Open Letter to Pasadena City Council: PUSD Board Member Tina Fredericks Supports Appointment of Brandon Lamar to City Council District 3

Dear Mayor of Pasadena and Pasadena City Council Members,

The future of Pasadena District 3 rests in your hands tonight when you vote to appoint the interim council member to represent City of Pasadena District 3 to fill the vacancy of the beloved Councilmember John J. Kennedy who recently passed away. District 3 is bounded by the 210 Freeway, Colorado, Lake, El Molino, Orange Grove, Los Robles, Fair Oaks, Marengo, Mountain, Jackson, El Molino, Ladera and Washington.

I am the Pasadena Unified School Board Member District 6. My direct connection to City of Pasadena District 3 is that my daughter attends Octavia E. Butler Magnet Dual Language STEAM Middle School, formerly Washington STEAM Multilingual Academy. While we live on the east side of Pasadena, my husband and I felt it was important that our daughter attend one of PUSD’s community schools. We think it is important for our daughter to learn in a community with a rich history and ethnic diversity offered by the community of District 3.

My most immediate connection to Brandon is I was the volunteer coordinator on his campaign for city council. As someone who has worked on dozens of campaigns including my own, I know that if your opponent raises more money than you, in this case fifty times more, you have to work that much harder for every vote – walk to every home, knock on every door, talk to every voter. Not only did Brandon earn 1,081 votes, but he worked darn hard for every one of them, sweating in the searing summer heat. As someone who talked to him every day during  his campaign, I witnessed his solid work ethic. When volunteers either didn’t show up or didn’t finish their list of houses, Brandon was there to finish the job.

Brandon is a trusted member of the District 3 community. As an active canvasser for Brandon, one of the most common responses from voters was “Oh, I know Brandon!,” followed by, “of course, I’ll vote for Brandon.”  I never hear this response working on other campaigns. This is a testament to Brandon’s decades of involvement in the community, continually engaging with the community specifically District 3. They know Brandon and trust him. That level of trust is gold and essential to be an effective leader in the community they represent.

Finally, as a Pasadena Unified School Board Member, I am concerned about the future of the Pasadena community, specifically the students whose families are barely getting by, keeping a roof over their head and food on the table. 70% of the students at Pasadena Unified are socio-economically disadvantaged. Will we create a community that supports the success of the next generation? With his deep commitment, long-standing relationships and trust with the community from the ground up, history that dates back three generations, Brandon Lamar is the people’s choice to represent Pasadena District 3. In a time when our democratic process is under attack across the country, this is your opportunity to uphold democracy – 1,801 District 3 residents have already registered their support for Brandon Lamar. Please allow democracy to take its course. Appoint Brandon Lamar the interim council member to represent City of Pasadena District 3.

Tina Fredericks is a member of the PUSD Board of Education, but is speaking solely as an individual member of the Board.