Asbury Park Action Campaign Endorses Castro, D'Alessandro, Lesinski and Pivinski for Board of Education
AP|Action continues to be pleased by the desire of many Asbury Park residents who offer themselves for public service. The Board of Trustees thanks everyone who participated in our endorsement selection process and we offer our sincere gratitude to all of the candidates for their willingness to give their time in furthering our shared mission of creating a brighter future for Asbury Park. Most importantly, we strongly encourage every resident in Asbury Park to vote, as it is our belief that providing a strong education for our children is vital, and clearly, our future depends on it. Accordingly, we hope that every registered voter participates in this election by exercising his or her right to vote. AP|Action's Endorsement In endorsing a candidate, AP|Action attempts to make the best determination of the people seeking office in order to decide who is the most qualified. Equally important in our decision is the candidate's alignment with our core principles - embracing diversity, redeveloping Asbury Park successfully, improving the quality of life and governing openly and responsively. In the 2007 School Board election, it is our belief that Marie Castro, Frank D'Alessandro, Barbara Lesinski and Tom Pivinski represent the best choice for Asbury Park on April 17th. We strongly encourage all Asbury Park residents to vote for these candidates. One Year Term Frank D'Alessandro, a retired educator, has served on the Board of Education for the past three years with integrity and distinction. We are pleased Frank has decided to run for one additional year as his dedication and hard work would surely be missed. His knowledge of the workings of the district coupled with his willingness to roll up his sleeves and get the job done has proven to be the kind of leadership Asbury Park needs. Three Year Term Marie Castro is a semi-retired educator who we believe will bring a fresh perspective to the Asbury Park school system and the challenges it currently faces. Marie was recently appointed to the Board to fill a vacant seat and she noted a strong desire to work with all of the Board Members to solve problems and to develop sound policies in order to improve the education our children receive. Barbara Lesinski has dedicated herself to community service in Asbury Park for over a decade. A twelve-year veteran of the Asbury Park Police department, Barbara has also served as the Chairperson of the Asbury Park Housing Authority. We were impressed with her ideas with regards to making our schools safer and her enthusiasm for community service. Tom Pivinski, a former teacher and Asbury Park business owner, also serves as the Chairperson of the Asbury Park Environment and Shade Tree Commission. He is a well-rounded, level-headed, intelligent man with a diversity of experience and dedicates himself to any task he undertakes. It is without doubt that we endorse Tom as we fully believe he will work tirelessly to create a brighter future for the children of Asbury Park. Two Year Term AP|Action decided an endorsement is unnecessary since this is an uncontested race. AP|Action's Process In an effort to represent all of the residents of Asbury Park, the Asbury Park Action Campaign previously solicited the community to provide input on questions they would like to have answered from candidates for the BOE. The most popular questions were provided to all of the candidates and their written responses are factored into our decisions. Additionally, we provide all responses to the community and they will be distributed within a few days. While it is our hope that everyone will agree with our endorsement selections, we believe that helping to educate the public regarding a candidate's views is most important. Accordingly, we encourage everyone to use the candidate's answers as a reference for making their own determination regarding who they believe is best suited to serve Asbury Park. Primarily, we encourage everyone to get out and vote on April 17th! Additionally, every candidate was given an invitation to meet with AP|Action's Board of Trustees for an informal private interview. All accepted our invitation and we were very pleased with all of the candidates who were able to meet with us. The Board of Trustees then met to review the candidate's answers to the public questions and notes taken during the private interviews in order to decide who best aligns with our core principles and who is best qualified. Based on that meeting, the Board reached a consensus on endorsement selections. This notice is the formal announcement of the Asbury Park Action Campaign's endorsements in the 2007 Board of Education election. Now, our volunteers and sponsors will support the endorsed candidates via advertising including lawn signs, direct mail and newspapers. Additionally, we will continue to conduct voter registration campaigns and make every attempt to serve as a conduit of information to the residents of Asbury Park. Lastly, the Board of Trustees hopes the resident's of Asbury Park will vote for those who they believe are best suited to continue the improvements being made by the current Board and the dedicated staff of the Asbury Park School District and we offer our best wishes to all of the candidates. PLEASE PICK UP A LAWN SIGN AT WISH YOU WERE HERE - 612 COOKMAN AVE Or request one for delivery by sending an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> AND PLEASE VOTE ON APRIL 17th (Absentee Ballot Request forms also available) About AP|Action AP|Action is an organization for Asbury Park who's time has come. We are a grassroots nonprofit organization comprised of gay and lesbian Asbury Park residents who believe that Asbury Park's large gay and lesbian community will benefit by having a unified representative voice in local city politics. ap|action is not affiliated with any persons who currently hold or are running for public office in Asbury Park.
