LOWER LAKE – A wine venue fundraiser for county superintendent of schools candidate Dr. Judy Luchsinger will be held at the Six Sigma Ranch and Winery on Saturday, May 1.

The May Day event, which goes from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., will feature the pre-release pouring of Six Sigma’s 2009 Sauvignon Blanc.

A picnic lunch will be served and barrel tasting of an assortment of wines will be offered along with horse and cart rides.

A minimum donation of $25 is suggested with all funds going to support the efforts of the Committee to Elect Judy Luchsinger.

Luchsinger served as Lake County superintendent of schools from 1979 to 1995. She is seeking the office again this year and has promised to reestablish fiscal accountability and transparency to the office, reinstate meaningful services to districts and teachers, and revitalize education by providing leadership and resources from the county schools office to local classrooms.

“Many of us are very concerned about the explosive cost of running the county office and the diminishing services provided to the districts,” Luchsinger observed. “Teachers are working harder than ever to provide quality education for our students but their support has been compromised. That must change.”

Luchsinger has pledged to put the emphasis on quality and driving resources back into the classroom for the direct benefit of students. Drawing on her previous experience as county superintendent and her most recent 14 years of experience as a quality systems management consultant in the private sector, Luchsinger says that the county office of education can be a helpful partner to local districts.

“I believe that the superintendent's role should be to deemphasize the building of the office bureaucracy and, instead, concentrate on maximizing the flow of money and resources to the classroom,” Luchsinger said. “The amount of money that flows into the superintendent's office is, for the most part, fixed, and the manner in which many of the funds are ultimately used are predetermined by law, both state and federal. But there are discretionary funds available to the Superintendent, and it is here where the office can make the greatest contribution to the success of local districts.

“As your superintendent, I will take a leadership role in getting all of the school districts to focus on students first by collaborating on priority issues, such as student success, shared budgeting, avoidance of duplication and, where it makes sense, consolidation of services. We shouldn't make things more complicated than they have to be; we need to be guided by common sense.”

Luchsinger will expand on these and other ideas that she has regarding the schools office at the Six Sigma fund raiser.

Six Sigma Ranch and Winery are located at 13372 Spruce Grove Road in Lower Lake. Spruce Grove Road is located just south of Lower Lake off Highway 29, with the winery entrance approximately 5.6 miles from the Highway 29 turnoff.

For more information, go to www.vote4judy.com or contact Luchsinger directly at 707-263-3280 or Jan Parkinson at 707-349-2919.