More than a dozen local leaders turned out on Thursday night, Dec. 8, to honor long-time Mountain View Whisman school board member Ellen Wheeler for her two decades of public service.

To mark Wheeler's retirement this month, the board passed a resolution in her honor and featured speakers who praised her service.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who himself started as a trustee in the Palo Alto Unified School District, told the board that he believes being a school board member is the toughest elected position and that Wheeler carried out the job with wisdom and enthusiasm.

"If there's good work being done, if there's a cause that's worthy to be supported, Ellen has been there," Simitian said. "I marvel at your ability to truly be a part of the community in that way."

Simitian presented Wheeler with an official proclamation. Other local elected officials also sent proclamations, including U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, state Sen. Josh Becker, state Assemblymember Marc Berman and the Mountain View City Council.

Wheeler has served for nearly the entirety of the school district's history. When Wheeler was first elected in 2002, the Mountain View and Whisman school districts had recently joined forces to create a combined district.

She has served through periods of controversy, including the closure of Slater Elementary School and the censure of fellow trustee Steven Nelson. Wheeler also sat on the board when three new elementary schools were opened: Stevenson, Mistral and Vargas.

She was involved in hiring five superintendents: Jim Negri, Eleanor Yick, Maurice Ghysels, Craig Goldman and current Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph.

Many who spoke on Thursday praised her not only for her work on the board, but for the mentorship that she provided to other elected officials.

Mountain View Mayor Lucas Ramirez said that he started his civic participation a decade ago "in no small part" because of Wheeler, who he said got him involved in the League of Women Voters.

"I have tremendous appreciation. I would not be where I am without you," Ramirez said.

Wheeler has been a member of the League of Women Voters for 20 years and was the founder of the Los Altos Mountain View League of Women Voters Education Committee, according to the proclamation that the district passed. She also served for eight years with the Santa Clara County School Boards Association.

Wheeler announced this summer that she did not plan to run for reelection this November. Fellow trustee Devon Conley's term was also up this year. With only Conley and former trustee Bill Lambert filing to run, the race was uncontested and no election was held.

Conley and Lambert are set to be sworn in during an organizational meeting on Saturday, Dec. 10.

On Thursday, Lambert (who previously served from 2012-16) said that Wheeler had originally helped him get involved in the district by encouraging him to observe board meetings for the League of Women Voters.

"The community really should be very grateful for you getting people involved in the politics and governance in Mountain View," Lambert said.