Gonzales and Matilde Zimmermann (different vice presidential candidates in different states), he received 24,672 votes. Mason was a 1988 plaintiff in a lawsuit against government spying on activists. A federal court decision codified the successful fifteen-year legal effort by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) regarding decades of spying and disruption by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. From 1996 until retirement in 2006, Mason worked at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB). He was appointed to the Access to Excellence Committee, designed to increase the admission of minority students with the California State University System. 1998 The police shooting of Charles Vaughn led to a new crisis intervention training for Monterey County police forces. In 2001 Mason was licensed as a clinical social worker (LCSW) by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. In 2002 Mason was elected President of the Monterey, California Peninsula chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for two consecutive terms Mason chaired a committee that successfully created Monterey Peninsula College's trustee districts to ensure voter equity and increase minority representation on the college's board of trustees Mason is the co-founder of The Village Project that provides services culturally tailored to African Americans and other populations historically underserved by mental health systems and after-school academy for high-risk students. Awards and recognition 1998 – Monterey County American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Ralph B. Atkinson Award 1999 – KSBW Jefferson Award for Outstanding Volunteer Community Service 2002 –Baha'i 23rd Human Rights Award 2007 – Stephen E Ross award for community service and advocate for justice: awarded by the NAACP of the Monterey Peninsula 2007 – Sam Farr, US House of Representatives :resolution in honor of Mel Mason Congressional Record October 22, 2011 – California Community College Hall of Fame induction 2018 – Cal Wellness Sabbatical Program Award designed to improve the long-term effectiveness of nonprofits by investing in the health and wellness of leaders and building staff capacity to manage operations (give them a sabbatical break.) 2018 – Monterey Peninsula College President's Award, shared with wife Regina Mason, for community service by MPC Alumni Books about Mason and his times Mel Mason: The Making of a Revolution (1982) . The trial of Leonard Peltier, Messerschmidt, James W. 1982 South End Press. Boston International Trotskyism, 1929–1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement, Alexander, R. J. (1991). Duke University Press. Reach: 40 black men speak on living, leading