Odessa Lefrancois, a 16-year resident of East Contra Costa County and a 12-year county health services employee, made her candidacy for District 3 Supervisor official by completing her filing on Wednesday afternoon as supporters and volunteers dressed in “Vote for Odessa” shirts looked on at the County Office of Election and Registration.
Lefrancois is undeterred to join a race with five other candidates seeking to replace Mary Piepho.
“I’ve not only lived in the district for a long time, I’ve also worked (and still do) for the County for over a decade. I’ve seen County governance both from the inside and the outside. More importantly, I’ve experienced, firsthand, the effects of Supervisor decisions as a resident as well as an employee. I have something unique that the other candidates don’t have—a dual perspective and experience.”
Recent decisions from the Supervisors have led Lefrancois to her run for Supervisor.
“For nearly a decade, we have seen the County reduce or completely cut services, close down health care facilities, roll back employee salaries and benefits, and insist residents do more with less. Supervisors preached sacrifice,” Lefrancois detailed.
But one decision in particular concretized Odessa Lefrancois’ determination to run.
“When the Supervisors, minus Candace Andersen, voted to raise their own salaries by an unbelievable 33% while preaching sacrifice to everyone else, I knew this County needed new leadership,” Lefrancois stated. “That decision was incredibly self serving. Leaders serve the public interest, not their own interest.”
On her priorities for the County, she said, “I am neither a career politician nor a political opportunist chasing the next office. I am a mother, a resident, a County health services employee, a retired Navy veteran, and a community volunteer.”
As a mother and resident, Lefrancois’ priorities are improved public safety and the preservation of green spaces and wetlands for families to enjoy.
As an employee, Lefrancois’ priorities are better regional transportation infrastructure and County leadership that will treat their employees fairly, and to lead by example.
As a Navy vet, Lefrancois’ priorities are better health care delivery to all, especially our men and women in uniform who served honorably but now have mental and/or physical health needs to heal.
As a community volunteer for faith-based organizations working to serve those who are traditionally underrepresented and ignored, Lefrancois’ priorities are to become a Supervisor who is relentless in engaging her constituents and responding to the needs of those constituents.
For more information on Lefrancois, visit www.odessa4supervisor.com
1 comment
Of all the candidates so far I would say this one is THE political opportunist.
Odessa Lefrancois is the President of the East County NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) 1055 (according to their website) & 2nd Vice President of Local Union 1. She isn’t an elected politician but she clearly has been POLITICAL for quite some time. She HAS an agenda AND she has some special interests supporting her. Google her and see what she has been up to.
She knows how to play the political games but unfortunately she doesn’t have any experience in the processes of governing. She has not proven herself to be an unbiased leader that represents all of her constituents. She works on behalf of Local 1, a union that last month had 85 percent of the workers vote to leave Local 1 and go with the Teamsters, because one worker said “We organized with the Teamsters because we want county management to respect us as a real union,”
According to the CC Times: Richard Boyd, director of field operations for Local 1, said the vote wasn’t a surprise. He said the loss of Local 1 members to the Teamsters can be blamed on two situations, one of them being the problems within Local 1’s previous local staff team. A lack of response to Local 1 members by since-departed staff workers — “lack of care, lack of follow-up” — played a key role in Contra Costa workers seeking different representation, he said.
Local 1’s controversial “previous local staff” included Phil Hu and that is who is heading up Ms Lefrancois campaign.
Knowing all of that, reread this article and you will realize she is playing the “oh shucks I am just regular person card” while fronting an effort by one union that couldn’t even represent their own employees well enough to stay in power and now she wants to represent us? I say no to this one.
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