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August 14, 2002
Los Gatos, California Since 1881 |
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Monte Sereno mayor's political fire burns on
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Gloria I. Wang
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Jack Lucas has been on the Monte Sereno City
Council for 18 years, and now the mayor says
he is ready for a new kind of political
career.
Lucas became the first official candidate for
the West Valley-Mission Community
College District Board of Trustees when he
filed papers with the county last week.
Lucas, who is in his fifth term as mayor, has
been in education for 42 years. He is a
former principal, coach and dean of students
and currently teaches math, science and
government at a continuation high school.
Due to term limits in Monte Sereno, Lucas
cannot run for reelection when his term
expires in November. Although his political
career in the city is coming to an end, Lucas
said, he "just wasn't ready to give up
participating in some form of government."
Some who live in the board's trustee area
1—which contains the Los Gatos-Saratoga
Joint Union High School District and some San
Jose residents—asked Lucas to consider
running for the board.
Although Lucas has not been involved with the
community colleges politically, he was a
principal for 23 years and many of his
students went on to West Valley College. "I
used it as a great springboard for my
students," Lucas said.
Lucas, 71, has worked with the college in the
concurrent credit program for the students
who are taking classes at the high school and
the college.
As a councilman, Lucas is involved with the
West Valley Sanitation District and West
Valley Solid Waste Management Authority, and
he has had experience with other regional
commissions and organizations.
Saratoga residents Jeffrey Schwartz and Don
Wolfe are the current trustees representing
trustee area 1. Both of their terms expire in
November. According to county deputy
registrar Mary Watson, both took out the
papers to run for reelection. Saratoga
residents Brett England and Cheriel Jensen
also took out the papers; none of the four
had filed the papers as of last Thursday. The
deadline to file was on Friday.
Along with Schwartz and Wolfe, Nancy Rucker
is up for reelection. She represents the
Santa Clara Unified School District—trustee
area 2. So far no candidates have filed
papers for her position.
Ruth Carlson, public affairs director for the
community college district, says the
candidates must live in their respective
trustee areas in order to gain a seat. The
election, however, is district-wide; voters
can vote for candidates in any trustee area.
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