Trustee Candidates Hurabiell and Yee are Blaming Faculty for Class Cuts & Attacking Prop O

Last week, Marie Hurabiell, a long-time republican and former Trump appointee, and Jill Yee, a retired CCSF administrator, appeared on a KGO radio show to co-promote their campaigns for Board of Trustees. During their spot, they attacked Prop O, asserted that City College has all the funding it needs, and claimed faculty are responsible for class cuts and falling enrollment. This week, they co-published an Op Ed in the Marina Times spreading falsehoods about Prop O, claiming “It was authored by AFT 2121 and does not reflect a consensus opinion regarding the priorities and direction of the college…This is a ploy to rehire faculty who were laid off and to reinstate the status quo, an irresponsibly managed institution.”

This is the latest in a series of outrageous claims the two candidates are using as they work together to bolster their campaigns and capitalize on SF’s wave of right-wing reaction that gained steam through last year’s billionaire backed recall elections. Despite being forced to walk back her anti-intellectual and racist attacks on Critical Race Theory (read KQED’s report), Marie Hurabiell is still using her social media to openly mock people with student debt and to express other views openly hostile to public higher education and the communities our college serves. Jill Yee’s anti-labor positions are familiar to anyone who attended Board of Trustee meetings during her tenure as administrator, and she is now running on an openly anti-labor platform, asserting a need to “take the college back from the unions” and uses her credentials at the college to spread falsehoods about City college’s funding, how Prop O was developed, and the causes of declining enrollment at the college.

These two have powerful endorsers with deep pockets, and we can expect more of this open hostility if either of them are elected to our Board. We cannot let that happen. Mail-in ballots have dropped (see your AFT 2121 voting guide here). Help us get the truth out about Prop O and let voters know that we have qualified, competent candidates running for our Board of Trustees who will stand by access to public higher education, labor, and for the communities City College serves: Anita Martinez, Vick Chung, Susan Solomon, and Adolfo Velasquez.

Sign up for upcoming mobilizations, including virtual phonebanking of voters tomorrow– Tues & Weds at 5pm, HERE.

Connect with our endorsed BOT candidates and show your support by donating and volunteering:

Visit Anita Susan and Vick’s campaign & social media links

Visit Adolfo’s campaign site

Co-Creating Group Agreements for Union Meetings

In an effort to improve our practice of centering diversity, equity, and inclusion or DEI within AFT 2121, please help us co-create an updated set of group agreements. This is an opportunity for our union to create agreements that we can adhere to during our union meetings, or in any space where we are discussing union actions, strategy, campaigns and sharing collective space.  

The purpose of co-creating these agreements is to strengthen our practice of DEI and social justice and make room for not just different identities, but a diversity of voices, building our own tolerance for different perspectives and navigating challenges in healthy ways. Please look at the following suggestions for group agreements on this form and also include your own ideas below. The results will be shared at future union meetings.  

Read more about the purpose of group agreements here. Fill out your form here.

Buy Your Ticket & Tell Your Friends to Do the Same–Prop O Fundraiser this Thursday 10/13 at 6pm!

The real estate industry has raised over $437k now to defeat Prop O, your historic City College funding measure. You should expect attack mailers soon, and that means this is moment to donate, come together, & fight back.

So help make Thursday’s Heartbeat event a success–invite your colleagues, friends, family, & community to join you in supporting Prop O & City College!

At the event, expect wine, small bites, a raffle, dance performances, and the premiere of the short film ‘The Heartbeat of City College,’ inspired by Tehmina Khan’s poem by the same name. RSVP for Thursday now & share widely: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/sfwercs?refcode=email

At Flex Day, Encourage Your Dept to Attend Your Prop O Fundraiser this Thursday 10/13 at 6pm at Kapwa!

At your flex day department meetings tomorrow Monday, be sure to make an announcement about your Heartbeat of City College Film Premiere & Prop O Fundraiser this Thursday at 6pm at Kapwa Gardens. Share this flyer & this ticket link with your colleagues to RSVP: https://bit.ly/HeartBCCSF

And be sure to underline the stakes–the real estate industry has raised over $437k now to defeat Prop O. You should expect attack mailers soon, and that means this is moment to donate, come together, & fight back.

Why is so much money pouring in defeat Prop O? Because unlike traditional parcel taxes, Prop O has a progressive element to it that asks the the largest corporations in the city to pay their fair share, meaning the higher tax rates they can afford. That’s part of what makes Prop O so special & it’s also why you’re seeing opposition like never before. So help make Thursday’s Heartbeat event a success–invite your colleagues, friends, family, & community to join you in supporting Prop O & City College!

At the event, expect complimentary wine, small bites, a raffle, dance performances, and a premiere of the short film ‘The Heartbeat of City College,’ inspired by Tehmina Kahn’s poem by the same name. RSVP for Thursday now.

Retirees, ESL, & Health Ed at another Large Mobilization for City College on Saturday- Now, It’s Your Turn to Organize!

The mighty three–Retiree Chapter, ESL, & Health Ed–joined another big community mobilization on Saturday in Potrero Hill for Prop O & CCSF Trustee candidates Vick Chung, Anita Martinez, Susan Solomon, and Adolfo Velasquez. Over 30 people walked the city distributing campaign literature and increasing the visibility of your fight for a better City College.

Now it’s your turn to organize–every Tuesday & Wednesday, faculty are meeting in person and on Zoom to phone bank voters to talk to them about City College. To win the increased revenue & better leadership you need, you need all departments turning folks out to these phone banks. Email Alan D’Souza to schedule your Department Virtual Phonebank Day now at adsouza@aft2121.org & RSVP for phone banks here: https://bit.ly/ccsfWINS

AFT 2121 November 2022 Endorsements/Voter Guide

Citizenship Day Press Conference & Campaign this Weekend for Trustee Candidates & Prop O!

“CCSF is my mother college,” Mei Lee Yang at last Thursday’s Citizenship Day Press Conference. Mei is a proud immigrant & City College alumni who started her journey as an ESL student and then graduated from CCSF’s Registered Nursing program and now serves our city as a frontline worker.

Huge thanks to Supervisor Gordon Mar, Sally Chen from Chinese for Affirmative Action, Susan Solomon, Anita Martinez, Vick Chung, & Adolfo Velasquez for standing with Mei & over 70 other City College students & community members on Thursday. Read coverage of the event in Sing Tao Daily, see the livestream here, & then join the last Campaign Literature Distributions this weekend!

Campaign Mobilizations are happening Saturday & Sunday for Prop O & your four endorsed trustee candidates: Adolfo Velasquez, Susan Solomon, Anita Martinez, & Vick Chung. Come meet your candidates, see your community, & then go out & increase the visibility of your fight: Saturday, Oct 8, & Sunday, Oct 9, 11am both days at Potrero Hill Rec Center (801 Arkansas Ave). RSVP: https://bit.ly/ccsfWINS

Beloved colleagues and comrades,

I am delighted to invite you to the world premiere of “The Heartbeat of City College,” a short film created by faculty, staff, and students in English, ESL, Theatre Arts, Cinema, and Music. As our administration and trustees continue to cut classes and programs, shutting thousands of students out of higher education, this film reminds us of who we are, why CCSF matters, and what we continue to fight for.

I began writing the poem by the same name in Spring of 2019 (see an early version here) not realizing that it would strike such a deep chord in our college community. As I read early drafts at events and rallies, members of our community joined with me to re-envision it for a larger canvas. This beautiful collaboration sings out our passion, creativity, and commitment to ourselves and to our communities. It sings in the face of layoffs and heartless cuts.  

Please join me for small bites, stories, and song, as we bring you “The Heartbeat of City College” and raise funds for Proposition O: SF WERCS, which, if passed, will invest up to 45 million dollars a year to keep the heart of City College beating. Chronic under-funding by the State has shaken our college for a decade, but Prop O will give us the independence we need to help our students and our city thrive.

Join with us to grow the college so that it may inspire our community, offer pathways to a living wage, help us build careers we love, and keep us learning and growing. We are all the Heartbeat of City College.

Donate $50 or more to attend, and invite your friends and family to join you: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/sfwercs

Love, Hope, and Solidarity,
Tehmina Khan

Spring 2023 Remote Assignments

Last week, the Office of Instruction sent out a scheduling memo to chairs and deans. It has caused a lot of confusion and worry. AFT 2121 President Mary Bravewoman spoke with David Martin about this and has confirmed that some of the directives of that memo will NOT be enforced. This comes directly from David Martin, as of Wednesday 9/28.

— For Spring 2023 only: Temporary remote instruction WILL be allowed. Instructors will NOT need to be enrolled in IOTL training and the class will NOT need to be on track for IOTL in order to be scheduled as temporary remote.

He still intends to hold departments to the 9/30/22 deadline to determine which classes should be temporary remote, although he acknowledges that there will need to be some flexibility after that date.

That means if your class should be temporary remote for Spring, and you thought it wouldn’t be allowed, talk to your chair immediately – today – and see if you can arrange it.

He intends for temporary remote to be completely eliminated by Summer 2023. He acknowledges that the IOTL training system will need some work to make that happen, and told us that there will be funding for additional IOTL training available soon.