When his phone rang September 5 due to a call from the office of San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Luis A. Zamora assumed it had to do with his work for City Attorney David Chiu. Zamora is Chiu's director of executive affairs.
Yet Breed was phoning Zamora about an entirely different matter. She had called to inform him that she was naming him to fill a vacancy on the board that oversees City College of San Francisco.
Another of her appointees, Murrell Green, Ph.D., had decided not to finish out the remainder of his term through January due to "personal reasons," according to the mayor's office. He had already decided against seeking a full term on the November ballot.
"This came as a complete surprise," Zamora, 39, told the Bay Area Reporter during a brief phone interview September 9.
Zamora, who received an associate degree in liberal studies in 2005 from the Rancho Santiago Community College District in Orange County, in the spring had filed to seek one of the four community college board seats up this fall. With bisexual CCSF Trustee Shanell Williams also opting not to seek reelection this year, two of the seats are open. Trustees Aliya Chisti and Alan Wong, the current college board president, are both running for reelection.
They will now welcome Zamora as the college board's first openly gay Latino trustee, as will CCSF Trustee Vick Chung, the first openly nonbinary, genderqueer person to hold an elected office in the history of San Francisco. Breed will swear Zamora into office during a City Hall ceremony Tuesday afternoon.
"Luis is a dedicated public servant who has worked at both the local and state levels, and I believe his voice and experience will be an asset to City College," stated Breed. "Through his personal experience attending community college, he understands how critical that pathway is to creating opportunities for future generations, and through his work he has demonstrated a commitment to strengthening and supporting public institutions. I believe he will bring a critical voice for accountability and stability to help guide City College through this crucial period."
In doing so, Breed has given Zamora a leg up in his bid for a full four-year term overseeing the beleaguered college district. He is one of eight candidates in the race.
While he still must convince a majority of voters that he is the right person to help lead City College, Zamora acknowledged his candidacy will benefit from the boost in name recognition from his appointment and experience he will now receive as a trustee over the next eight weeks.
"I think so. Anytime you get an opportunity to get a head start is helpful. Obviously, it will help with a name recognition bump," said Zamora. "But frankly, my message will resonate the same way either way. City College is an amazing institution, and I feel we need a culture change there in order to make sure we are thinking of City College's long-term financial stability, we are focused on student-based outcomes, and really working with our state partners to get City College fully accredited."
CCSF has struggled to deal with the impacts it felt from the COVID pandemic. It saw enrollment initially drop but increase by more than 10% during the last academic year.
While the board was able to approve a balanced budget and set aside a 5% reserve, it faced harsh criticism from students and faculty over the cuts it made to do so. And it is already bracing for more fiscal challenges in coming years.
Plus, the board must hire a permanent chancellor for the college, who will be the 11th chancellor since 2016. Interim Chancellor Mitchell Bailey, the first gay man to lead the school, was brought on in May for a year to fill the vacancy created by the departure of former chancellor David Martin for a leadership post with Sierra College in Placer County.
Chiu, who had also employed Zamora when he served in the state Assembly, called him "an incredible force for good" and uniquely suited to lead the college district.
"I've seen firsthand his work bringing people together to find consensus and common ground. He has the heart and mind of a public servant, and I'm excited to see him take on the task of guiding City College through its current challenges to new heights," stated Chiu.
In 2021, Zamora had stepped down as a city immigrant rights commissioner when he began his job in the city attorney's office. He was elected last May co-chair of the California Democratic Party's LGBTQ+ Caucus and was an elected district-level delegate at last month's Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
He had sought a seat on the body that oversees the San Francisco Democratic Party on the March 5 primary ballot but came up short. Nonetheless, it laid the groundwork for his college board campaign, said Zamora.
The resignation in 2022 of gay former college board trustee Tom Temprano due to his being hired by statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality California had led to Breed's nomination of Green. Formerly dean of academic counseling and student services for West Valley College in Saratoga, California, Green had won a full term that November.
"Murrell focused on student success and ensuring that City College was meeting the needs of its student body," stated Breed. "I appreciate his service and wish him luck in his continued pursuits of public service."
This marks the second time in less than a month that Breed has named a gay man to fill a vacant elected education post in the city. In mid-August, Breed swore in Phil Kim to a seat on the board that oversees the San Francisco Unified School District.
Kim, who had previously lost bids to be elected to the school board, resigned August 23 as executive director for school strategy and coherence in the superintendent's office due to accepting the mayor's nomination. He succeeded former school board president Lainie Motamedi, whom Breed had appointed in March 2022 to replace one of the three school board members recalled that month.
With Motamedi's term not up until 2026, Kim will first need to run to serve out the rest of the term on the June ballot that year unless a special election is called sooner. He would then seek a full four-year term that November.
For the meantime, Kim ensures there will be LGBTQ representation on the oversight body due to the pending departure of queer school board member Mark Sanchez. He opted not to seek reelection this November to his seat on the board.
Another gay appointee awaits hearing
Meanwhile, another of Breed's gay appointments to fill a vacancy should now receive confirmation by the Board of Supervisors later this month. She had named Mike Chen to a seat on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors, which has been without an LGBTQ member since last fall.
Chen, who serves on and is a former chair of the SFMTA Citizens' Advisory Council, had his vote in late July delayed by the supervisors' Rules Committee so he could meet with Chinatown leaders and others. Board President Aaron Peskin told the B.A.R. last week that the panel is set to vote on Chen's nomination at its September 16 meeting and expects him to advance to the full board for a vote.
If confirmed, Chen will succeed Lydia So, whom Breed in the spring named to fill a vacancy on the city's planning commission.
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