By Brian Hews
In a stinging rebuke, ABC Trustee Area 3 candidate Armin Reyes, and not incumbent Lynda Johnson, has secured the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party
Olga Rios, running in Trustee Area 6, also gained the support of the LACDP.
It is a major disappointment for Johnson, but maybe not unexpected, Johnson has many “old guard” Cerritos Republicans endorsing her, making many people ask what she may be promising for their endorsements.
Johnson has also shown her disdain for teachers and the local union, which likely contributed to the snub.
And while demanding “accountability and transparency” as a self-proclaimed “ABCUSD budget hawk,” Johnson was taking cash for her health coverage, called cash-in-lieu, instead of foregoing payments and allowing the money to go back into the general fund.
Reyes has been endorsed by California State Treasurer John Chiang, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the ABC Federation of Teachers Local 2317, and the ABC AFSCME Local 2229 as well as a number of state and local elected officials.
Reyes has served the community for 16 years elected to the School Board from 1995- 2015, working diligently to help ABC Unified become one of the top districts in the country.
For over 30 years, Reyes has been an active Army Reservist and is now a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army and the California National Guard; Reyes is a veteran of Afghanistan and was deployed twice to Iraq.
Currently Reyes works as a Staff Representative with the United Nurses Association of California and Union of Health Care Professionals, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the AFL-CIO American Union. He has served the movement for 20 years.
Cerritos current and former Council members as well as numerous former Mayors and Commissioners also endorse Reyes including Cerritos Mayor pro tem Mark Pulido and Councilman Frank Yokoyama.
Pulido encourages everyone involved in Reyes campaign to ‘knock, walk and talk’ and volunteer or participate in phone banking.
Rios’ endorsements include State Senator Tony Mendoza, Speaker of the Assembly Anthony Rendon, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, Los Angeles County Democratic Party (LACDP), California Federation of Teachers, ABC Federation of Teachers, AFSCME Local 2229, IBEW Local 11 as well as a number of other local area elected officials.
Dr. Rios has worked as an educator for eighteen years and has several degrees. Two of those are a Masters Degree form Harvard University and a Doctorate Degree from USC.
Olga is a product of ABC and an involved parent in ABC schools. Her daughter is a recent graduate and her son is currently enrolled. She knows the importance of parent participation.
Daniel Fierro, running against Johnson for Area 3, has also secured major endorsements from elected officials including Chris Apodaca – Board President, ABC Unified School District, Ian C. Calderon – Majority Leader, California State Assembly, José Solorio – Assembly Member (ret.) & Council Member, City of Santa Ana, Josué Alvarado – Council Member, City of Whittier Peter Chan – Council Member, City of Monterey Park Myra Maravilla – Council Member, City of Hawaiian Gardens Margarita Rios – Council Member, City of Norwalk Andrew Rodriguez – Council Member, City of Walnut Reynaldo Rodriguez – Council Member, City of Hawaiian Gardens and Gordon Stefenhagen – Mayor (ret.), City of Norwalk.
A Fourth candidate for Area 3 is Corporate Attorney Ernie Nishii.
Nishii has been very active in the ABC for over 12 years.
Nishii states, “I will be playing an important watchdog role in keeping our local school on track, and setting policies that affect your child and your school. The school board sets the vision and goals for the school district, and holds the ABC district accountable for results. One school board member cannot do the job alone. Effective school board members contribute their unique talents while collaborating and working as a team with other board members.”
