Richard Holober is on track to defeat his colleague Tom Mohr in a tight faceoff between incumbents in the San Mateo County Community College District Board of Education’s first district election, according to initial election results.
Meanwhile, local school districts seemingly gathered mixed results in their quest to track down support for tax measures, as voters in the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District are close to rejecting a parcel tax while San Bruno Park Elementary School District voters approved a bond proposal.
Holober pulled down 52.3 percent of the vote in the District 4 race, according to initial Election Day tallies from the county Elections Office, ahead of Mohr’s 47.7 percent. Should results hold, Holober is set to be joined on the board by newcomer Thomas Nuris, who ran uncontested to fill the District 2 seat.
Holober, first elected to the board in 1997, expressed appreciation for the support voters showed in the race for the seat to represent the ward including San Mateo, Foster City and Belmont.
“I do feel like I have a pretty comfortable lead, but we will probably have to wait until the end of the week” said Holober, in his lead over Mohr, who he has served alongside for four years. Preliminary results from Election Day will be updated by county officials again Thursday, Nov. 8, as well as Tuesday, Nov. 13 and again Friday, Nov. 16.
Measure V, a $298 parcel which collected 64.55 percent support — about 2 percent short of the supermajority required to pass — would generate $10 million annually to help the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District close its lasting budget deficit. The initiative was floated in the wake of an earlier measure designed to extend a previously existing parcel tax, which was narrowly defeated by voters as well.
Meanwhile Measure X, a $79 million bond designed to fund an overhaul of San Bruno Park Elementary School District facilities, collected 66.74 percent support, ahead of the 55 percent threshold required to pass.
For her part, Superintendent Stella Kemp expressed her appreciation over the success of the measure intended to finance reconstruction of aging campuses.
“This is a major victory for San Bruno on many levels,” said Kemp, in a prepared statement. “Good schools equate to a stronger community that attracts new families and businesses. I, along with the countless endorsers, donors and amazing volunteers who supported Measure X, are deeply grateful to the community for responding so favorably to the bond measure to fix our schools.”
Incumbents largely ruled the day in other school board races across the Peninsula, as a majority of trustees in the San Mateo County Board of Education, Belmont-Redwood Shores and San Bruno Park elementary school districts are slated to return to their post.
Incumbent Susan Alvaro collected 61 percent of the vote in the District 1 race for the county Board of Education, defeating challenger Brandon Kwan. She will be again joined on the board by fellow incumbents Hector Camacho and Beverly Gerard, who ran uncontested races in their districts.
Incumbents Henry Sanchez and Andy Mason will return to their posts on the San Bruno Park Elementary School District Board of Trustees, where they will be joined by newcomer Teri Chavez. Sanchez and Mason pulled down 24 percent and 27 percent of the vote respectively, while Chavez led all vote getters with 31 percent. Challenger Chuck Zelnik collected 17 percent of the vote.
Incumbents Amy Koo and Suvarna Bhopali as well as appointed incumbent Rahila Passi will go back to the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District, as they collected 26 percent, 19 percent and 21 percent of the vote respectively. The trio bested challengers April Northrop, Shaunna Solorzano and Honglin Su, who received 15 percent, 8 percent and 8 percent of the vote respectively.
Meanwhile, the South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees is headed for a near overhaul, as newcomers Mina Richardson and Eddie Flores will join incumbent John Baker to fill three of the five board seats. Baker will regain his seat with 19 percent voter support, while Richardson and Flores, who collected 16 percent and 15 percent of the vote respectively, will assume seats vacated by the outgoing Patrick Lucy and Rosa Acosta, who was elected as South San Francisco city clerk. The three came out on top of challengers Patty Gomez, Reem Nasrah, Kristina Anderson, Chad Ryan and Maria Gonzalez.
For the Redwood City Elementary School District Board of Trustees, Cecilia Marquez bested Arnulfo Prado is a race of among two newcomers for the District 5 seat. Marquez, who collected 55 percent voter support, will join incumbent Maria Diaz-Slocum, who ran uncontested for the District 2 seat. The district election was the first of its kind for the school system since a move away from an at-large system.
In the San Mateo Union High School District, incumbents Linda Lees Dwyer, Peter Hanley and Bob Griffin were re-elected as all three ran uncontested for another term. As was the case in the Millbrae Elementary School District Board of Trustees, as incumbents Denis Fama, Lynne Ferrario and Don Revelo ran unopposed.
(1) comment
“In the San Mateo Union High School District, incumbents Linda Lees Dwyer, Peter Hanley and Bob Griffin were re-elected as all three ran uncontested for another term.” Curiously, I didn’t see this trio on my ballot (and I live in the SMUHSD area) nor do I see results tabulated for them at the County Election Results website.
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