Free City Is a Great Opportunity, Downtown Center Closure Was 'A Practical Solution,' Says Trustee Candidate Rome Moses Jones

Rome Moses Jones, co-executive director of nonprofit organization Bayview Association for Youth and a real estate agent at Pinpoint Building Group, grew up in “an underserved” community in the Bayview-Hunters Point. He is running for a seat at the trustees table for City College District with “strong family support.”

Jones acknowledges Free City as a great opportunity for San Francisco Residents to be able to start a new chapter of their life.“Because education is expensive,” Jones said. “I think this is a great launching pad to education, and when it’s free, it’s just one less barrier for someone to face.”

Jones said that the student body has to pursue partnerships and challenge this administration by pushing the city to keep their promise.

“We have to make sure that we are selecting the proper forums to continue to advocate for the college,” Jones said. Jones' stance on the Downtown Center closure is, he thinks that it was a practical solution. Keeping it open would “hold back” the college. 

“Any way that we can tighten up our efficiency while also taking care of our population. I think that makes sense.” 

Jones says that he expects to pick up a little more in September, stating that August was more about getting paper work in but has not gotten super deep into the campaign yet. Jones hopes to do a fundraiser in early September. 

“Luckily, like in the role that I'm in now, my schedule’s fairly flexible. I’m not at work all day or anything like super set hours.”

When asked if he is running on a particular platform, Jones said no.

Jones’ nonprofit work has been in education and educational pathways for young people, particularly for underserved communities. He notes from his experience that when it comes to education, it means adapting more to changes to become more technology friendly such as integrating internet and online resources into teaching.

Jones said he comes from “a diverse household.” He lived with eight siblings. Some siblings were high-level executives, lawyers and some were incarcerated. 

“We had our struggles and part of those struggles came from being underserved from our larger public institutions such as the cities and those entities that fall under,” Jones said.

Jones is a father of two children under 4. He received his associate degree in real estate at City College in 2024, and is now pursuing his master’s in public administration at San Francisco State University. Jones said that ways of growth “look different all the time,” and varies from generation. 

“Each different promoting class presents different challenges and different needs and not the same from a couple of years ago,” Jones said.

Jones said he’s capable of fulfilling the role as a trustee because he has an interest in local politics on a more macro level. His main goal is “protecting the institution's” ability to provide opportunities for growth, giving students an opportunity to do something different and change the trajectory of their upward mobility.

If voted as a trustee, Jones plans to be extremely accessible and transparent about what the board will be working on. He said the importance of not only keeping promises made but “keeping the promises made from the beginning,” and before him.

“I’ll make sure that’s delivered to the fullest of our capabilities as the board,” Jones said.

When it comes to student housing, Jones also wants the college to be able to maximize the highest and best use of real estate available to them. He also states that the college has to push on those developers to provide pathways for students  so that there are employment opportunities.

“If providing student housing and educator housing is an option, we need to pursue that option,” Jones said. 

Jones suggests that if those options are not feasible, the college should pursue partnerships and developers that can make that an option.

“Even though affordable housing is really tough to get built, particularly in San Francisco, I definitely think that there’s a partnership to be explored with developers,” Jones said.

Jones also highlights the importance of childcare, especially in City College, in order for students to increase upward mobility by pursuing education. He states, “We have to make sure that we’re getting our childcare professionals the adequate training to make sure our kids are safe.”

“It’s important that we should prioritize it. I think we should pay our childcare and educators liveable wages and I think that we should make it more accessible,” Jones said. 

He lost both of his parents in 2021, and at the time, he was expecting a second child. 

“There was an opportunity there for me to fall into a lot of things that could have been a worse influence in my life,” Jones said. 

“People can go a lot of different directions, face certain things,” Jones said. “So the more options that we give them to do positive things that contribute to society in a healthy way, I think the better off we’ll be in general.”

Eight San Franciscans, who all want to work on behalf of the college's students, are vying for the roles of City College's board of trustees on Election Day this year. Trustee Ruth Ferguson, appointed by Mayor Daniel Lurie after former trustee Alan Wong became District 4 Supervisor last semester, will run uncontested for her seat.

Four seats, including Ferguson's, will be up on the ballot during the 2028 election period. This trustees race is the biggest field of hopeful trustees in most recent memory and is one shadowed by turnover, budget strain and open questions about the college's direction.

The seats are opening up as trustees Anita Martinez, Susan Solomon and Vick Chung leave the board, and are clearing the way for a new majority to weigh in on fiscal responsibility, the future of students and their experiences, and the fate of the Downtown Center. Aliya Chisti, Luis Zamora and Heather McCarthy will remain as trustees.

Read more of this year's Ballot Beat here.