Monday, May 11, 2020

The Power of Political Endorsements in Elections


I teach 8th grade Social Science in San Francisco, CA.

Exploring American history, culture, government and society with over a hundred students every year, I learned that young people need to understand the importance of voting to convince them to pay attention to elections.

I tell them I registered and voted in every election since I gained the right to vote in 1978, but that's not very convincing to Middle School students who are four years from 18.

I also tell them a story from before I was old enough to vote when I learned exactly how Bernie Sanders felt the night Amy Klobuchar gave up her campaign for President and started a tidal wave of endorsements for Joe Biden. Klobuchar supported a growing enthusiasm for Biden's candidacy and helped sweep him to victory in Texas and other states on Super Tuesday the next day.

The Capital 'Y'
The exact same thing happened to me in 1978 when I ran for Governor in the YMCA Youth and Government program.

The election was like a caucus. After candidate speeches and lobbying we did a roll call vote. After the first ballot each group spent time advocating for their candidate.

During caucusing I negotiated a deal with three other candidates who all agreed to endorse the one with the most votes on the second ballot. We believed these votes would be enough to challenge front running candidates on a third ballot.

California "Senator" Brad Lakritz with Governor Brown in 1978.
After the second ballot I was the candidate with the most votes but that wasn't enough to get their endorsements.

It turned out that members of the coalition never expected me to win and did not plan to vote for me. Immediately they endorsed other candidates including the expected winner.

The Capitol Y student newspaper published stories about that election during the legislative conference in Sacramento later that year.

"Woodstein"
"I knew that Joe (Pipersky) wouldn't vote for Brad,' commented Marjorie Alvord," noted the Capitol Y. "At this point, Marjorie Alvord's YMCA, Crescenta-Canada, changed all of their eight votes from Alvord to LaRiva, further dissolving the 'coalition.'"

This was a devastating blow for a 17 year old high school student. How could they lie to me like that? Pipersky was later quoted saying "I didn't want to throw my support to Lakritz . . . " Which begs the question of why he promised to do so in the first place.

Clearly he and the others were only fishing for my endorsement.

From a political point of view, I believe young people should learn more about what's best for America, and all Americans, not what (or who) their party tells them they should vote for. So it shouldn't matter which party you belong to. What should matter is who is the best candidate.

How that plays out in each election might very well be different.

John Anderson
For example, John Anderson was an intriguing candidate to me in 1980 because he was a long term Republican Congressman from Illinois now running as an Independent. I saw him as likely to not go along with whatever the party expected.

Because of party politics, however, Anderson had no chance to succeed and only took away votes from Jimmy Carter, helping Ronald Reagan win the White House.

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Simon Lakritz
The last time I can remember being registered as a Democrat was to vote for my Dad, Simon Lakritz, who ran for Congress in 1984. He was a popular Democrat but the Party gave him no support because they didn't think it was worth their effort (and money). They expected a "Reagan Coattail" effect. Despite no real support, he received about 48,000 votes, but that was less than 30% of the total votes cast.

Today, I wonder what would it have taken for him to get the kind of endorsements he would have needed to win that election.

Over the years since then, I've registered as "Decline to State" and "No Party Preference" for voting in California. I choose who to vote for, or which way to vote on a proposition, based on who or what I believe will be best for the local community, state, or federal government.

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To my knowledge, Bernie Sanders was never promised anything. In fact, it is clear to me that the Democratic Party did not want him as their candidate in 2016. And, they are making it clear they don't want him today despite his early leads in polls and primaries, and legions of excited young Bernie voters.

Rep. James Clyburn endorsing Biden
I believe Biden's endorsement tidal wave actually began a week before Super Tuesday when South Carolina's Representative James Clyburn gave his endorsement to Joe Biden. It's obvious to me now that this endorsement was the final blow to Bernie's campaign.

Although Biden was already expected to win South Carolina, Clyburn's endorsement sent his numbers even higher there,  influencing Kloubacher and others to line up and endorse him.

I'm sure Democrats couldn't be happier today and it looks like any vote for Bernie in future primaries would be dividing the Party and helping the opposition candidate.

Proving once again that, in American politics, if your candidate didn't get the endorsements needed to succeed, your choice may be made for you before you go to the ballot box.

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Wednesday, August 08, 2018

Time for the People to Speak Up

Anyone who thinks the government doesn't impact their lives should look at the work of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One can argue that clean air and water are two of those "inalienable rights" endowed upon all Americans. Imagine what the pursuit of happiness looks like in Flint, MI these days?

When government leaders change, decisions are made that alter the course of government programs. Changes to government environmental protections can have huge impact in our lives.

In a Democracy, people have opportunity to make a difference in important issues in society. We can elect new candidates who support ideas we agree with, we can run for office ourselves, and we can actively support these new candidates in their election campaigns.

Knowledge and understanding of current events, issues, and potential solutions to problems is an important factor in the success of government in a Democracy. If the people don't know what's going on, the political leaders will decide for them what's best.

In the 1970's, I was fortunate enough to participate in the YMCA's Youth and Government program for high school students. Young people got together to analyze important issues in California and wrote bills, resolutions, and judicial opinions on them.

Not only did we learn politics, but we learned that in order to make change you have be the catalyst of that change. I recall the first year I did this program we wrote a bill to require helmets for anyone riding a motorcycle. Today, I believe it's impossible to imagine a world where people would be allowed to ride a motorcycle on the streets without a helmet.

Fast forward to 2018 and we have a president and Congress that wants to reverse rules and laws at a dizzying pace. In particular they have targeted automobile mileage standards.

These changes are disappointing for me personally on multiple levels. Beyond the continued divisive nature of these political actions, this particular move also seeks to end something I saw as important back in 1978.

As you can see from our Senate Resolution 215, in 1978 we were seeking to use government to encourage more fuel efficient vehicles. The resolution sought a rating of 25 MPG or better.

At the time, I can recall paying anywhere from 50 to 75 cents a gallon for gas. About 15 years later I purchased a 3-cylinder Geo Metro that averaged 50 MPG and today I drive an all electric vehicle half the time.

Some estimates say that we pay at least five times as much for gas as we did in 1978. Why shouldn't we expect our cars to get five times the mileage today?

I believe that not only can we meet the original goals for MPG, and other sustainability efforts, but we should be able to exceed them. If we truly want to make America great, this is a perfect example of where we should be reaching higher and not going backwards.

It's time for the people to speak up.

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Saturday, March 17, 2018

Back to school

After almost 30 years as an educational media and technology administrator I became a full time  teacher for the first time in 2015. Of course, one doesn't really just "become a teacher" at any time in life much less when you are already past the 50 year mark! It's hard work no matter how young or old you are. 


Studying with my kids!
Completing a teaching credential and Master's Degree in Education three years later wasn't easy either. Actually, the work truly wasn't difficult because I enjoyed doing it all. And, sometimes I got to do my homework with my two college students! The problem of course is there was never enough time.

Teaching full time and going to school full time is probably one of life's greatest challenges. I highly recommend it to anyone who is up for a roller coaster adventure for a daily life. 

Some days I feel like I'm "Teaching for America's Future." But I want to be clear that I don't work for Teach for America.

However, the school where I teach certainly fits the profile of Teach for America's focused efforts. When I became a full time teacher, I also decided to change school types. I ended up going from the priciest private schools in the Bay Area, to some of the highest of poverty schools.

The work feels like I'm teaching for America's future because recent studies on teacher shortages in America show that high-poverty schools are significantly more impacted by teacher shortages than all other schools.  Ninety percent of low-income schools have trouble hiring teachers for Special Education. 1 in 5 teachers in low-income/high-poverty schools are considered unqualified because they are teaching without a credential or they are teaching outside their primary subject area. And those that are qualified don't last long in these schools.

Mimi Lakritz - May 1981
"Standing on the shoulders of my ancestors"
For those who knew me growing up, there may be no surprise that I made this change given the fact that my Dad was a teacher at the same public high school for 37 years.

The real story about me today is about going back to school and going back to where I came from. I came from school and I've always loved school. My family was full of teachers and it still is full of teachers.

Another interesting family connection is that my Mom also went back to school when she was older. She completed her Masters Degree in Social Work in 1981 at the age of 48. We were all very proud of her when she did that. Now I know a lot more about what it took for her to do that at her age and under the circumstances of those days.

These past three years have been a long and challenging journey. Completing a Masters Degree is an important and valuable accomplishment for me. I learned so much and certainly could not have survived in the job had I not done this preparation.

Being a "new teacher" has had it's perks. I got to go to new teacher workshops at the beginning of the past two school years and I have had a mentor working with me weekly for the past year.

Teacher shortages wont go away unless we can convince more people to look seriously at teaching. Perhaps we need to promote teaching a little differently.  Unique teacher appreciation gifts, like the one I got my first year at my school, can be an important way to support teachers.

Unique teacher appreciation idea

I also enjoy teaching with technology and all my students got iPads these past two years so that helps extend their learning as well as my teaching. All students should be learning with technology. This program is crucial to the goal of bridging the digital divide for many of our families who cannot afford Internet access at home.

For now, I know I'm doing my part to prepare our young people to know the history of America and what it means to be good citizens of our young country. I've completed my own work and on June 1, 2018, I will graduate for the first time since 1983. I feel pretty good about all that.


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Wednesday, February 03, 2016

The Facebook Reconnect and Death Notice

I was a little bored tonight and procrastinating about some work I needed to do. After I finished dinner, I checked my email and trolled a bit on my Facebook feed.

Thinking about my online "friends" and wondered what was going on with some of the people I know but never seem to hear from anymore, I decided to plow through my friend list. I found about 25 "friends" who had deactivated accounts so I unfriended them as I scrolled down.

Rhonda and Brad top row. Getting
ready for the Governor's Ball in 1978.
I came across my friend Rhonda Mooney who I met in high school while participating in the YMCA Youth and Government program. She was from San Diego and I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley.

We met in San Luis Obispo at the elections conference in 1978. She was a year behind me in school, but we became friends and even went to the Governors Ball together in Sacramento that year. I visited her with my friend Dan Burgess once in San Diego but hadn't heard much from her until we reconnected on Facebook in 2012.

The most recent posting on her timeline was from January 30, 2016. Only four days ago. But it was odd to me because it was one of those pictures you see people post where there is a candle and a saying about when you are missing someone. My first thought was that she and a friend had lost someone close and her friend Terri was sharing this with Rhonda to help her feel better.
Rhonda, Dan, and Theresa circa 1978
As I scrolled down, I saw that Terri had posted several more of these types of images and videos over the past several months. It wasn't until I got down to June 15, 2015 when I found out that Rhonda had passed away last year. I knew she had some major physical problems but I didn't expect to see this news. I immediately searched the Internet for an obituary but found nothing. She was a very private person when it came to social media, and there were only a few pictures on her Facebook page.

Lisa and Rhonda
I was surprised to see one photo I had sent her from my visit to San Diego in 1978. I had the first comment on the photo: "I see you are playing the 'if we had Facebook in the 1970's' game. Well played."

I also found this beautiful photo of Rhonda and her friend Lisa.

I'm still kind of in shock about this news. Finding out that a friend died randomly via Facebook seems so strange and inhuman. On the other hand, had there never been a Facebook I probably would have never seen her or thought about her much the rest of my life.

I was having dinner with my daughter Emily last night and we were talking about those difficult years in Middle School and I asked her if she was still in touch with some of those friends. She said she was connected to them online, but she doesn't talk much with them if at all. Mostly she's moved on and stays in touch with her college friends and those people she's met since moving back to the Bay Area. I wondered silently whether or not she'd still know any of those people 35 years from now, and if being connected online would help keep them close. It seems unlikely to me.

I knew Rhonda loved cars and jeeps and driving in the desert and mountains and there were many postings about this part of her life.  I found out that she loved music and found postings about Roy Rogers and BB King -- two of my favorites. I read all the comments on Rhonda's timeline after her niece announced her death. She was very loved and is sorely missed by many.

For now I'm left with only the memories of those youthful days in high school and a good friend who is no longer with us. I'll leave you with the idea that technology can bring us together but it can't truly connect us as humans unless we make the effort to connect.

Looking at these two photos I took back in 1978 helps me recall her, but there was so much in life that happened since those days. We spoke on the phone once or twice a few years ago, but I can't say I knew her as she was when she died. I only have bits and pieces from her online profile.

And, I never got to say goodbye.




Saturday, October 17, 2015

Enhanced Card Catalog or Massive Copyright Violation?

In 2004, Google began what it calls "an enhanced card catalog of the world's books." The Google Books Library Project is an attempt to provide an easy way for people to find books that are relevant to the research or current reading interests. Google states that it's ultimate goal is to:
". . . work with publishers and libraries to create a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of all books in all languages that helps users discover new books and publishers discover new readers." 
The Author's Guild says this is a violation of copyright. After this week's Court of Appeals ruling in favor of Google, the Guild plans to take Google to the Supreme Court.

On the one hand it might seem like Google is off base and the idea of creating a "card catalog of all books" is an unwanted idea that could cost writers and publishers money and market share in the world of ideas. On the other hand it might seem like writers and publishers are limiting the opportunity to get their ideas seen around the world.

Is it all about money? This question of copyright and the publication of content is more about how we use our technology to publish and access information. Access to digital data is growing so fast it's impossible for anyone to consume it all. And, digital libraries are popping up all over the place.

One example is the Digtial Public Library of America:


As Luis Herrera, City Librarian for the San Francisco Public Library says "think of it as a virtual library of Americana that's free and accessible to all."

The DPLA is just the latest effort in this area. The Smithsonian, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and California Digital Library (CDL) all provide free and open access to digital materials.

The University of California began the CDL in 1997 and has "assembled one of the world's largest digital research libraries and changed the ways that faculty, students, and researchers discover and access information." In fact, the California Digital Library mass digitization program is directly involved with the Google Books Library Project and with the Internet Archive.

If libraries are doing this, why then does the Writer's Guild want to stop Google? The Guild says the ruling will ultimately reduce the amount of produced content as writers lose interest in working in a field where they won't be able to make a living.

The Internet Archive believes that:
"Libraries exist to preserve society's cultural artifacts and to provide access to them. If libraries are to continue to foster education and scholarship in this era of digital technology, it's essential for them to extend those functions into the digital world."
As we've seen with the music industry, the film industry, news media, and almost any area of content, technology has allowed us to go beyond the traditional ways of communicating our ideas. These communication industries must continue to forge ahead with both the creation of new content and ways to compensate their writers, directors, producers, actors, and anyone else involved in the creative process.

If we do that then more information will be available to more people on earth. That would be a good thing.

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Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Digital World Unveils The Art Of Traditional Photography

I've been taking pictures since 1972. My first camera was a Kodak Instamatic. In the summer of 1974 I took my first photography class at my local high school.

Between 1963 and 1975 Kodak produced more than 75 million Instamatic cameras helping to popularize a new mode of visual communication for the average consumer.

At about that same time Kodak also introduced the world's first digital camera. It took about 20 years before there was an "affordable" digital camera for the consumer.

For a short time in the 1990s savvy technology experts used software and either a scanner or video camera connected to a computer to capture digital video and still images.

Scanners create a digital copy of a printed photograph or other document while video capture allows you to create new digital imagery on your computer. Here's an example of a still frame from video I captured in December, 1995.

Using the latest QuickTime software available at the time I could capture a relatively sharp 320 x 240 pixel image. It was the first time I was able to easily post images on the Internet for family in friends.

*Note: Another historic moment in digital imagery came when a camera focused on a coffee pot was connected to a computer. The computer was programmed to capture still images and post them on the Internet.

Today digital imagery and video is so ubiquitous it's become part of the daily fabric of life. We now store and share our images and video on phones or various cloud and social media sites.

In the "olden days" it was common practice to order extra prints of our favorite pictures to distribute to family and friends. One-hour photo shops were created in an early marketing effort to instill a sense of instant gratification in consumers. Most offered a special two prints for the price of one deal which helped people share their images.

Today our digital images almost never get printed whereas our old photos are almost never available for viewing beyond the home. There are millions of people all around the world who have prints, slides, and negatives but we almost never see or share these images. Typically any digitized images are captured and shared via mobile phone.

In my personal photo archive I have tens of thousands of images captured over the past 40 plus years. I have maybe two or three thousand shot on film. Over the past 15 years I've used a variety of scanners to digitize some of these images but I doubt I will ever scan them all.

Recently I purchased a small, inexpensive scanner to quickly and easily capture images from my negatives and slides. It comes with a low resolution screen and allows me to scan 5472 × 3648 resolution images directly to an SD card.

Recently I captured a set of images from a series of color slides I created in my high school photography class.

No Photoshop or other image editing tools were used to colorize these pictures. These are scans of the actual slides as they were originally captured in my film camera.

Because we learned photography was an art our teacher taught us to use filters and other photographic tricks to manipulate images beyond traditional photographic methods. In this case we used infrared filters on our lens to create this effect.

Today we might think there is no art of photography because images like this can be easily created using digital photo enhancement and editing tools.

Some have argued all the digital tools and online sharing have caused the "end of photography." I don't think so.

I see big differences between photography as an art, as social media, as tools for marketing and branding, as journalistic and documentary resources, and as family history.

Photography as an art form will only grow as digital tools become more available to consumers. Photographers who are or want to be artists just need to find their passion and express it. There are more places to do this than ever before.

I'm happy to have had the opportunity to learn photography as an art form before the digital age. I'm also glad I was able to capture this image from my negative archives of Waldo Larson -- my first photography teacher. It was an honor to learn from him.













Thursday, January 15, 2015

How to Find a Job From Ideas (and Some Surprising Government Technology)

Implementing a career change and getting the right job in the digital age is a complicated task. I am meeting with placement specialists, updating my resume and social media profiles, scouring career opportunity websites, and talking with everyone I know to get myself out there.

I am fortunate to have so many colleagues and friends who know me well and want to help.

Last week my friend Scott Landress asked me how the career change process was going. After I went over the whole story he looked at me and said, "Brad, so far I know what you don't want to do, but you haven't told me what you do want to do."

In reflecting on his point I told him it's difficult to imagine myself doing something different from what I've done professionally for so long. This was reinforced by placement people who told me I would have plenty of opportunity to apply for technology and IT related jobs, particularly positions similar to my recent experience in education.

Getting options and offers to do something else is going to be a bit more challenging. I'm going to have to sell myself.

With that understanding I set out to identify exactly what I wanted to do in this next chapter of my working life. I decided to begin back in the early days of high school when I took aptitude tests to help me figure out what I was good at and what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Job Title Search circa 1976
I still recall the three job titles that came to the top of the list after I took the career search surveys in high school: Architect, Occupational Therapist, and Photographer.

There were a few other interesting options in my search at the time including: Commercial ArtistPerforming Artist, Public
Relations Worker, and Recreation Worker.

Looking back at these job titles today (nearly 40 years later) it's amazing to think of the many skills it takes to do any one of these jobs well and the preparation needed to develop those skills.

Job Title Search circa 1976
What's not surprising are the job titles that existed then versus those that exist today. Which brings me back to that question of articulating what I want to do when I grow up.

With all the different resources available to HR directors and job seekers today I was stunned to find a set of powerful career development technology tools that help workers identify their skills and abilities. It also helps them find the titles of jobs they may be qualified for and interested in pursuing.

Where is this tool? You can find it online with the California Employment Development Department's "CalJobs" website.

I won't go through all the details but there are two very specific tools in this system that are fabulously helpful for anyone thinking about their work and wanting to improve their career.

Things Brad Can Do!
At CalJobs users build their resume using online tools that have 19 different steps. It may seem unnecessary for people who already have a resume, but once the process is complete this system magically presents jobseekers with a list of their likely skills.

These are very specific abilities that, for me, included: public speaking techniques; work as a team member; write administrative procedures services manual; use project management techniques; use computer networking technology; provide technical computer training; prepare cost estimates; plan meetings and conferences; make decisions; distinguish details in graphic arts material; edit video scenes; and another 116 possible skills.

Wow! Who knew that there were 127 specific things I could do for someone looking for a skilled professional?

Granted this is just a list, it doesn't say how much experience I have with any of these skills or how well I might do any of these activities. However, as someone looking to identify the job I want this was crucial information. This tool also gives me a strong set of words to use as I describe for people what I want to do and where I am focusing my search for a new career.

Occupation listing
The other powerful tool in the CalJobs system is the database of "Occupation Listings." Part of the process requires users to choose an occupation they are seeking. The list is fascinating when compared to the one I was required to use back in 1976. The CalJobs list is also fascinating for what job titles it does NOT include.

I've spent a good amount of time in my career teaching students, parents, educators, and administrators about the fact that we are often preparing students for jobs that haven't even been invented yet. Using CalJobs I've learned that my job for the past 17 years (Director of Technology) doesn't exist in their list of possible occupations.

Obviously not a lot of people have had this job yet.

I suppose I can feel fortunate in that I've been on the cutting edge of technology in education but I do know it can be problematic to tell someone you were a Director of Technology and their response is "what is that?"

Thankfully, the system provided an occupation I could use: "Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School." Seems like that occupation type combined with the actual title (Director of Technology) should get me past the initial confusion some people may have about my previous work.

So the process continues and I get closer to knowing what I want to do and what's out there as a possible career. The truth is there are many jobs I would do well in and the real questions are: what will make me happy, and what will allow me to earn enough money to provide for myself and my family?

One of the most astonishing items on my list of skills was "create art from ideas." While I absolutely love this phrase and wonder how I can find a job doing THAT, I am also realistic that there are even fewer people getting paid to create art from ideas then there are people doing technology administration in schools.

Trying to create a job from ideas is a great challenge. I am happy to know that the State of California has developed these powerful tools for job seekers. To me this is one of the best examples of our tax dollars well spent.

Now, if I can only get someone to speak with me about changing the time of this "notification of benefits eligibility interview . . . "

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