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Senior making run at three open Alameda postsBy Susan McDonough, Alameda Times Star, August 13, 2004 VERNICE Boone wouldn't know Mayor Beverly Johnson if she sat down next to him at Jonathan's Sandwich House, a lunch spot Boone likes to visit when he's in the mood to celebrate. But sipping coffee in the shadow of City Hall on Wednesday, Boone discussed his odd entry into local politics, with a prayer book tucked into his vest pocket for good measure. He doesn't have a platform really, beyond being a good Christian, and he's never been to a City Council or a local school board meeting. But this 71-year-old unemployed substitute teacher is running for three elected seats in November: City Council, the school board and the local hospital district. His reason? He needs the money. "If I could make $600 a month, I would have a perfect life," said Boone, who substituted at Oakland schools for 15 years before being told in March his help was no longer needed. City Council members can earn up to $100 a month, school board members $150 a meeting (not to exceed $300 monthly). Hospital board members volunteer. "If he's doing it for the money, he might want to reconsider," said Mike McMahon, a second-year school board member who figures that with all the e-mailing and other homework that comes with the position, he earns between $3 and $4 an hour. Boone admits he thought the jobs would pay more when he dutifully solicited endorsement signatures, standing outside Longs Drugs four days, and paid his campaign filing fees. While his challengers might see the election as a portal to a brighter political future, Boone approached the open seats as a job opportunity. "I thought it was like a (Civil Service) job," he admitted. Despite the reverse sticker shock, Boone is pressing on with his campaign. He'll be plunking down 10 lawn signs to promote his bid for dual spots on the school board and City Council. (He has decided not to campaign too hard for the hospital board, although his name will appear on the ballot.) Nothing in the city charter prohibits someone from running for more than one local office, said Assistant City Attorney Terry Highsmith. But candidates should be aware that the state Attorney General's Office has issued an opinion that finds the school board and City Council "incompatible offices," she added. That's not enough to deter Boone, who says he will have plenty of time for the jobs if he gets them. For now, he spends his time volunteering at the Alameda Church of Christ, a nondenominational church, where he maintains the garden. "That garden gives me more anxiety and joy than anything in my life," said Boone, who lists cab driver, security guard, apartment manager and shoe shine experience among the many jobs he has held since his family left military housing here in 1943. He returned to Alameda in 1995. "Trying to make that (garden) beautiful is a hard job," he said. "But I figure I get to go to heaven if I do it right." Boone can use the same 30 signatures for both the City Council and school board race, and Martin Olsen, 84, was the first to sign Boone's petitions. "I come by the church here, and he's always working hard," said Olsen, who wandered into Jonathan's on Wednesday with three figs in his hands. The two chatted briefly about taxes and religion: "We believe in a God and a sense of responsibility to God," Olsen said as Boone bit into a fig. "You've got a good spirit, Mr. Olsen," Boone told him. "I think you'd make a good candidate." Hard luck has softened Boone, who lives in a nearby studio apartment and is a reluctant bachelor. His mouth, he said, tends to cause trouble. He will advocate for substitute teachers and try to carve out a respectable position for them in the education system if elected to the school board, he said. To City Hall, he will bring a fresh perspective. "If you're well-off, you don't always know what helps poor people," he said. In his case, it could be as simple as a job.
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