Campaign Road for College Trustee Stretches From Palm Desert to Switzerland

PALM DESERT —  John Anderholt is well aware of the plight of commuters. He plans to travel back and forth from Switzerland each month to retain his seat as a college trustee here.

Anderholt recently moved to Switzerland for a year so he and his family could get back to their roots. His family is Swiss, and his father immigrated here from Switzerland in 1900.

When he was appointed as a trustee of the College of the Desert last year to fill a vacancy left by a resignation, he pledged to serve.

Sabbatical From Law Practice

He even took a sabbatical from his law practice to better represent his district of Palm Desert-Indian Wells. He also plans to run for election in November.

“I made a commitment to the board that I’ll be spending more time on college business because I don’t have the law practice,” said Anderholt, who’s now dabbling in real estate.

He plans to commute monthly from Switzerland and spend at least 10 days a month here, with half that time devoted to college business. His children, meanwhile, will attend school in Europe and absorb Swiss culture.

‘Just Visitors’

He insists it is a temporary move.

“We’re not permanent residents there, just visitors,” he said.

But there’s one problem--jet lag.

“It takes me about one day to recover coming this way, and about four days to recover going that way,” the commuting trustee said.

Anderholt already has taken out his filing papers for the Nov. 5 election. So far, he has one challenger for the seat, Jerry Meints, a Palm Desert psychologist.