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You have heard the old adage, it takes two.
If we change the focus slightly on that saying we can apply it to decision making. In so much as, you cannot make an informed decision without comparing the new information received to at least one similar thing you have already experienced. For example, you could not say you were eating a good orange if you have never eaten an orange before. You could not say you were driving a good car if you never driven a car before. To make a judgment, or discernment, or to even ask an appropriate clarifying question our minds require perspective and comparison on that topic. To overstate the obvious, the more complex the situation, a greater depth of experience and understanding of the topic is required.
I have heard a number of people say that the City of Vallejo is a large size organization and would best be served by leaders with experience in such institutions. I believe this to be true and in my honest opinion, we are extremely fortunate to have Tonia Lediju running for the Vallejo City Council in District 3. Tonia brings with her both scholarship and experience, having a Masters and a PhD are in Organizational Systems and Leadership. Currently she holds the position as CEO of the Housing authority of San Francisco. Previous to that she was the Chief Audit Executive for the City Service Audit Division. Of anyone running in this election, Doctor Lediju has both the education and the experience that we need here in Vallejo.
GVRD is a small organization with its $11 million dollar budget, comparatively. Still, with only two formal meetings a month and a separate monthly one-on-one with the General Manager, I can tell you there is still information that I am gathering to help improve my decision making here. As a council member for the city with information coming at you from a virtual firehouse, I can understand why it takes two years or more for a new council member to get their feet below them. I mean, how many pages of information do we ask them to read every two weeks; plus, special meetings? A challenge even for the experienced.
Thankfully Tonia Lediju is more than experienced. To receive her Masters, she was required to read and synthesize a mountain of information on Organizational Systems. She then returned to school, after mastering the subject, to become a contributing expert on the topic and earn a PhD. All of which she applies daily to the civic leadership role she holds, and has held, with the city and county of San Francisco for over a decade and a half. Scholarship and experience.
What I found most impressive about Tonia though, was not her education, which is impressive; not her experience, which is extensive and fantastically specific to our needs; but her humanity. I only had a short time to speak with Doctor Lediju and had anticipated a dry, academic approach to governmental leadership. I found just the opposite. She openly shared her experience running the Housing Authority and the personal nature in which she involves herself with the families whose housing she oversees. There were sad stories, scary stories, but mostly stories of hope as she told me how the organization under her leadership follows the law, holds itself accountable to the Mayor, and treats the residents with humanity first.
This is no small task. Even the best of us would become inured to the omnipresent facts of life this constituency has to deal with daily. Not Tonia. Her education? Her experience? They have just given her the tools to be more effective as a person, a human, in the role she holds.
We have been very fortunate to have Mina Loera-Diaz represent us in District 3. The Vice Mayor has been a strong voice in support of equity and accountability.
Her passionate arguments from the dais, coupled with her awe-inspiring involvement in the community, has given us 4 years of true leadership. Thank you Vice Mayor. Doctor Tonia Lediju stands to be seated as the next council member from District 3. She has big shoes to fill but I am optimistic that she too will bring not only the leadership that we need here in Vallejo, but the humanity to go with it.
— Thomas Judt/Vallejo
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