Sacramento School Board: Who’s running and how are they financing campaigns?
Eight candidates are running for four seats on the Sacramento City Unified School Board of Trustees.
As a voter, you should know where campaign contributions are coming from. You can find regularly updated donation figures at elections.saccounty.net.
The Sacramento City Teachers Association PAC, the political action committee for the union that represents SCUSD teachers, is running candidates in all four races. The Service Employees International Union Local 1021 PAC is also contributing significant sums to SCTA-endorsed candidates.
SCUSD Area 3
This area includes neighborhoods and schools in the northeastern section of the city.
The challenger, Jose Navarro: He is an information technology specialist with the State of California and is on the Latin Committee for SEIU 1000.
Money raised: Navarro has reported $31,000 in monetary and non-monetary contributions. Of that number, $30,000 was provided by the SCTA PAC and the SEIU Local 1021 PAC. Those two political action committees also contributed $4,246.66 in independent expenditures to Navarro. But the big ticket item for Navarro was a Oct. 5 independent expenditure of $126,700 from the California Teachers Association. Total amount reported far: $161,946.66
The incumbent, Christina Pritchett: She was first elected to this seat in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. She is a training consultant for the California Clinical Forensic Medical Training Center and is the mother of a son and a daughter who are former SCUSD students. She is past PTSA president at Rosemont High School, Albert Einstein Middle School and Sequoia Elementary School.
Money raised: Pritchett has raised $3,268 in 2020. Most recently, her largest donation is $1,000 from the Sheet Metal Workers Association Local 104. Pritchett raised $4,850 in 2019.
SCUSD Area 4
SCUSD Area 4 includes neighborhoods in the Elder Creek/Fruitridge area, incumbent Michael Minnick is leaving the board. Two first-time school board candidates are running.
Nailah Pope-Harden: She is a community organizer and a single mom for a 1-year-old son.
Money raised: She has reported $19,900 in monetary and non-monetary contributions so far. Of that number, SCTA PAC and SEIU Local 1021 PAC have contributed $15,085. Those two committees have also reported making $4,246.66 in independent expenditures to Pope-Harden’s campaign. As with Navarro, the California Teachers Association reported an expenditure of $126,700 independent to Pope-Harden’s campaign. Total contributions reported so far: $150,846.66
Jamee Villa: She is a communications specialist with the California Retirees Association. She has a daughter who is an SCUSD student and has been endorsed by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Money raised: Villa has raised $2,425 so far in 2020. Her biggest donation is $500 from Azzie Youseffi (she was married to Ali Youseffi, an acclaimed Sacramento developer; he died of stomach cancer in 2018 at 35).
SCUSD Area 5
In the heart of south Sacramento, incumbent Mai Vang is leaving the board. Two new candidates are running.
Chinua Rhodes: He is a community activist in south Sacramento. He serves on SCUSD’s Local Control and Accountability Plan Committee and the City of Sacramento’s Inclusive Economic and Community Development Committee. He is endorsed by Vang. Rhodes is the father of five children, four are SCUSD students.
Money raised: Rhodes has reported $52,145 in monetary and non-monetary contributions so far. Of that number, $25,170 were reported by the SCTA PAC and the SEIU Local 1021 PAC. Those two committees have reported $3,280 in independent expenditures to Rhodes’ campaign. Total contributions reported so far: $55,425.
Vanessa Areiza King: She is a licensed marriage and family therapist based in south Sacramento. The daughter of Christian missionaries, she was born in Colombia. Areiza King is the mother of an SCUSD student and she is endorsed by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Money raised: As of the most recent filing date for campaign financial disclosures, Areiza had not raised any money for her campaign.
SCUSD Area 7
The district encompasses Oak Park, Hollywood Park and adjacent central city neighborhoods, and SCUSD Board President Jessie Ryan is being challenged by a candidate financed by SCTA and SEIU Local 1021.
The challenger, Lavinia Gracie Phillips: She is a social worker with the county and a board member with the Oak Park Neighborhood Association.
Money raised: She has reported $68,165 in monetary and non-monetary contributions so far. Of that number, $67,340 were from SCTA PAC and SEIU Local 1021 PAC. Those two committees reported filing $6,746.67 in independent expenditures to Phillips’ campaign. Like Navarro and Pope-Harden, the California Teachers Association reported an expenditure of $126,700 to Phillips’ campaign. Total raised so far: $201,611.67
The incumbent, Jessie Ryan: She has served on the board since 2015 and is the board president.
She is the executive vice president for the Campaign for College Opportunity, an advocacy and policy non-profit that seeks to increase the number of California students admitted to colleges and universities.
Money raised: As of the most recent filing date, Ryan reported she had raised $48,391.
Her largest donation was $9,000 from Gary K. Hart, the former California assemblyman and state senator who chaired the senate’s education committee for most of the 1980s. The second largest was $5,000 from Darrell Steinberg for Mayor. Most of the contributions are less than $1,000.
This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
