By Dianne Anderson

Just days away from Election Day, and all eyes are on the races.

Anyone with a cell phone, a laptop or watching the endless candidate and proposition ads on television may know their vote draws near, but others may still be confused about where to go or how to do their civic duty.

Most registered voters have already received their ballots by mail, and millions nationwide have already cast their votes.

Ballots can be mailed back out to their Registrar of Voters without a stamp and be counted if postmarked on or before Election Day. For anyone who forgot about this election, there is still time to get in on the action.

Same-day voter registration at https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration/same-day-reg, which is also offered at all county election offices. Those who may have changed their address can recheck if they are registered to vote at  https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/registration-status.

Ballot drop-offs and early voting centers are available in every county in the state at https://caearlyvoting.sos.ca.gov. Or, it’s as easy as dropping it off in the mailbox, running it down to the Registrar of Voters, or rolling up to any of many drop-off points until November 8 at 8:00 p.m.

For all those who still seek the old-fashioned thrill of standing in line and waiting for the “I Voted” sticker, they can locate their local polling places here  https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/voting-california/voter-hotlines.

For whatever reason, those who find themselves without their ballot need not worry. Legally, no one should be turned away from voting for lack of proof of status. Voters can simply request their provisional conditional ballot, and any issues will be worked out at a later time.

For statewide voter registration information, see all county elections office at

https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/county-elections-offices

In Long Beach, see all vote centers and drop-off locations at:

https://longbeach.gov/cityclerk/elections/election-home-page/

and https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/city-clerk/media-library/documents/elections/2022/vote-center-ballot-boxes-2022

In Orange County, see early voting information and all vote centers at

https://ocvote.gov/elections/2022-general-election/vote-center-locations

or, https://www.ocvote.gov/voting/voting-and-dropoff-locations-by-election

For San Bernardino County Polling Places, and 76 ballot drop-boxes locations, see https://sbcountyelections.com/Voting/PPL/2022/0607

https://sbcountyelections.com/voting/mailballotdropoff/

https://sbcountyelections.com/elections/2022/1108/

For Riverside County Polling Places,https://www.voteinfo.net/Elections/20221108/2022_11_08.asp

EDUCATION CANDIDATES – San Bernardino County

Parents and voters will decide which education candidates have the most experience to get students back on track to better grades and address post-pandemic challenges.

Gwen Dowdy-Rodgers – San Bernardino County Board of Education Area D

For Dr. Gwen Dowdy-Rodgers, parent engagement and student success are the priority, but also transparency about community concerns that are brought before the school board, such as mental health.

Fiscal responsibility is another big concern. Before COVID-19, she said a lot of budgets were already stretched.

“We really have to be fiscally responsible in the budget [and] capture those things that normally we might have had to push back a few years, things like wellness centers are on top of everyone’s list. It’s for our students as well as our staff,” said Dowdy-Rodgers, who has served on the San Bernardino City Unified School District Board of Trustees since 2015.

A long-time education advocate and community development specialist, Dowdy-Rodgers has fought for foster youth and student rights for over a decade. She said having worked with mental health issues over the years, she sees the need for social-emotional support and that students have space to recoup from the pandemic.

The past two years have been grueling. Staff are aware, trying to regain a sense of normalcy, reassessing and re-engaging students.

“When we say mental wellness, it’s happening to all of us. We all have to be aware of our mental wellness state and what we’re intentionally doing about it,” said Dowdy-Rodgers, who holds a Doctorate in educational leadership, a bachelor’s degree in social work, a master’s degree in human resources management and management.

During her time on the San Bernardino City Unified School Board as a member and past president, she feels that her best contribution will be experience and a wealth of knowledge.

If elected to “Area D” service area, she has connections and resources spanning decades to share with Rialto students and parents, across San Bernardino, into the High Desert and Phelan area.

“That’s what I’m looking forward to, being able to now share that connectivity and support, even in my role as First 5 commissioner, to take that information up the hill of what we have available,” said Dowdy Rodgers, who was sworn in as a First 5 San Bernardino Commissioner earlier this year.

Among her numerous other posts, she has extensive background in community service with several nonprofits. She is the President & CEO of Arrowhead United Way. She has served on San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Gangs and Drugs Taskforce and the San Bernardino Policy Advisory Council.

Keeping continuity as families have moved from city to city is important. She said parents need to be familiar with local access to resources and services.

Everyone is also still waiting on data of COVID-19 impact, particularly for Black students, but the expectation is the pandemic created a great disconnect. She stressed there must be a non-punitive approach to address learning loss.

There are certain challenges ahead.

“Which is why mental health is such a major factor right now. We want to have grace as we speak to these students and families, there is no blame,” she said. “COVID happened to us, and now we have to find out what’s missing, what the disconnect is and how we can quickly reconnect it.”

Don English – Chaffey Board of Education

Don English, who has served in education for 28 years, was appointed to Chaffey Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees last December (Area 4) Rancho Cucamonga.

On his website, English states that he is focused on three areas as an educator, including building positive, progressive, and safe learning environments, as well as creating a culture of inclusivity, equity, and access, and ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed.

In the past, he has received recognition from the San Bernardino County Superintendent of School, and as Teacher of the Year by the NAACP. He has also served as principal and director of the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools’ Children Deserve Success program.

English, also Executive Director of the San Bernardino County Gangs and Drugs Task Force, holds his master’s degree in Educational Administration from California State University, San Bernardino.

He has received broad support, including from the San Bernardino County Teachers Association, San Bernardino Democratic Central Committee, and Assemblymember James Ramos (40th District), to name a few.

“My commitment and experience in Education of our youth has taken me to the State level as your representative, as President-Elect of the California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance and Co-Director of the Association of California School Administrators. I am grateful to serve Chaffey/Rancho Cucamonga students/schools/community directly, locally, and on the steps of the State of California,” he said on his campaign website.