Kate Mellina wrote an interesting article on the subject. BEHIND THE SCENES by Kate Mellina
THE APRIL 17 SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION APRIL 5, 2007 -- Tuesday, April 17 may be Tax Day to most people, but in Asbury Park it has much more significance. That's the day city residents will elect five individuals for one of the most onerous, thankless (and unpaid) jobs in Monmouth County: Asbury Park Board of Education member. Asbury Park has an unprecedented five positions open on its nine-member board this year, due to the resignation of two board members. As always, there are 3 three-year positions available. The two unexpired terms are for two years and one year, respectively. Recently, I wrote about the traumatic state of the city's schools, and the need for a stable board to hire an effective and responsive school superintendent. I also told you why we can't put our confidence in the politically constrained Intervention Team appointed by the state. Fortunately, Asbury Park voters have some solid candidates to choose from this year. Top on my list is incumbent Frank D'Alessandro, who is running for the one-year seat vacated by long-time board member Eileen Sonnier. (Eileen was obligated to resign when she moved from Asbury Park.) Frank, as you hopefully know, is a tireless voice for real reform in Asbury Park's beleaguered school system and he won't be bowed by political pressure. His voice is often the strongest one we hear on behalf of city school children. A retired Middletown math teacher and former teacher's union president, Frank is an Asbury Park Library Board member and former Coaster columnist. And - unlike the parade of elected officials whose major skill seems to be funneling money into their own pockets - Frank is a generous and unpretentious giver, whether he's saving the childhood home of writer Stephen Crane or quietly donating scholarship funds for Asbury Park children. When it comes to three-year positions, I support Marie Castro, who was recently appointed to fill an unexpired term on the board. Castro is an adjunct professor of English at Lehman College, part of The City University of New York, and a resident of Asbury Tower. She has already received positive reviews for her stabilizing influence and clear common sense. I also strongly support new candidate Thomas Pavinski, a semi-retired psychotherapist and co-owner of Studebaker's Antiques. Tom has chaired the city's Environmental Shade Tree Commission for five years, and writes the Coaster's "New Shade of Green" column. He is smart, caring, calming in tense situations, and - as his leadership on the once-lagging Shade Tree Commission has shown - extremely effective at getting things done. (By the way: In the interests of full disclosure, Tom and his partner purchased my former Asbury Park gallery building last year, and they are preparing to open Heaven, an antique shop and gallery there.) Finally, and certainly not least, I support Barbara Lesinski for a three-year term. Lesinski, an Asbury Park police dispatcher, is a former Asbury Park Housing Authority chair and commissioner who helped clean up that authority when it hit rock bottom a decade ago. She is a member of the Asbury Park Citizens on Patrol, the Neighborhood Watch, and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office's Community Justice Advisory Board - the group that brought two anti-gang seminars to Asbury Park, among other activities. She is also active on the Wesley Lake commission. But the main reason I support Barbara is because she is fearless: Several years back, when Asbury Park had what was arguably the worst city council and Board of Education in its history, Barbara filed successful ethics complaints against both of those bodies. In return, she found herself (unsuccessfully) sued by the Board of Education in federal court; her name was scrawled on a cemetery headstone in an anonymous flyer; and the former city council (at least three of whom have since been indicted and/or convicted on federal charges) had their city manager banish her from the Police Department to an out-of-sight job at the sewer plant. Barbara never caved in. Is there anyone I definitely wouldn't vote for? Yes, starting with Gregory Hopson Sr., who was inexplicably tapped to fill a temporary vacancy on the board in January. Hopson led a particularly nasty campaign to have a head football coach reappointed - despite a finding that the coach had sexually harassed another teacher. And he reportedly led a vigorous - and ultimately unfounded - attack on another board member that cost the district needless expense and the board member needless distress. Such misplaced divisiveness - which was marked by the usual inflammatory, anonymous flyers - is exactly what the school system doesn't need. Which is primarily why Asbury Park Fire Inspector and current Board of Education Vice President Garrett Giberson surprisingly didn't make my list: Despite the availability of at least one other suitable candidate, Giberson nominated Hopson for the school board position, seconded by longtime school administration apologist Adrienne Sanders. While I can think of several political strategy reasons for such a nomination, I can think of no rational one that would benefit city children or their schools. I hope voters will ask Giberson for a clear explanation before election day. I would also hesitate to support any candidate running with longtime incumbent Adrienne Sanders. Sanders has been an ardent supporter of suspended School Superintendent Antonio Lewis who, as I've previously written, was strikingly ineffective and unresponsive as both superintendent and middle school principal. Unfortunately, Sanders is running unopposed for the two-year term. Her only opponent suddenly withdrew after the filing deadline and announced he would run for a three-year, write-in term - on a ticket with Sanders, Hobson and two others. But, however you vote, please remember just how much your vote really does count, particularly in school board elections where voter turnout is abysmal. And your vote is particularly crucial now that the state has loosened the rules for absentee ballots - a traditional source of voter fraud in Asbury Park. If you need more convincing, I hope you will also consult two eye-opening Internet links: http://education.state.nj.us/rc/rc05/dataselect.php?c=25;d=0100;s=010;lt=A;st=A&datasection=all and http://www.monmouthhumanservices.org/Acrobat/Youth_Services_Data.pdf. The first is a detailed report card on Asbury Park schools, provided by the NJ Department of Education. The second shows sobering statistics compiled by the Monmouth County Youth Services Commission on everything from city poverty levels to the rates of child abuse and juvenile crime. Planning to be out of town on April 17? Call City Clerk Steve Kay at 732-502-5718 or the county election offices at 732-431-7785 for absentee ballot forms and information. Mailed applications must reach the County Clerk's office seven days before the election, or they can be personally delivered until 3 p.m. on April 16. Finally, as Board of Education members struggle with this year's budget and its affect on city taxes, I'd like to make one more recommendation: A few years ago, the state Department of Education reported that a former board attorney had improperly charged the board by more than $300,000 during his relatively short tenure there. The state ordered the board to recoup those fees, but former board members never did. With tax hikes looming, now would be a good time to ask the state Intervention Team for help in recovering that money. With any luck, board members could offer Asbury Park taxpayers the best Tax Day refund they've seen in a long, long time. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
