LAKE COUNTY — Candidates for Lake County Superintendent of Schools gathered with supporters this weekend as they continued campaigning:
Wally Holbrook
On Friday night, Wally Holbrook and his supporters were at the Lakeport Yacht Club. Volunteer support was evident, with the wine, glasses and linens all donated and the food had been prepared by volunteers.
“I”ve gotten a chance to meet really nice people,” Holbrook said, when asked what had been most rewarding about his campaign so far. “I”ve started going door-to-door and have found people to be open and receptive. It kind of renews your faith in humanity.”
Holbrook”s goals as superintendent of schools is to bring people together and strengthen the county”s committment to children and education and provide children witih skills and direction to thrive in the 21st century. He pledges that as superintendent of schools, he will complete a financial and performance review of each program and service administered by the county office, initiate a 100-day plan for student success, establish a practice of working together, starting with district superintendents; create the conditions for success and instill a “can do” attitude and fulfill four basic responsibilities to lead, support, administer and partner.
Holbrook has 16 years” experience as a district superintendent, including five years in Kelseyville, where he also served as a principal to Kelseyville Gard Street School and Mountain Vista Middle School.
Holbrook presently serves as an education leadership coach in Northern California. During the past four years, Holbrook has coached 15 newly-appointed principals and superintendents on ways to handle issues they have faced as new administrators.
For more information about Wally Holbrook, visit www.electwallyholbrook.com.
Judy Luchsinger
Judy Luchsinger and her supporters were at the Saw Shop Gallery Bistro in Kelseyville on Saturday night. The mood was celebratory as Luchsinger had just received a plaque from the California Schoolmasters” Club, recognizing her dedicated, noteworthy and continuous service to the education proffession and the club.
Asked what had been most rewarding about her campaign, “Reconnecting with people I haven”t seen in a while,” Luchsinger said. “It has been a pleasure.”
Luchsinger served for 16 years as Lake County Superintendent of Schools, from 1979 to 1995. She left the post to develop a management consulting firm, QED Consulting Group.
Luchsinger said that when she left the county office, it functioned as an efficient, service providing office. “The 2008 and 2009 Grand Jury reports raised my concerns about the county office.”
In October, Luchsinger announced her intention to run for superintendent of schools. She cited escalated costs to run the county office and diminished service to local districts. “People asked me to run, from all walks of life, from both sides of the political spectrum,” Luchsinger added.
Luchsinger said her goals are to reestablish fiscal accountability in the superintendent”s office, reinstate meaningful support and services to local districts and, most important, provide quality tools and classroom resources to improve student performance.
Luchsinger added that various district functions could be streamlined to save costs: including bulk purchasing of books and supplies, a unified calendar and bell schedule and unification of food services into a county-wide menu program that purchases food from local suppliers.
For more information about Judy Luchsinger, visit www.vote4judy.com.
Contact Cynthia Parkhill at ObserverAmerican@gmail.com.
