Carlos Flores tapped to serve on Vallejo school board

VALLEJO – Carlos Flores was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Vallejo school board during a special Wednesday meeting.

Both Flores and Patrice Lewis were the board’s top choices, but trustees ultimately picked Flores, citing his ethnicity and Spanish-speaking abilities as his biggest strengths for a school district with a 47% Latino student population.

Outgoing Trustee Tony Ubalde said picking Flores would allow district students to “see a role model where they can see someone like them.”

“I think that this is a plus,” Ubalde added.

Flores will represent Trustee Area 1, which spans most of West Vallejo and Mare Island. The area also includes South Vallejo west of Interstate 80. The school board began the process of filling the vacancy after no one registered to run in November’s election.

Following the unanimous vote, Flores was met with applause from all the current trustees as he addressed the board.

“I am just speechless and humbled right now by the trust you’re putting in me,” Flores told the trustees.

Flores praised the district for providing opportunities for his family including for his son, a second-generation college graduate, and his daughter, who graduated from Vallejo High School last year. Flores still has a child attending a school in the district. He also thanked his mom for making the sacrifices so he could get an education.

“I am living the American dream,” he said. “I am a teen dad. II had my first son at 17. I graduated from Hogan in my cap and gown and my six-month-old son. That’s been my trajectory but service to the community, service to the less fortunate has been something I wanted to do.”

Flores said he was “shocked” there was no one running for the office before praising the other applicants. “I am honored to have run with them and working alongside with them.”

Board President Tony Gross responded, “It’s all about heart and soul and that’s what you led with.”

Board Vice Chair Christy Gardner addressed Flores, saying he was needed on the five-person board.

“This is the face of Vallejo. All of us are the face of Vallejo and you’re the needed face of Vallejo,” she said.

Following the meeting, Councilmember Mina Loera-Diaz, who was in the audience, took to social media to congratulate Flores.

“With almost 50% Latino students enrolled in Vallejo public schools, this was long overdue,” Loera-Diaz wrote, ending with a hashtag “representation matters.”

Prior to the vote, both Flores and Lewis were praised by the trustees for being well-versed in district matters and for being parents of children associated with the district.

Lewis has three small children who will start attending the district soon, according to her application materials. She is also a former academic support provider and history teacher with the district.

Calling the decision, “bittersweet,” Lewis told the Vallejo Sun on Thursday that she would “still be here for Vallejo.”

“I wish Carlos all the best,” Lewis said.

Many of the trustees admitted that picking between Flores and Lewis was difficult.

“This is a really difficult choice between these two candidates because they were both, I thought, spoke very well,” said Gardner. “It would be well served to have a Latino on the school board, but it’s a tough one because both of them come to the table with a lot of qualities that I think the board could utilize.”

At one point during deliberations, Gross jokingly asked if the board could “flip a coin,” citing the strong interviews and applications from Lewis and Flores.

Gardner responded that she felt Flores' background in the trades and being bilingual made him the better choice.

In total, 13 people applied with only seven being interviewed by the board over a two-week period. Last week, the board interviewed Clarence Martin, Helen-Marie Gordon, Michael-Riley Brann, and Flores, while interviewing Lewis, Pawnesha Parrish, and Martina Monroe on Wednesday.

Dedrick Weathersby, Gilbert Dodson, and Catherine Cobb-VonHusen were scheduled to be interviewed but dropped out. Two other candidates dropped out prior to the interview phase, while it was determined that another candidate didn’t live in the trustee area.

Following the interviews Wednesday, the board was asked to rank the applicants from one to seven. The district then revealed the top three choices for each trustee. Both Lewis and Flores received top marks while the board split with Ubalde and Trustee John Fox backing Clarence Martin, while Trustee Latyna Young supported Helen-Marie Gordon, and Gross and Gardner selected Pawnesha Parrish.

Flores and district parent Glenn Amboy are the newest members of the school board. Amboy was automatically appointed to the school board when he was the only person to run to represent Trustee Area 3, which encompasses most of East Vallejo, including the Hiddenbrooke development. He replaces Ubalde, who decided not to seek another term.

Meanwhile, in November’s election, three candidates are vying to represent Trustee Area 5, which represents the Southeast part of the city, including two incumbents: John Fox and Tony Gross. Both were elected in 2018 before the district moved to district elections.

The two incumbents are challenged by Ajit S. Bhandal, who is listed on the ballot as a naturopathic practitioner. Bhandal has not responded to multiple requests from the Vallejo Sun to answer questions about his campaign.

Amboy, Flores and the Area 5 winner will be sworn in during the school board’s Dec. 14 meeting.