At the general membership meeting, the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club endorsed Dee Andrews in the Sixth District City Council race and Paul Crost in the April 8th District 4 school board race.
“We are honored to support these two fine candidates who have good track records of supporting our community,” said Lambda President Emeritus, Robert Hildebrand.
Lambda’s Political Action Committee typically sends questionnaires to all of the candidates running in contested school board and city races and then sets up interviews with the candidates who respond. In this instance, The PAC Committee relied on the recommendation they made prior to the special election for the 6th district city council seat last March. Based on the answers on the questionnaires and performance during those interviews, the committee brought forward a recommendation to endorse Dee Andrews, which was unanimously approved at the membership meeting.
After questionnaires were sent to the school board candidates in the two contested races, the PAC committee recommended that Lambda endorse Paul Crost. A retired attorney and mediator, Crost has been strong supporter of the LGBT community, practicing labor and employment law for 40 years. A large part of his law practice was devoted to representing, counseling and advising teachers at all levels.
“From that experience I developed a great respect for teachers and an understanding of the difficulties and bureaucratic obstacles they face in doing their work, says Crost. “It was clear to me that teachers’ morale and their sense of commitment to their work were greatest in school districts where the teachers felt that they had a voice in the decision-making process, at the site and district levels, and where the school boards and administration recognized the value of cooperative problem solving. As a Board member I want to bring about a safe, encouraging and supportive work environment for teachers, staff and students.”
Although it is a nonpartisan race, as a chartered Democratic Club, Lambda can only endorse Democratic candidates. However, 4th district school board candidate Karen Hilburn reached out to Lambda in a positive manner anyway, and Signal Hill Councilmember Larry Forester spoke reporting his positive report of the incumbent.
Neither candidate in the 2nd district school board race responded to the questions sent, and Lambda made no official endorsement in the other races.