Caitlin Quinn, 25 — Ballot Breakers

Caitlin Quinn 1.jpg — Caitlin Quinn, 25, is running for Petaluma School Board. A former student leader at UC Berkeley and an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, she talks about her passion for education and what's not being addressed in her school district.

What was the best advice you received before you ran?

I don’t remember who said it exactly, but at the United State of Women in May, the message was just “Just run. Unqualified older people run all the time. Unqualified men run all the time.”

Clearly, any shit head can become president, so why can’t a college educated young woman who actually went to these schools run for school board?

In your words then, what does a school board do?

The school board is the elected body that oversees the school district. Technically, the superintendent reports to the school board, but in practice, they look to him for guidance and do what he and the staff suggests. Even if he was perfect superintendent, that is not the model that a school board is supposed to be.

The school board makes the final decisions with teacher’s union about contracts, they oversee administration and staff at the district level, and sets priorities for different grants that we would seek out. Right now, it doesn't seem like the current school board has any priorities and has just fallen on staff recommendations. It seems what staff wants to focus on is getting a handle on vaping on campus. While it is definitely a problem, I don't think it’s Petaluma’s biggest problem.

At the last school board meeting, members didn’t ask staff many questions, they just rubber stamped it. In my opinion, a school board would be more proactive and take steps to set the agenda themselves.

What’s your agenda then? What are the issues in your school district that are getting neglected, that you want to address?

Title IX compliance is a huge one. Obviously, I don't know everything that's happening because they have to protect students’ privacy. But I know even looking at their website, that they’re not in compliant with Title IX.

A lot of students have told me about their stories of harassment of a sexual nature and I know for a fact that the Title IX coordinator that they have, some who are not even employed by the district anymore, are just people that will brush it under the rug.

So right now, I don't think Petaluma schools are compliant with Title IX. I’ve also heard of violations of Title VI. Unfortunately, we're not even compliant with federal law it sounds like. So even though it’s a low bar, one of my goals is to get us compliant with federal law.

If you had the magic wand that could change anything you wanted in the school district, and you could get universal support for it, what would you do?

I would somehow fix our discipline policy to something that looks more like restorative justice or having the option for restorative justice. I don't think restorative justice work in many situations, but for the most part, it would be really helpful. It would help us understand why kids are bullying other kids, and I think restorative justice would help heal both of them and end the cycle of violence with this generation.

You’re in direct service work now. Why run for office?

I think I know a lot about policy and policy-making. I did that in student government, and I have a knack for it. I enjoy doing direct service. It’s important, and it needs to be done. But it's really just plugging up holes at a certain point.

It’s hard to do it for years and years and not want to change what allows problems to occur in the first place. So for me, being the person who can be a decision maker makes the most sense. Instead of trying to convince other decision makers, I want to be the one who can make decisions, listen to people, and not have to feel like I'm shouting into a void anymore.

So many young people choose to go to state capitol or to Washington D.C. Why did you choose to return to Petaluma and focus on local politics?

I remember being in Berkeley and seeing the politics there. I would see people run for city council in Berkeley and Oakland who weren't originally from the area. I saw how the community really didn’t trust them as much. Then I thought about why. Not that you can't move to a new place and be really involved, but people would live there for three or four years, then run for office.

And then after four years of Berkeley, even though I loved it, I was ready to go back to Petaluma. It's a weird town, it's a really cool really weird town. It’s really unique from the towns around them and the people the people just care a bunch. They really do care about Petaluma and each other. I want to get that passion towards the things that I think need to be changed. To me, it makes sense to try and represent where you’re from and where you grew up.

What past experience do you think prepared you the most for the campaign trail?

I’ve canvassed and phone banked for tons of races. I’ve also done a ton of voter registration efforts. In the 2012 election, we registered over 8500 people to vote, which was really exciting and really hard, but really awesome.

And then with student government, we had legislation, but it was really more about representing students and trying to translate what students cared about and channel it into things that would resonate with our chancellor, with the UC Regents, and with lawmakers in Sacramento.

Caitlin Quinn 2.jpg — “I think I have a lot of experience translating young people's stories and experiences into something that other decision makers can understand, and I think it carries a lot more weight coming from a young person like me.”

I think I have a lot of experience translating young people's stories and experiences into something that other decision makers can understand, and I think it carries a lot more weight coming from a young person like me.

Throughout a stressful campaign, who is your support network? And what is your self-care?

My support network is my friends, my parents, my partner, my roommate, and I'm trying to tap into the support network of other progressives in Petaluma which has been really awesome and healing. Talking and talking helps so much. And screaming. Sometimes I just need to scream with my roommate or with my best friends.

Also spending time in the community and spending time with my high school mentees so that I remember why I doing this. I'm genuinely not doing it for me, running for office is a pain in the butt. I would love to just donate 25 bucks to someone else good who is running but there aren’t any other people my age that seem interested in running. I don't want to wait. I don’t want to wait to represent young people when I’m still a young person.

What do doubts you think people have about you as a candidate, and what do you say to the people think you're too young to run?

There'll always be people who think I'm too progressive or radical to run. Whereas, I tend to agree more than people who don't think I’m progressive or radical enough. But I am here to represent what I think is best, but I am open to any and all ideas. I do want to be a voice for young people and want to be a voice for all people. Right now, nobody on the school board lives on my side of town even though the school board represents both sides of Petaluma.

Caitlin Quinn 3.jpg — “If nothing else, even if you don't win, you're changing the conversation. You’re changing what people think politicians look like.”

It just needs to change. I think that if not me, who? I'm not going wait anymore. I'm sick of waiting and I'm not the perfect candidate, but I think I'm the best candidate for representing the people who have actually attended these schools and want to make it better for the future kids coming through.

What advice would you give to any other young people who are thinking of running but aren't sure?

Go for it. If nothing else, even if you don't win, you're changing the conversation. You’re changing what people think politicians look like. By campaigning and campaigning for other young people, you’ll get more young people’s input into the process and the whole electoral system.

The views expressed in this interview are those of the candidate, and do not reflect the beliefs and views of Ballot Breakers or its staff.