Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/426191
10 Winter 2014/15 x AEA Advocate more people today are aware of GEA than last year. "I think people know that GEA is relevant and that we have a powerful voice. This election has created more opportunities for GEA to engage people at work sites and in the community about the importance of voting and being informed about the candidates." GEA members Jennifer Lugo and Lisa Lamonica attended AEA's Campaign College during Summer Institute to learn about searching for school board candidates and running election campaigns to get members to vote. Lugo and Lamonica served as the campaign co-chairs and were responsible for mobilizing members in canvassing and phone banking activities. After interviewing and selecting candidates, GEA recommended incumbent board member Jill Humphreys and former principal and school board member Dr. Charlie Santa Cruz. The campaign faced an uphill battle. Some voices expressed fear of retaliation in the attempt to unseat a current board member. "I think we just made up our minds at the beginning that we were going to win," says Smith. "People told us we weren't going to get both of them. We just said we are going to win this and we are going to win them both." "One of the things that we wanted people to understand was that one candidate was not going to work, we needed to get both seats," says Drazinski. "If we got one of ours and they got one of theirs, then this wasn't going to be successful because we would end up with the same board and nothing would change. We didn't have a choice; we had to get both or we didn't get anything." Drazinski quickly went out into the community to build coalitions and worked with Gilbert police and firefighters, who had also lost their negotiation rights, to support their city council candidates. The police and firefighters made voter registration phone calls to support GEA's efforts. GEA also joined the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce this past summer. They sent a representative to the Chamber's meetings and events to build relationships with their members. With the help of the Chamber, GEA hosted two well-attended forums for Gilbert School Board candidates and through this process came the Chamber's recommendation for Humphreys and Dr. Santa Cruz. Gilbert parent groups created the Unite for Education Political Action Committee (PAC), which collected campaign contributions for the recommended candidates and mobilized the community to get out the vote. "The neat thing about the parent group is that they came from all walks of life," says Smith. "They had stay-at-home moms, business owners, former GPS board members, Chamber members, and people from all ages; it was a very diverse group." GEA connected with Unite and kicked off the campaign with a rally on September 13 with voter registration and candidate booths. It was a family-friendly event with over 500 in attendance to show support for Gilbert public schools. GEA helped Unite coordinate phone banking and neighborhood canvassing. Each elementary school had a parent neighborhood captain that organized door knocking. Educators and the neighborhood captains GEA School Board Race, cont. from page 9 A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE Continued on page 27 GEA President Diane Drazinski (left), and Ann Smith at an AEA regional organizing training last year. GEA Association representatives sign up new members at new teacher luncheons this year.