Editorial: Mohr for District 4 college board trustee

Though longtime board member Richard Holober and longtime educator and five-year board member Tom Mohr differ on how they came to face each other, the “how” no longer matters.

Realistically, the district and its constituency would be well-served by either of these men. Yet we have to choose one. Mohr is our choice.

We don’t make that choice lightly, and recognize that doing could mean the loss of a knowledgeable public servant.

Holober has a vast array of knowledge on the district and its recent history and is known for making sound decisions based on facts rather than emotion. He has been a steady hand on the board, and both accessible and accountable.

Mohr too has a long history in local education, having risen through the ranks from teacher to respected superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District until his retirement. Soon after, he came out of retirement to serve as president of Cañada College for four years and has served on the Board of Trustees since 2013. In his career, he has been known as a passionate yet affable proponent of student achievement and has kept his eye firmly on the primary goal of an education institution — the edification of its students. It has been that firm belief that has carried over to his work on the college district board and what would be most lost if he were to vacate this seat.

That is to what this race boils down, what will go missing if one candidate were to lose. While the loss of Holober’s institutional knowledge, active management and cool demeanor under pressure is great, the loss of Mohr’s finely honed perspective as an educator and administrator would be greater.

The business of the community college district is that of educating its students and Mohr has pushed for more analysis of how successful outcomes can be achieved for all its students. Moving students from high school level to a career or higher education is the primary goal and that has always been firmly in focus for Mohr. There has been recent progress toward that end, but now is not the time to take him out of the running. There is work still to be done and Mohr is ready, able and willing to forge ahead with the vigor he has exhibited for decades.