Ex-city school board member running for commissioner
Isamac Torres-Figueroa seeking Democratic nomination for Berks post
When Isamac Torres-Figueroa was a little girl, her grandfather told her something that has stuck with her all her life.
Daniel Torres, a noted Reading Latino advocate and leader who founded Centro Hispano, told his granddaughter that if she wanted to see improvements in her community she needed to make them happen herself.
“My grandfather taught me that if I wasn’t part of the solution, I was part of the problem,” she said. “He said that if you want to see your community do well you have to get involved. That stuck with me.”
Torres-Figueroa took her grandfather’s message to heart and has tried to live by his words.
It led her to serve on the Reading School Board, and to aid in getting Latinos elected to three local posts for the first time: Reading Mayor Eddie Moran,
state Rep. Manny Guzman and Berks County Commissioner Michael Rivera.
Now, she’s looking to do even more. She has decided to run in the Democratic primary election for county commissioner.
“Almost everything I have done before has been leading me down this path of public service,” she said. “My entire focus has been on helping to elevate my community.”
All three commissioner positions are up for election in 2023. Two Democrats and two Republicans will be chosen by voters in the primary election to move onto the general election in the fall when the top three vote-getters will win seats.
Torres-Figueroa said she has what it takes to serve on the board, touting her ability to listen to the concerns of community members and take action on finding solutions.
“I’m a people person,” she said. “The most important part of being an elected official is being accessible and doing the work. And those are things that I have demonstrated that I can do during my time on the school board.”
Torres-Figueroa said fostering communication with other local officials and community partners to address critical issues is also a necessary part of being a county leader.
“I understand what it takes to build relationships because without that cooperation there are very few things that the commissioners can accomplish alone,” she said. “We all have to work together to elevate Berks County.”
Torres-Figueroa said she already has some ideas about how to do that.
She said that in her role as head of the Berks County Latino Chamber of Commerce she has seen the work the county is doing with the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance to help small-business owners. But, she said, even more could be done on that front.
She said her previous experience as a school board member gave her the ability to understand the budget process and the decisions that come along with having to pass a balanced spending plan.
She said that through her conversations with local leaders she has heard concerns about making sure people have the skills and training needed for the job market of today with help from the Berks County Workforce Development Board.
“The county is helping to fund some of these entities that create and sustain these kinds of programs,” she said. “Commissioners have the opportunity to determine how much money goes into these programs that are at the forefront of these issues. So even though the commissioners may not necessarily get to decide how these programs are rolled out, we do have the power to put more funding behind these programs.”
Torres-Figueroa will be running in the Democratic primary for one of two nominations up for grabs. She will face Spring Township Supervisor Jess Royer, Twin Valley School Board member Douglas Metclafe and former state Rep. Dante Santoni Jr.
Commissioners are elected to four-year terms and receive a salary of 110,338.
The primary election will be held May 16.