Gray has served on the city’s Community Service Commission.  A stint on the Athletic Council was short lived when he realized that it was mainly an advisory board, not a decision making body, which he preferred and was used to participating in.

His campaign is definitely ‘grass-roots’ with modest financial backing.  He was pleased to announce that the L.A. Firefighters Association had given their backing. TANLA (Teacher’s Association) has also endorsed him. His doctorate is in Education Leadership from U.S.C. He feels very confident in his ability to collaborate, listen to his colleagues, and willingness to come to consensus.

Gray admits that he is not well known but feels he can spread his news through social media, Facebook and the like.  He plans to call on school groups and do a great deal of walking the community for the next few weeks.

Questions:

When asked whether he would be committed to seeing that Measure 1 funds are used for the purposes intended, he agreed that an oversight committee should be in place to see that this is happening.

When asked if he would be ready to meet the biggest challenges immediately, Gray stated that he would be ready to participate with the rest of the council to evaluate and come to the decisions that were best for the community.  His   background in decision making would be key to success here to getting things done.  He will be up to speed in a prompt manner. He has found through his positions as Principal for 9 years in 3 different schools and his School District Office experience in State Funding programs have trained him well. A State audit found that his District was the only one of many that had zero compliance issues.

When asked if he thought that the school experiences perform in a different way to problem solve, Gray responded that it was not necessarily different from the way City Councils do. He believes that performance of problem solving would be enhanced by his long experiences as a parent where decisions are shared, his analytical abilities enhanced by his  School management skills, and that his agenda to serve the community would override his own personal agenda,  If an issue does not serve the Community, it is not in anyone’s best interest.

When asked if the frustration he experienced with other positions – especially with the athletic council situation - would color his performance on City council in decision making, he responded that it would not. He understands what the City Council has authority to do and that it will be necessary to make decisions appropriate with State and Federal mandates.  He is confident that the City has guidelines on how to deal with these matters and that together he and they will look forward to appropriate agreements.