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Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
Smart Voter Full Biography for Jean H. "John" Mordo

Candidate for
Council Member; City of Los Altos

[photo]
This information is provided by the candidate

Jean is a naturalized French-American Citizen.He graduated from Ecole Polytechnique, the top French engineering school. He continued his education at Stanford, earning an MBA in 1972. He worked 6 years with the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. in Paris then New York.
His career then took him to United Technologies in Hartford, CT, where he held senior financial and general management positions at the Otis Elevator and Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine divisions. His last position was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Pratt & Whitney.
He then served as Chief Financial Officer, then Executive Vice President International at Scotts Miracle-Gro in Columbus Ohio, and finally as Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer at Knight-Ridder in San Jose.
After retiring in 2001, Jean served 2 years on the Planning Commission, then ran for City Council in Los Altos Hills in 2004 and served 8 years. He also served 8 years on the Finance & Investment Committee, and led it for 6 years. Under his lead, the Town introduced an improved investment approach; addressed the pension and post-retirement employee benefits issues well ahead of other cities; improved its systems and reporting; and generally followed a prudent course.
Jean maintained friendly and cooperative relationships with neighboring cities, reflected in the endorsements by council members, County Supervisors and State Senator. Jean is very proud to have left Los Altos Hills in sound financial shape. Most of the controversies that were rife in the early years have disappeared: pathways, fencing, open space, Westwind barn, rebuilding City Hall, design guidelines, have all been addressed in a moderate, balanced way.
Jean and Barbara met in Connecticut in 1983 and were married in 1985, a second marriage for both. Barbara was a public school teacher for 27 years. They have 3 children: Candice, who lives in the South of France with her husband and two kids, Nate, a Facebooker, who lives in SF with wife and 2 girls, and recently married Janelle, an elementary school teacher, who lives in Marin County. Jean loves gardening and cooking, and Barbara loves to entertain, so there were numerous fund raising parties at the Mordos' home, benefiting the Red Cross, the Los Altos Stage Company, the Los Altos History Museum, the Day Worker Center and others.
In 2013, Jean and Barbara moved to Los Altos to downsize and be at walking distance to town. Jean is a very active board member of the Los Altos Rotary Club, and is eager to get involved in making Los Altos an even better place than it is now, without losing what we have.Jean and Barbara served on several non-profit boards and held numerous fundraisers at their home in the Hills. Jean was active with the Red Cross, the Los Altos community Foundation and still is on the board of CHAC and the Los Altos Stage Company. He took an active part in raising a million dollars to build a center for day workers, keeping them off the street and providing support for them and their families.
In January 2010, the Los Altos Town Crier named Jean and Barbara "Los Altans of the Year" for 2009.
Last year, the Community Services Agency named Jean & Barbara "Hometown Heroes".

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 18, 2014 20:46
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