Tyra Weis is seeking a berth on the Chino City Council in the November election, she said, “because I believe that it is our responsibility as citizens to step up and serve our community. Chino is a community that I have grown to love and I want to help make decisions to keep us vibrant, growing and to ensure that we remain a place where everyone has opportunities.”
This is the second election in which Chino has held elections using the ward electoral system adopted in 2016. Weis is competing in the city’s District 1, the northernmost quadrant on the city’s four-district electoral map, where Paul Rodriguez is the appointed incumbent. Weis is Rodriguez’s only opponent in the race.
Weis said, “I believe that I am qualified to serve on the Chino City Council because I have the energy, passion and skills needed to work collaboratively with others. I come from a teaching background where I have cultivated listening and coaching skills, patience, concern for others and a dedicated work ethic.”

Tyra Weis

In outlining the goals she has set for herself and the council should she be elected, Weis said, “I believe that Chino has many programs in place to address residents’ needs, and wish to encourage more partnerships among businesses, schools and the school district and other community organizations.”
She said, “A listening tour could be a great beginning to finding out what our community needs and wants. It is possible that revisions to the budget be proposed to address community needs and requests.”
According to Weis, “The City of Chino has experienced excellent financial management. We are well positioned to provide add-on services and programs at this time, and still maintain the high quality services Chino residents have come to expect.”
Weis is endorsed by and is a member of the organization Protect Chino which mounted a successful campaign last year against a 180-home development in north Chino. She would work to see that the city’s general plan is followed for future growth. She also is calling for Measure M, a growth control measure passed by the city’s voters in 1988 under which land in Chino cannot be rezoned to allow more homes than is specified in the city’s general plan or zoning maps without a vote of the city’s residents, to be revised to provide protections to all of Chino and its sphere of influence.
Weis is a teacher with the Pomona Unified School District. “In the school district where I work, I have served in various leadership roles, including serving as the full-time release president of the Associated Pomona Teachers from 2009 to 2013,” Weis said. “In those roles I learned about bargaining, budgeting, communication, advocacy and transparency. I have served on the state council, the policy-making body of the California Teachers Association, for six years and am about to begin a final three-year term on the School Safety and Management Committee. I am a long-time delegate to the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly, a week-long teacher convention held annually each July. We make decisions to guide the National Education Association in its mission – supporting great public schools for everyone. I am a recent graduate of the National Education Association’s See Educators Run Academy, encouraging educators to run in political races from the schoolhouse to the statehouse.”
Weis is in her 25th year as a classroom teacher with the Pomona Unified School District. “I have taught at the same school, San Antonio Elementary, for the entire time with the exception of my service as the teacher union president for four years. I am currently teaching a kindergarten-first grade combination class and have taught grades K through 5 while employed in the district.”
Weis attended Mountain View High School in El Monte and subsequently earned an AA degree from Mount San Antonio College in Walnut. She then obtained a bachelor of science degree in communication arts from Cal Poly Pomona, followed by a masters degree in design based learning from Cal Poly Pomona. She also obtained a teaching credential from Cal Poly Pomona, where she participated in the Great Leaders for Great Schools Academy, a leadership development program between Cal Poly Pomona and the Pomona Unified School District.
Weis said, “I moved to Chino with my parents who required more care due to declining health issues.”
Weis is divorced with two grown children. “I am in a long-term relationship and have a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law and five grandchildren from eight months old to eight years old,” she told the Sentinel. “They, along with my students, keep me young. My brother lives nearby as does my sister and her husband.”
Weis can be reached by email at vote4tyra@gmail.com, through Facebook at Elect Tyra Weis to Chino City Council District 1 or on her campaign website at votetyra.com.
“I am speaking out about communication, advocacy and transparency as a candidate and would welcome input on issues such as affordable housing, programs for our homeless population, safety and partnerships with businesses, the school district and other community organizations,” she said.
-M.G.