Will you recommit to join this battle by completing a bargaining survey for your next contract right now?
We have all earned much needed rest–let’s take it! This partial victory has been a long time in the making. Our work is not finished, but for now, let’s remember this feeling– this is what solidarity and worker power looks like.
Thank you to every one of our members, allies, and friends who maintained hope and turned out to work on behalf of change at our college during this election cycle, who gathered signatures for Prop O, walked precincts for candidates, or called voters to bring new revenue and new leadership at the college. Let’s meet again, in person, soon.
In solidarity,
Mary Bravewoman
AFT 2121, President
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