www.montereycountyweekly.com march 30-april 5, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 17 When the board of the Pacific Grove Unified School District met on March 16, one of the first orders of business was to honor the culinary arts teacher at P.G. High School. Imogen Erickson had been recognized by the California Restaurant Association as educator of the year, and is on the shortlist for a national award, which will see her traveling to Dallas in July. PGHS Assistant Principal Shane Steinbeck gave remarks, and presented Erickson with flowers. “Thank you, Chef Erickson, for all you do for students in and outside the classroom,” Steinbeck said, commending her for creating a “brave, safe space” for students, which has proven to be wildly popular. “Enrollment has tripled—not even a pandemic could slow her class down.” The only thing, it seems, that could slow Erickson down is a big pile of bureaucratic red tape and a superintendent throwing shade her way. Less than an hour after receiving her commendation, Erickson stood up to tell the board about her dealings with Superintendent Ralph Porras. She read aloud from a selection of emails obtained via California Public Records Act requests. “We all wish and hope that she will curtail the histrionics and get back to her work, which she performs very well,” Porras wrote in 2019 to board member Brian Swanson. Swanson to Porras: “I hope [Erickson] chills on the ‘I’m horribly oppressed and live in fear’ vibe. I think most people love her and that we would just prefer they fall back in line with standard operating procedure.” The use of such explicitly sexist and dismissive language is remarkable to me, but not to Erickson. “I never like to assume the worst of people. There’s always this glimmer of hope that my gut is wrong, that I simply misunderstood someone’s actions,” she says. But her gut told her that somehow she’d offended Porras, and she believed that he was retaliating against her. Erickson was first hired in 2014 to teach culinary arts, part of PGUSD’s career technical education (CTE) program. A former baker, she uses the National Restaurant Association’s curriculum and says one year gives a student all of the basics they need to work in the industry, from an introduction to food safety and knife skills to basic principles about food cost and business. Within two years, she started fighting for tenure, and raising questions about whether other CTE teachers in programs like art should be reclassified. When her inquiries fell short, the California Teachers Association eventually sued on her behalf on Oct. 13, 2022. PGUSD sought to get the suit thrown out; in February, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills ruled the case should proceed. Erickson and the district settled in March, and the district agreed to reclassify Erickson. Part of why she wanted tenure, she says, is so that she could speak up—like she did on March 16, her first opportunity to flex that newfound security. “We are completely vulnerable without tenure,” she says. After Erickson spoke at the board meeting, two board members, Carolyn Swanson (no relation to Brian) and Jennifer McNary, urged her to formally request the board discuss the matter; Erickson says she has since filed such a request. Porras declined to comment on the tone in his 2019 emails, because he says they pertained to a personnel matter—a 2019 investigation that was opened and closed later that year, concerning the use of alcohol in Erickson’s classroom. (She told the board that alcohol was used for legitimate culinary purposes. Porras will not speak about specifics, but says no policies were developed or modified based on the investigation. Erickson believes the investigation was a form of retaliation against her.) “I believe that our school district has a duty to safeguard the dignity of those who advocate,” Carolyn Swanson, currently the board president, says by email. “I want to improve district culture.” In her remarks, Erickson said she was grateful to be recognized especially during March, which is Women’s History Month. But that also makes it all the more jarring to see this type of language used by a top official, wishing that a woman teacher would just go be quiet. I, for one, am glad that Erickson wasn’t, and hope that her success inspires others to speak up. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com. Off Flavor A culinary teacher’s battle at P.G. High reveals a troubling culture. By Sara Rubin Over Cooked…Last December, Squid was sad that party poopers in Pacific Grove—namely members of the P.G. Planning Commission—were actively seeking to hamstring outdoor dining parklets, despite overwhelming support from the community. A commission subcommittee developed an onerous list of guidelines which the commission voted 6-1 on Dec. 4 to send to P.G. City Council. One member of that subcommittee, Debby Beck, now serves on the council. On Dec. 22, the council seemed to steer away from the strict guidelines, especially after being bombarded with emails from parklet supporters. The council asked city staff to come back with a new ordinance and guidelines, which staff did on March 22. All seemed to be going well, until Beck, along with councilmembers Luke Coletti and Lori McDonnell, suddenly wanted—wait for it—a subcommittee! Coletti insisted they needed to do “a deep dive” to “strengthen” the staff guidelines by incorporating some of the Planning Commission’s suggestions. Beck, Coletti and McDonnell were joined by Councilmember Nick Smith in a 4-3 vote to approve formation of the subcommittee, with the former three as its members. They must complete their work before the current emergency ordinance sunsets on May 31. Coletti also called the “deep dive” a “slogfest.” Squid suspects a better term would be “clogfest.” Squid just wants to eat Squid’s calamari-free dinner al fresco in downtown P.G. in peace. Straw Draw…Squid’s not a fan of games of chance. Losing to a limpet if the dice turn up snake eyes? No thanks. Squid likes to outsmart Squid’s opponents, which in the sea, admittedly, isn’t that hard. But for the Del Rey Oaks City Council at a March 28 meeting—after Squid’s deadline—it was pure chance as to who could vote on an agreement to fund the ongoing maintenance of the first-funded (but not yet built) segment of the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway (aka FORTAG), a 28-mile bike and pedestrian trail loop connecting Del Rey Oaks and Seaside to Marina. Because the city is so small, it was expected that deciding who could vote on it would require putting the names of all five councilmembers in a hat, then drawing three at random. The issue: They all lived within 500 feet of the project, and per state law, have to recuse themselves from voting. But then on March 27, Mayor Scott Donaldson confirmed that the project had recently changed because PG&E wouldn’t allow the trail to go along its easement on Plumas Avenue in Seaside—it is instead moving toward the sidewalks—which puts his house just outside of the 500-foot limit (he thinks). Squid will be oozing around town, checking for measuring tapes to see who really gets to vote or not. the local spin SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “We have a duty to safeguard those who advocate.” Send Squid a tip: squid@mcweekly.com
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