A bookkeeper ready to get into the budget
Stacy Thomas is an accountant who’s lived in Oakland for 20 years. She works with Action 2020, a group dedicated to supporting Oakland public schools. She’s also participated in a restorative justice program for students called the McCullum Youth Court.
Stacy Thomas’s official platform focuses on three main areas: 1) the fact that she thinks there are too many charter schools run by “wealthy people outside our community;” 2) how her expertise as a bookkeeper could help manage OUSD’s financials; and 3) the need to fight back against the state control of Oakland’s public schools.
Thomas believes public schools “are the foundation of a democratic and economically just society.” She also–perhaps in reference to an episode where Boardmember Jumoke Hinton-Hodge choked a teacher or to law enforcement body-slamming protesting teachers and parents at an OUSD Board meeting (who can say)–says she wants to reduce violence during OUSD Board meetings.
Main vibes: Great goals but short on specifics. We love Stacy Thomas’s enthusiasm and her philosophy, but on her website, the “Solutions” page is pretty light on specifics.
Needs an accessibility check vibes: We were sad to discover that most of Thomas’s content was embedded in image files rather than text! This makes her website inaccessible to people who use screen readers or who have a hard time reading black text on a purple background.
There will be a candidate forum for this race on Thursday, October 8 at 6 PM.