Spring 2021 Elections Committee

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This spring CCFF is having elections for all ten executive board positions between the dates of April 14th to April 21st. These positions include:

1. CCFF President
2. Vice President Full-Time Faculty
3. Vice President Part-Time Faculty
4. Secretary
5. Treasurer
6. Full Time Faculty Member at Large
7. Part Time Faculty Member at Large
8. Non Instructional Member at Large
9. Communications Chair
10. COPE Chair

Each position must be held by a CCFF member, will serve a duration of a two year term, and will take office on the day after the last official day of this semester. 

All Executive Board Officers should be available for bi-monthly Executive Board meetings, as well as Public Executive Board meetings, which are held once a month during Fall and Spring semesters.

Should you need further details on the organization and responsibilities of each position, please feel free to read the Constitution and Bylaws here.

The call for nominations started February 28 and ended Thursday, March 11 at 8:00pm. 

Upon accepting the nomination, candidates were asked to submit a 250 word or less statement and picture due by March 15th.

Those who are nominated, notified, and accepted the nomination were invited to a Candidate Rules Meeting on Thursday March 11 at 8:30 pm. During this meeting, the Elections Committee went over campaigning, election rules, and ballot order. Here is to a smooth campaign and election cycle! 

Elections Committee,

Jason Hultman – Elections Committee Chair

Anna DeMichele – Elections Committee Member

Dr. Ralph Casas – Elections Committee Member

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Nominations

Candidates	Nominator
CFFF President Dr. Lynn Wang, Financial Aid Counselor	Traci Ukita
Vice President Full Time Faculty Dr. April Bracamontes, Communication Studies	Andrew Maz
Vice President Part Time Faculty Dr. Mariam Youssef, Women and Gender Studies	John Garcia
Secretary Timothy Chatman, Philosophy	Ted Stolze
Treasurer Stephanie Rosenblatt, Librarian	Debra Moore
Full Time Faculty Member at Large Dr. Cynthia Lavariere, Communication Studies	Dr. Bobby Lee-Smart
Part Time Faculty Member at Large Rodney Swearengin, Philosophy Anthony Gonzalez, Mathematics	John Garcia Manuel Lopez
Non Instructional Member at Large Lisa Blod, CalWORKs Counselor	John Garcia
Communications Chair Dr. Henrietta Hurtado, EOPS Counselor	Walter Fernandez
COPE Chair Christopher Richardson, Athletics Coach	Self Nomination

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Candidates’ Autobiographical Statements

I am currently serving as the CCFF president since October of 2020. I am a full-time, tenured counselor who has worked at Cerritos College for six years. I am also an alumnus who grew up in the community.

I have a demonstrated track record of serving our colleagues and community.

As the sitting president, I have experience working with Senate, CSEA, administrators, and Board of Trustees. I also serve on the negotiations and grievance teams.  I helped start the UndocuAlly Task Force and have served on multiple shared governance committees, including: Planning & Budget, Employment Development, and Enrollment Management.

Why am I running for CCFF president? We need a united faculty that trusts the Union if we want to be able to advocate on behalf of our students and improve our working conditions.  As president, building that trust will be central to everything I do.  Together we can create an equitable, respectful work environment where all of us can have access to health care, fairly assigned work schedules, and pay parity, regardless or where we are in our careers.

I promise to not just listen to your concerns and feedback, but to take action. I believe in our union, our values, and the good work we do as faculty.

I have the skills and the experience to continue to serve as your CCFF President. My ask, please vote for me.

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I have been with Cerritos College since 2012 in the Communication Studies department. I believe in the power of collective bargaining and faculty unity. I have held several leadership roles on campus including Faculty Senate President and Secretary. I am also active in the union serving on grievance, negotiations, and as the current VP of Full-Time. I value open communication, honesty, and engaging with faculty across the currently virtual campus. 

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I would be honored to continue serving as the Vice-President of Part-Time Faculty for the CCFF. In my six years at Cerritos College, I have seen the great strides our union has made to improve working conditions for all faculty, and this has inspired me to give of my time and skill as much as possible to continue moving forward. In my roles as grievance co-chair and on the membership committee, I am passionate about bringing faculty together and I will work hard for all of us. I look forward to continuing to serve our faculty!

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I have been a member of the Philosophy department at Cerritos College since 2016 and a Teaching Assistant here before that. My work led to being awarded the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Outstanding Club Advisor Award, and the Transfer Center Certificate of Appreciation. I have worked on planning numerous academic events and bring the same energy to my current position as secretary of our union. I believe that a strong union that unites and represents all faculty members is in the interests of students, faculty, and Cerritos College as a whole.

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I have been a Full Time Faculty member at Cerritos College for the past 20 years. I also served as a CCFF leader for almost a decade. I started as a volunteer Grievance Officer under Solomon Namala’s leadership team. Under Solomon’s leadership I continued to serve as a Grievance Officer Co-Chair with two other full time faculty members. During my final appointment, I served as the CCFF Grievance Chair under Stephanie Rosenblatt’s leadership. In addition to my appointment, I also served as the interim Secretary, volunteered with the membership team, and assisted with COPE.  Finally, this last summer, I worked to assist the grievance team and participated as an advisor for the Financial Audit.

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I have been teaching part-time at Cerritos since 2018, and have been grateful for the outreach and support I’ve received from our union. I would like to pay it forward, and I think that the Member at Large position is a good fit. In my previous career, I was an executive for a marketing and customer care company that specialized in community engagement and constituent support on behalf of political and non-profit organizations such as the American Red Cross, and the White House. I know how to provide support to stakeholders in a systematic and professional manner. On a more personal note, I’m a good listener, and know how to set aside my own personal interests in order to fully support the interests of those who may find themselves in need of my assistance. Being something of a retired businessman from a time gone by, I’m inclined to a can-do customer serviceattitude that seeks win-win solutions through creative compromise. Please vote for me.

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I currently serve as the Cerritos College Part-Time Faculty Senator. My family has lived in the city of Norwalk for 3 generations. Beginning with my grandparents, my parents and siblings now reside here. As a former Falcon, I feel a strong sense of connection to the community—and as a first-generation college student, I feel particularly connected to the majority of our students who are now in that same role.

My goal is to serve our fellow faculty by bringing my skills and knowledge to the Union. This includes leadership training from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor’s Civic Leadership Academy Cohort #4, educational training on leadership from Claremont Graduate University’s MBA program, project management skills in areas of business intelligence, marketing, data science and analytics from over 10 years of professional experience, and community organizing from my volunteer role in President Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential re-election campaign.

If given the opportunity to serve I will work tirelessly to make a meaningful impact in every way that I can.

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Currently serving as CCFF treasurer, delegate to the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, and member of the grievance committee.  Previously served as CCFF President, Membership Chair, Grievance Chair, and as a member of the union’s negotiations team. 
 
My goal as treasurer is to provide timely and accurate information to the union’s board so we can make financial decisions that will create a sustainable organization that prioritizes service to our members while also building our power as a union.  I ensure that we follow our approved processes for all financial transactions and am accountable to our members who expect the board to be good stewards of the resources they contribute to our cause. 
 
As a member of the union’s governing board, I also have to do more than just keep the books. I need to help with the work we do to grow as an organization and to meet our obligations and responsibilities as the exclusive bargaining agent for all faculty working at the college.

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I am running for the position of “Non-Instructional Member at Large” faculty representative for the Cerritos College Faculty Federation (CCFF).

I began working at Cerritos College in May of 2014 and have been serving students as a Counselor in the Cerritos College CalWORKs program now for over six years.  It has been an honor and a privilege to assist students in achieving their college and career goals.  I am sincerely thankful for the professional experience and growth opportunities I have received at Cerritos. In addition, I am also grateful for the professional colleagues with whom I have had the pleasure of working.

I am running for the position of “Member at Large, Non-Instructional” because of my commitment to supporting the cares and concerns of the Cerritos College faculty.  My standards of professionalism include adhering to the highest ethical standards regarding communication and collaboration when representing constituents.  I am ready to perform all duties required of me in this position including serving on committees, working closely with Cerritos College division representatives, holding meetings, forums, workshops, and performing any additional duties as needed.         

I look forward to the opportunity to serve Cerritos College and CCFF in this honorable role.

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I am your current CCFF Communications Chair. I started my CCFF career as faculty representative for the Counseling Division. I enjoy editing and emailing the CCFF communications. Being a webmaster and interacting with you and our online community via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram brings me great joy. I serve in the Membership, and COPE Committees. I am also a delegate for the LA County Federation of Labor, and the 2021 CFT Convention.

I hold a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership. I have been a full-time tenured Faculty for 20 years. I have been a Program Coordinator, award winning community based club founder/President, award winning Career Counselor, chair, and participate in committees. I am also part of the Faculty Senate and Institutional Program Review Committee. I love Teaching. As Counseling faculty, my mission is to guide students until they see their magnificence. Moreover, I am Mexican American Chicana(o) Latinx Studies Department (MeChLaS) faculty.

Like our students, my journey began as a first generation Community College student. I am the proud granddaughter of “bracero” workers, and daughter of immigrant, migrant farmworker parents. I am rooted in the magic of community based learning, the labor movement, servant leadership, and community engagement. I have an extroverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging (ENFJ) personality with artistic, social, and enterprising (ASE) career interests.

The Communications Chair role, nicely compliments my design thinking skills. I look forward to redesigning our vision with a unifying and sustainable communications marketing plan.

Allow me to request your vote!

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I am proud to continue to serve the CCFF Executive Board as the Chair of the Committee on Political Education (COPE). I am a former Falcon and Cerritos College alumn. I have been Full Time Faculty for the last 9 years. Therefore, my unrivaled passion, experience, and knowledge allow me to be an effective and dynamic representative for our faculty. I would love and appreciate your support.

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Timeline

CCFF Candidates Forum

The CCFF Elections Committee held a Candidates Forum on Friday, April 9th from 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm. The forum was organized by the committee and moderated by Jason Hultman, CCFF Elections Committee Chair.

Voting In the CCFF Spring 2021 Election

Any CCFF member can vote electronically in the election via election buddy. If you are a non-member, please join CCFF so you can vote by filling out the membership form.

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Election Rules 

The election committee held an online candidate meeting and at that time election rules were discussed and candidates were able to ask questions.  

You can find information about the CCFF election rules by reviewing Article II, section 1 of our Bylaws. In addition to those rules, the election committee has also adopted the following: 

• All nominations were posted to the CCFF website as they came in. 
• The CCFF Membership Chair confirmed that all nominees have been members for at least 45 days prior to the election. 
• Nominations for current members of the Election Committee are not be accepted. 
• All union members who have been identified as current members of the bargaining unit by the District will be eligible to vote and will receive links to the electronic ballot via their Cerritos College email address. 
• Candidates will be provided with a list of union members who are current members of the bargaining unit. This list will include campus email addresses for those members. Candidates will need to sign a nondisclosure agreement when they receive this information. 
• Candidates may not send email messages to any faculty listserv. The only communications allowed about the election via the campus listserv will be those from the Elections Committee that notify the campus community that the election is open, where to find candidate information, how to participate or view official candidate forums, and how to join the union in order to vote.  
• If candidates wish to email union members, they must do so from an off-campus email address by emailing individuals’ campus addresses, not a listserv, as per our bylaws.  
• The Elections Committee will be notified of any members who join the union after candidates have already received a member list. The Elections Committee will notify all candidates of any new union members as soon as possible.  
• The membership list may be shared only with current CCFF members.
• Only current CCFF members are allowed to campaign on behalf of a candidate. Such members need not be currently on assignment.
• Only current CCFF members may endorse candidates.
• Current CCFF executive board members may endorse a candidate, but they must do so solely in their capacity as individual union members.