Union Supports Veronica Rivera

Dear Rachel,
   I was very grateful to see the Chronicle endorse Veronica Rivera in the ACC board run-off ["ACC Run-Off: Levin Defends His Record," News, June 4]. I do wish you had included at least one of my comments about the union's support of Veronica instead of an out-of-context, incorrect quote about her opponent's stealth candidacy. Veronica has the vision, energy, and dedication to be a great board member during a time of tremendous challenge. ACC needs the kind of reasoned, progressive leadership Veronica will provide. She is supportive of the faculty and staff that have made ACC one of the best community colleges in the U.S. We need her support because ACC is suffering from years of administrative incompetence. The college needs leaders who put students first and have the courage to make the tough decisions that will take.

   [ Rachel Proctor May replies: Mark Goodrich is correct that I misunderstood one of his statements about ACC Place 6 candidate Marc Levin. Goodrich was speaking only for himself when he said Levin did "pretty well" on an assessment of his stances; I mistakenly thought (and wrote) that he was speaking for the ACC faculty/staff union as a whole. This is not the case: Many union members did not rate the longtime conservative activist "pretty well" at all. For that, I apologize. However, Goodrich seems to be most concerned about what I didn't write rather than what I did. This story was about Levin's ability to convincingly present himself as a moderate despite a long history of far-right views, not an assessment of each candidate's positions and strengths. With such a focus, a listing of Rivera's many endorsements seemed enough illustration of the support she enjoys within the ACC community, without necessitating glowing quotes from supporters.]