Undemocratically Minded School Board Member Seeks Position in Local Democratic Party

Emery School Board Member Chagolla Running For Delegate to Democratic Party Committee

Accountability and Transparency Should be First & Foremost

Chagolla Doesn't Deliver on Either

Opinion

By March 5th, Democratic Party members in Emeryville, Oakland and Alameda have a chance to weigh in on Emeryville resident / Emery School Board member Regina Chagolla's bid to be an assembly district 18 voting member of the local Democratic party known as the Democratic Central Committee.   One of a slate of eight candidates for the Central Committee, Ms Chagolla has been endorsed by Assemblywoman Mia Bonta and Emeryville Mayor Courtney Welch.  

But despite the high level endorsements, believers in good government would be wise to not vote for Ms Chagolla. 

Emery School Board member Regina Chagolla
Anti-Democratic
Not accountable to parents with
children enrolled at Emery, she has
a patrician's view of democracy.

The Democratic Central Committee delegates represent their specific district serving the people and their State Assembly member.  As such, the Central Committee (DCC) delegates help promote the Democratic Party agenda, endorse candidates for statewide, legislative and congressional office, and vote to endorse resolutions and ballot measures among other things.  The last election in 2023, saw Council member Kalimah Priforce elected to the District 18 DCC delegation over objections from Assemblywoman Bonta who had selected a slate of candidates that included Ms Welch.  

Ms Bonta, recognized by many East Bay progressives as a 'corporate Democrat' owing to her campaign donor list of gazillionaires and mega-corporations, had the misfortune of having her entire slate, save one, defeated by the voters last time.  Now Ms Chagolla has joined a new slate of DCC Bonta candidates for another bite at the apple.  

Looking at Regina Chagolla’s impressive resume, one might be tempted to vote for her, regardless of her being part of the corporatist United Voices For Democracy slate as they call themselves.  Besides sitting on the Emery School Board, Ms Chagolla has been a 3rd grade teacher at Berkeley Unified School District for the last six years and she’s lived in Emeryville for 10 years.  But Democratic voters should be advised, Ms Chagolla’s tenure on the Emery School Board has been marked by a wholesale failure to govern from even the most basic of democratic norms.

Ms Chagolla is not available to the public.  Following in the footsteps of Council member John Bauters, School Board member Chagolla has adopted a hyper-partisan philosophy on governing to such an extent, certain members of the Emeryville public, the press and even parents with children enrolled at Emery, are not afforded the courtesy of having a single question answered.  Ms Chagolla will not entertain constituent’s questions at School Board meetings nor will she set up times for answering questions off campus, not in person, via email, text or not via the phone.  This is an extremely undemocratic vision of governance from a public servant who calls herself a Democrat.  

While running for re-election to the Emery School Board in 2022, Board member Chagolla joined with her two colleagues also seeking re-election, telling voters about what a great job they had done for the children at Emery.  "Keep Emery on track” is what they said, presumably because they were doing such a fantastic job.  What Ms Chagolla and her slate mates didn’t tell voters is that, academically, Emery slid to last place among all school districts in Alameda County on her watch.  This kind of incompetence and lack of transparency should not be rewarded with a Democrat’s vote.

You know a politician is pulling a scam when they transform themselves from lovers of democracy and accountability before they’re elected into haters as soon as they are elected.  Such is the case with Regina Chagolla.  Before she was elected to the Emery School Board, she told the community she loved the Emeryville Tattler.  In 2015, then an Emery teacher, she even wrote a letter to the editor praising how informative and democratic the Tattler is.  In her letter, Ms Chagolla thanked the Tattler, “for informing the public about the big discussions that are being made in this small city” and for informing her specifically as a teacher about what is going on at the school district.  She said the Tattler inspired her enough to start her attending School Board meetings. 

Assemblywoman Mia Bonta's Delegate Slate
The 'United Voices for Democracy' Slate
The corporate business community and their
sycophants wants you to vote for these people.

That was then.  Now as an elected official in power and under the critical eye of the Emeryville Tattler, now Board member Chagolla wants nothing to do whatsoever with the Tattler, the same news site that inspired her as a mere teacher.  Now the disdain for accountability from Board member Chagolla is so pervasive, she steadfastly refuses to answer our questions and she even joined with her Board colleagues running for re-election to freeze out the the public from accountability by refusing the Tattler’s election questionnaire (given to all Emeryville candidates for public office).  As elected officials in Emeryville, Ms Chagolla and her Board colleagues boycotted public accountability for the first time in the Tattler’s 14 year history.  Her reason?  She does not believe the public has a right to know about her governing philosophy.  She still wants their votes however.  

For these reasons, Democrats, even the corporate ones, should not use their votes to reward a person who cavalierly subverts the Party’s values with such aplomb.  We don’t know what kinds of political calculations Assembly member Mia Bonta has made endorsing Regina Chagolla as delegate for the Democratic Central Committee but we don’t think it’s in the interest of the people of the 18th District.