GARY SILBIGER’S STATEMENT FOR PCL’S COMMUNITY BOARD

I am one of the Founders of Peoples College of Law, taught immigration law at PCL, and
been a member of the Community Board during the 1970’s and 1990’s, and was again elected to
the PCL Board for the 2018-2019 term where I served as the only Board member who was active
in the early years of PCL.

I have been an attorney since 1974 handling immigration law cases with a focus on
immigration court representation and appeals to higher courts.
I have been a member of the National Lawyers Guild since 1971, am a member of the
Los Angeles Executive Board, and a former L.A. chapter president.
I am a founder of the Immigration Committee of the L.A. chapter as well as a founder of
the National Immigration Project of the NLG. I am a co-writer of Immigration Law and
Defense, have taught law at several colleges and law schools, and have presented at many
immigration law seminars. I currently am a member of the Immigration Committee’s Steering
Committee. Peoples College of Law students once again need their own law clinic to both learn
the practical skills of being a progressive attorney and to assist people who are in need of
representation.
I served as a Councilmember for 8 years in Culver City.
I will help PCL get back to its roots as a progressive law school that recruits students
nationwide due to its outstanding reputation as well as its service to the public. I am a member
of PCL’s Admissions and Recruitment Committee. With my contacts both nationally and
locally, I will assist in publicizing the benefits of attending PCL. I look forward to working with
many of the amazing graduates of PCL. PCL can once again be a center of the progressive
movement in Los Angeles. PCL law students, community activists, and those working within
the legal system will be in the forefront of this most uniquely collective college that will train the
next generation of peoples’ lawyers.
 Candidate Statement – Thomas Vojacek


Thank you to whoever nominated me to run for the PCL board. As most of you
know, I have, up until recently, been your PCL administrator. I am also a PCL
graduate, class of 2016, and I fully stand behind PCL’s social justice mission
statement.

What you can expect from me, should you decide to vote for me, is the following:

1. A push to spread the work that is currently done by just a few board
members, to all, as well as to volunteers. In addition, I want more
accountability and tighter timelines as to tasks being taken on. I would also
like to move the board meetings to Saturday morning, so we can spend more
time together in order to be able to discuss things in more depth, if needed.
2. Having run a small business for many years, I would like to help organize a
different kind of recruitment drive, starting in early Spring already. This
effort should generate dozens of applicants, out of which we could then pick
the 30 most promising candidates. An incoming class of that size for several
years in a row, along with continued faculty and tutoring improvements, will
guarantee PCL’s financial soundness for the years to come.
3. I would like PCL to start reaching out to many like-minded activist
organizations around town and invite them to PCL, as well as offer them our
space for meetings, as we have done with Inner City Law Center.
4. Lastly, I want the library fixed right away and accessible for the upcoming
academic year, so that students can have a quiet study space, as every college
should.

Thank you for your consideration!
In solidarity,
Thomas V.
My name is Robert Wymss and I am a 1L student at PCL. I am currently finishing up the academic year
and studying for the Baby Bar so frankly seeking a position on the PCL Board feels a bit premature. But
several of my fellow students have asked me to run so here goes. For those that don't me I am a
licensed clinical social worker by profession and work for the Department of Veterans Affairs in a mental
health treatment program. I came to PCL out of a sense of wanting to do more for the population I work
with, combat veterans with PTSD who I regularly see treated prejudicially in family court, criminal court,
DCFS, etc. I am also passionate about civil rights for the LGBTQ community, the mentally ill, the
disability community and too many other areas to list here.
I am running for a student seat on the board because I would like to be part of the ongoing
efforts to move PCL forward in its mission of training People's Lawyers. Based on my first-year
experience I would like to help build (or re-establish) some kind of mentoring system where new
students would be matched with advanced students and/or alumni to guide studies from the first day of
class through to the Baby Bar. I would also like to use my experience in mental health to begin to build a
data base of resources for students who might benefit from reasonable accommodation on the Baby Bar
but who do not know how to go about requesting it. These are things I know would have helped me,
and I don't believe I am unique in this respect. I have been fortunate myself in being able to pay for
parking at the Walter J Tower, but for several of my classmates parking is an absolute nightmare that
adversely impacts morale and attendance. This too seems to me to be an area that a student
representative to the board should diligently pursue.
Prior to becoming a social worker, I worked as a manuscript editor, an academic grant-writer,
and was the registrar of a small private graduate school. It would be a huge honor to offer my life
experiences and skills to promote the organizational health of the Peoples College of Law as a student
representative to the board.
My name is Robert Wymss and I am a 1L student at PCL. I am currently finishing up the academic year
and studying for the Baby Bar so frankly seeking a position on the PCL Board feels a bit premature. But
several of my fellow students have asked me to run so here goes. For those that don't me I am a
licensed clinical social worker by profession and work for the Department of Veterans Affairs in a mental
health treatment program. I came to PCL out of a sense of wanting to do more for the population I work
with, combat veterans with PTSD who I regularly see treated prejudicially in family court, criminal court,
DCFS, etc. I am also passionate about civil rights for the LGBTQ community, the mentally ill, the
disability community and too many other areas to list here.
I am running for a student seat on the board because I would like to be part of the ongoing
efforts to move PCL forward in its mission of training People's Lawyers. Based on my first-year
experience I would like to help build (or re-establish) some kind of mentoring system where new
students would be matched with advanced students and/or alumni to guide studies from the first day of
class through to the Baby Bar. I would also like to use my experience in mental health to begin to build a
data base of resources for students who might benefit from reasonable accommodation on the Baby Bar
but who do not know how to go about requesting it. These are things I know would have helped me,
and I don't believe I am unique in this respect. I have been fortunate myself in being able to pay for
parking at the Walter J Tower, but for several of my classmates parking is an absolute nightmare that
adversely impacts morale and attendance. This too seems to me to be an area that a student
representative to the board should diligently pursue.
Prior to becoming a social worker, I worked as a manuscript editor, an academic grant-writer,
and was the registrar of a small private graduate school. It would be a huge honor to offer my life
experiences and skills to promote the organizational health of the Peoples College of Law as a student
representative to the board.
I am Anna Hawkins, a graduate of Peoples College of Law and a current board member. I have the
benefit of hindsight and experience at our school to recognize what important changes must be made to
keep Peoples College of Law open to ensure its original mission of putting forth people’s lawyers into
our communities during these oppressive political times. Democracy is more important than ever and
each and every voice in our community must be allowed to be heard and ideas considered without fear
of intimidation or retaliation. We have made huge steps towards fulfilling our mission but we have a lot
more work to do.

By working with the heart and soul of PCL (faculty, alumni, students, and community leaders), I strive to
accomplish the following: (1) implement programs to raise the Baby Bar and Bar passage rates by
offering more than the bare bones of a legal education as our mission is dedicated to the principles of
training People’s lawyers; (2) develop mentorship and internship programs with alumni and community
leaders so students can network with the social justice legal community in a meaningful way; (3)
improve our recruitment strategies and reach into more communities who lack real legal
representation; (4) increase our presence in the community by using legal clinics, seminars, etc. to
educate ourselves and help others; (5) and to create an environment that is free of toxic behavior
perpetuated by the patriarchy.

As the great Civil Rights leader and activist Diane Nash once said, “Freedom, by definition, is people
realizing that they are their own leaders.”

We must continue the fight to rebuild our institution and help win justice for those who have no voice
so that they can reclaim their power over oppression.

“Don’t agonize. Organize”

Flo Kennedy
Scott Bell
I discovered I was nominated for the community board, a position I never sought, by an email I
received 2 days ago, which stated I “must” complete a candidate statement. I considered not
doing one, because I have no particular desire or drive to serve on the board and I think I’m too
busy to do a good job. But I recognize we don’t have many students at the moment and the
school theoretically needs a board that has 6 student positions. However, because I do want to
see PCL succeed in its transition and return to its roots as a radical law school and continue to be
one for decades to come, I am willing to fill the position if it needs to be filled filled and don’t
want to see its board short because not enough students turned in the paperwork. I have no clue if
this is an issue or not, if it isn’t an issue you shouldn’t vote for me. If I’m needed, then you
should vote for me and I’ll do my best.
 CANDIDATE STATEMENT

Dear PCL Community:

My name is Hector Sanchez. I am a PCL four year law student. I was born in Mexico and immigrated
to the United States in 1988 and been living in Los Angeles since then. I received a high school
diploma from Evans Community Adult School and an AA degree from LACC on Liberal Arts. Then I
obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University Los Angeles.
The education that I have received and the things that I have seen have showed me and taught me
that the lower classes of our society, in general, are and will continue to fall victims of injustices from
different sectors of our society; from employment violations, extremely expensive housing,
expensive education to a disadvantageous position in the legal system. Therefore, I strongly believe
that to protect the rights of the disadvantaged of our society and to promote social justice it is
essential that institutions like PCL continue to exist.
Given the current political crisis and the attack on the immigrant community, in addition to the
chronic social injustices, I strongly believe, more than before, that PCL is vital for the continue
production, of social justice lawyers that our communities need. If I get elected I will contribute to
the continuation of PCL’s philosophy. Also, I will help the school to continue providing the tools for
those social conscious individuals that due to their socioeconomic circumstances cannot attend the
other institutions.
Sincerely
Hector Sanchez
Candidate Statement by Ira Spiro: I have been the PCL dean and a member of the PCL Board
since the election of May, 2017. I taught at PCL from 2011 to 2018. I taught constitutional law,
civil procedure, appeals, wage and hour law, and contracts. I have worked hard with others at PCL
to improve our students’ preparation for the bar exam and baby bar, to bring in high quality
faculty, to build support among our alumni and the progressive community, to keep students,
faculty and the rest of the PCL community informed about PCL affairs, to improve our building, to
assure PCL’s compliance with State Bar rules, to strengthen our reputation at the Bar, and to try to
persuade the Bar to support PCL values. I am running to continue to work with others at PCL in
those areas and in developing all aspects of our school to ever higher standards.

I have been a lawyer since January 1976, semi-retired now. Since 2000 I have represented
employees in class actions, suing employers for wage theft and other violations of the wage and
hour laws. I have also been a public defender and legal aid lawyer. Since 2012 I have provided
legal advice and representation at no charge to dozens of low income clients in employment
disputes and unemployment appeals.

I served an appointed term on the State Bar’s ethics committee and I was appointed chair of its
committee on alternative dispute resolution, which deals with arbitration and mediation. I was on a
committee of lawyers, judges and others that wrote the California Rules of Court on the
professional responsibilities of mediators. I wrote one of the California statutes on arbitration.
 Candidate Statement
of
Joshua Gillins
for
People's College of Law Community Board

Hello Brothers and Sisters,

Thank you for your nomination and consideration for your vote. I am currently one of two 3L

students at People's College of Law. I share your pride in being a student here. I look forward to

graduation next year. I expect to remain a member of community far into the future. I have

previously served in student government positions, been an officer and board member of a

homeowners association for many years, and have recently participated in the PCL Admissions

and Recruitment committee. I am employed full time in the civil service. I have put many other

obligations aside to focus on my studies at PCL. I have little time outside of working and

studying; however, I am willing to serve as a member of the PCL Community Board to do my

part to maintain our community. If elected my primary focus will be to allow all students to

devote their full attention to study the law, and the continuation the mission of our

non-competitive, cooperative, student and community-run, progressive law school.

Power to the People!

 April 19, 2019
Gloria Perez-Stewart, Esq.
PCL 2019 Elections Committee gloriaperez@gmail.com
660 South Bonnie Brae St.
Los Angeles, Ca 90057 Via e-mail

Re: Gloria Perez-Stewart Candidate Statement

Dear PCL Community:

I am a PCL Community Board Member and the current board chair. I graduated from
PCL in 2017--was one of the PCL 15 who was unsuccessfully sued by the prior
administration as we graduated--and was able to pass the bar on my first administration
of the exam. I feel I owe PCL a huge debt and try to repay that debt by giving my time
and energy to our mission.

My background is as a community organizer and disability advocate in communities of

color--having worked on access to justice and reproductive justice campaigns. I also
founded Latina Mami (a collective for Latina mothers) and Ichi Villa Alliance for
Autism.

I am the interim Executive Director of Community Lawyers, Inc. in Compton and have a
long history of nonprofit management experience. I have my own law practice working
on behalf of children with disabilities.

During my tenure on the board, we have begun strategic planning for PCL's future and
have maintained a transparent and open process to continue recruiting alumni to come
back to the school to assist with our mission. We have also created better policy and
processes to better manage disagreement and strife so that we can focus on our mission. I
believe that we need to maintain transparency and our collective leadership model and
will work hard to continue that if elected.

Sincerely,

Gloria Perez-Stewart, Esq. PCL ‘17

April 19, 2019

Dear People’s College of Law Students Alumni, Faculty & Community,

My name is Héctor Candelario Peña Ramírez, and I’m seeking re-election to the
People’s College of Law Board of Directors.

Since being elected for the first time in 2016, I have seen PCL go through monumental
shifts in leadership. Our institution has experienced unprecedented adversity, which if a
previous administration had been in governance would have undoubtedly caused our
great institution to shutter. Given PCL’s unique set of challenges, our little social justice
law school continues to keep its doors open.

But it is not by accident that we exist. I’m grateful for the courageous group of leaders
who have stepped up and given hundreds of hours to make sure the college keeps
growing and that—not unlike the great PCL seal—the gears continue to turn, teachers
continue to teach, committees continue to meet and that we continue to fulfill our mission
of Creating Social Justice Lawyers.

If elected to the PCL Board I plan to focus my efforts in these seven areas:

1. Bolster our admissions efforts to recruit more radical, like-minded activists and
organizers.
2. Help PCL remodel and redesign the law school via fundraising efforts, grants, and
private funding sources.
3. Help recruit a staff position to tutor 1st-year & upper div. students.
4. Finalize student & faculty handbooks.
5. Have at least one PCL Legal Clinic before the end of 2019 &
6. Help in the efforts to hire a full-time PCL Administrator.
7. In partnership with students and alum help seek California Accreditation for PCL.

Sincerely,

Héctor C. Peña Ramírez

Jessica Viramontes

Candidate Statement

My name is Jessica Viramontes, and I am a recent graduate of PCL. I have been

an educator of Ethnic Studies for the last 11 years at Loyola Marymount University,
and previously East Los Angeles Community College. My previous background
includes involvement in the immigrant rights, prisoner’s rights movements and
advocating with LGBTQ and homeless populations. I decided to attend law school
because I have a deep commitment for human rights issues, both domestically and
internationally, especially in Latin America and the Middle East.

At PCL, I have served as the co-chair of the Faculty & Curriculum Committee for the
past t w o years. I am deeply committed to recruiting social justice lawyers to
teach at PCL. I am also hoping to develop stronger partnerships with local public
interest organizations so that PCL can develop an ongoing law clinic and
mentorship program. I have also assisted with tutoring and preparing 1L’s with
the Baby Bar.

I am running as a candidate for the PCL Community Board because I think it’s
important to have more women of color represented in this decision making power.
The mission of our school is to focus on developing people’s lawyers from
underrepresented groups that are social justice minded, and I hope to be able to
contribute in whichever way possible.
4/23/2019 Gmail - CONGRATULATIONS

Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com>

CONGRATULATIONS 
John Duane <johndpcl@gmail.com> Thu, Apr 18, 2019 at 8:52 PM
To: Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com>

 am an alumnus of PCL and I support the mission of our school:  To provide a legal
education to students who would normally have substantial impediments to attending
Law School. I am hopeful about the future of the school as our passing rates on the Baby
Bar and Bar exam continue to rise and the school rebuilds after the suspicious arson fire
that nearly destroyed the school.  Im honored to be among the revolutionary group that
was able to overthrow the previous corrupt administration, and begin the task of
rebuilding the school that they nearly destroyed.  We still have a lot of work to do, and I
look forward to continuing this work for this important institution at this critical time in our
history.  PCL is more vital and needed than ever.  Lets work together to keep the doors
open and keep growing.
Thank you.
 
John D.
 
 
 
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Magda Madrigal’s Candidate Statement: I am very proud to once again run for the
PCL bboard. I am most proud of one of many PCL Community Members who, in 2017,
prevented the doors of the People’s College of Law from being permanently closed. People
came together and through a cooperative community spirit, proved that we can keep this gret
institution going.

As part of giving back to the school I love so much, I tutor, I teach, I serve as the Secretary of the
Board, and I tirelessly promote the school. In line with the school’s mission, I use my bar card,
made possible by the People’s College of Law, to help the underserved community as an eviction
defense lawyer.

I look forward to PCL once again becoming involved with various progressive organizations.
I also look forward to yearly fair elections, to increased membership in the standing committees,
to fund-raising events, to see healing at the school, and promoting its growth.

Please vote for me and write with any questions. MagdaMadrigal@Earthlink.net.

My name is Ada Rajkovic and I am a second year student at PCL as well as co-chair of the
admissions committee. I served on the board this past year and would like to run again for the
2019-2020 election. If elected, I will focus on improving student life, organizing events,
workshops and speakers, and putting in more outreach to build better relationships with the
surrounding community.

Thank you!

Ada
Scott Bell
I discovered I was nominated for the community board, a position I never sought, by an email I
received 2 days ago, which stated I “must” complete a candidate statement. I considered not
doing one, because I have no particular desire or drive to serve on the board and I think I’m too
busy to do a good job. But I recognize we don’t have many students at the moment and the
school theoretically needs a board that has 6 student positions. However, because I do want to
see PCL succeed in its transition and return to its roots as a radical law school and continue to be
one for decades to come, I am willing to fill the position if it needs to be filled filled and don’t
want to see its board short because not enough students turned in the paperwork. I have no clue if
this is an issue or not, if it isn’t an issue you shouldn’t vote for me. If I’m needed, then you
should vote for me and I’ll do my best.
Candidate Statement for Brian Godfrey

I am running for a student seat on the People’s College of Law Community Board. I am currently a 4th
year student at the school and work in special education law as a law clerk. I was honored to be elected
to the board last year and since that time have served on several committees, including the Faculty and
Curriculum Committee. I currently co-chair a special working group that is researching and drafting a
proposal to improve and grow and the physical school while staying at our current facilities.

I believe the school is vital institution of Los Angeles and can be instrumental in creating meaningful
change for this city and beyond. The success of the school going forward will rely almost solely on
volunteers and community members that believe in our cause. I hope that if I am reelected, I can help
promote and facilitate continued contributions from those involved and bring more people in to offer
their resources.

Thank you for reading.

4/23/2019 Gmail - Candidate Statement

Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com>

Candidate Statement 
2 messages

Veronica's Email <vfranco2012@gmail.com> Fri, Apr 19, 2019 at 12:32 PM
To: 2019electioncommittee@gmail.com

It would be my pleasure to represent the interests of students at PCL and serve on the
board. I believe strongly in building our community through consensus and I am
committed to the growth and success of our school.  
 
Veronica Franco

Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com> Tue, Apr 23, 2019 at 5:00 PM
To: Veronica's Email <vfranco2012@gmail.com>

Thank you!  
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4/23/2019 Gmail - Daniela Garcia statement

Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com>

Daniela Garcia statement 
2 messages

Daniela Garcia <daniela.garcia.education@gmail.com> Fri, Apr 19, 2019 at 8:50 PM
To: 2019electioncommittee@gmail.com

Hi, sorry for the delay. Below is my statement.
 
­­­­­­­­
Dear PCL community,
 
I accept my nomination to the board and hope to contribute to our shared cause of
promoting social justice education and engagement.
 
I have been organizing for 15 years, mostly on the issue of immigrant rights, anti police
brutality, and housing rights.
 
As a first year, I created a presentation for Ventura College students that 200 people
attended. In this presentation I talked about the history of radical protest in the U.S.,
ending with a call to action. I handed out PCL flyers and talked to many one on one after
the presentation.
 
I hope to create greater solidarity among existing community groups and PCL. I hope to
connect the school to the LA Tenants Union, and other local orgs fighting gentrification.
 
I believe that through a strong base of reciprocity we can create a center of organizing
and education in Los Angeles, true to the original ethos of the school.
 
Love and struggle,
 
Daniela

Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com> Tue, Apr 23, 2019 at 4:42 PM
Draft To: Daniela Garcia <daniela.garcia.education@gmail.com>

Thank you
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4/23/2019 Gmail - CONGRATULATIONS

Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com>

CONGRATULATIONS 
3 messages

Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com> Wed, Apr 17, 2019 at 9:07 PM
To: David Bouffard <davidtylerbouffard@hotmail.com>

You have been nominated for a  position as a member of the PCL Community Board. 
You now must complete a candidate statement, as stated just below.
 
 
The Committee will work with the Secretary to check the nominees against the PCL Secretary’s
membership list to ensure eligibility for the Board as per By‑Law § 9.6(c).    
  
All candidates must submit a “statement regarding who they are and why they want to serve on the PCL
community board” which is no more than one‑half of an 8‑1/2 inch by 11 inch document (By‑Laws § 9.2(c);
referred to elsewhere herein as “candidate statement(s)”)
 
Candidate Statements must be submitted to the Election Committee by e‑mail, as speci ied in Section C.1
above to ensure receipt by 6:30 p.m. on April 19, 2019.
 
All Candidate Statements will be posted at PCL from 7:00 p.m. April 22, 2019 through April 30, 2019, and
will also be e‑mailed to all Members of the Corporation, along with ballots.

David Bouffard <davidtylerbouffard@hotmail.com> Thu, Apr 18, 2019 at 12:21 PM
To: Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com>

Candidate Statement/David Bouffard
 
My name is David Bouffard and I am a  2017 graduate of Peoples College of Law and
have been on the Community Board since March of 2018.  I want the school to survive
and I believe that the most critical issue in that regards is the sale of the school’s current
building and its relocation to better premises in a nearby but less expensive area.  This is
a process that will take at least one to two years to do it correctly, and the board has to
work together to accomplish this important transition.  Please return me to the PCL board
to be a voice and a vote for the only reasonable and feasible step to secure PCL’s
institutional survival. 
 
Sent from my iPhone
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Christine Siegel <2019electioncommittee@gmail.com> Tue, Apr 23, 2019 at 5:10 PM
To: David Bouffard <davidtylerbouffard@hotmail.com>

Received, thank you.  
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4/23/2019 Gmail - CONGRATULATIONS

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