The future of the Mehlville School District is much brighter today than it was a few short weeks ago, thanks to voter approval of Proposition R, a 49-cent tax-rate increase.

As we noted last week, Prop R had no shortage of heroes championing its passage, as evidenced by its nearly 73-percent margin of victory.

One of those heroes we cited last week was prominent Republican Mark Haefner, who had the foresight to realize that failure of Prop R would not only devastate the school district, but the community as well.

We believe that Haefner’s unflagging enthusiasm for Prop R was a major factor in the measure’s overwhelming success. Given Prop R’s overwhelming margin of victory, he obviously was in tune with the vast majority of Mehlville residents from both sides of the political aisle who understood the need for the tax-rate increase and supported it.

To Haefner, supporting Prop R was a no-brainer. In September, he told a crowd of district parents that he couldn’t think of a single reason not to support the tax-rate increase.

“If it’s not for the schools, you do it for the property values,” he said. “There’s really not a downside in trying to get this to pass. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I can’t think of any reason why someone should not be pushing for this …”

In a letter to the editor published Oct. 22, Haefner wrote, “I have never supported a tax-rate increase in the past, and am unsure if I will ever support one in the future. However, after seeing what the Mehlville School District has and will continue to have to cut for our students, I feel that there is no choice for our community than to vote ‘yes’ on Prop R.”

It’s no secret that south county Republican leaders spearheaded a campaign against Prop R. Their vehement opposition knew no bounds, as illustrated by their shameful campaign of disinformation.

That’s why we applaud Haefner, who had the intestinal fortitude to buck the anti-tax, anti-public education stance embraced by the majority of GOP leaders.

The Tesson Ferry Republican Club is currently accepting nominations for Republican of the Year.

Given his foresight in recognizing the importance of Prop R to the school district and the entire community, we believe Mark Haefner is more than deserving of the honor of being named Republican of the Year and nominate him accordingly.