Peralta staff union endorses two candidates in Area 3 race

The union representing Peralta’s classified staff workers has decided to endorse both candidates in the Area 3 trustees race and no one in the other races.

The Peralta Chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 voted in late September to dually endorse incumbent Linda Handy and challenger Monica Tell for the November 2 elections.

Some classified staff were surprised that the union voted to endorse Handy, suggesting that the two-term incumbent had been “unsympathetic” while numerous employees were laid off last year.

“She acted like she didn’t even care,” said one union member who requested anonymity, referring to meetings in the summer when classified employees cried out to save their jobs.

The Peralta Report discovered that Tell may be ineligible for office since public records indicate that she lived at a Castro Valley residence until recently.

Additionally, Tell is supported by both Oakland mayoral candidate and former State Senator Don Perata and Oakland City Councilmember Ignacio de la Fuente. Tell was formerly an aide for Peralta when he was in the state assembly.

The “unethical cloud” has cast some doubt on Tell’s candidacy. For nearly a month, members of the union representing Peralta’s classified staff have been fighting over whether or not to rescind their endorsement of Tell, and how to do so legally.

“Based on The Peralta Report article, we have to evaluate and reconfirm our endorsement,” Mike Donaldson, interim political coordinator of the Peralta Chapter of SEIU Local 1021 said in an interview. “We have to see what our legal obligation is, but we tentatively have a dual endorsement.”

However, an email received under the California Public Records Act shows classified staff distrustful of Tell based on her residency and property tax records, as well as her concealing some of her supporters.

“She’s already proven that she can’t be trusted, and she is simply not the kind of person we want to have on the Board with all the issues we have coming down the road at us,” said one union member.

“If she lied about her residence she is 1) ineligible to run for the seat and b) subject to criminal penalties for perjury,” writes another employee. “If she lied to accept a property tax reduction, she is unethical and can’t be trusted in fiscal matters. If she accepted a property tax reduction from ignorance, she is likely to vote irresponsibly and ignorantly.”

SEIU has yet to rescind its endorsement. The union made no endorsement in the Area 5 contest between three-term incumbent Dr. William “Bill” Riley and William J. Mattox.

The union chose not to endorse incumbent Abel Guillen because he’s running unopposed and will not appear on the ballot.