NEW YEAR, SAME OLD B***S***

The following blog post is from Danielle Walsh's new blog, " Keeping Middletown Informed". It's the first of many that has been promised by Danielle. I can't wait to read more.  The post below is published here with her permission. Enjoy - MM

January 04, 2019

NEW YEAR, SAME OLD BULLSHIT

'The Middletown Board of Education and Township Committee are now in a race to decide when you will vote for School Board Members with zero input from YOU'
First, I apologize for the vulgarity, but sometimes I am astonished at the lack of respect and trust the Township Committee and the Board of Education have for each other. If you thought a new year and new members would bring a change, think again.

It's no secret the BOE and the TC haven't always seen eye to eye. As I former BOE member and president myself, I've encountered the frustrations of trying to create common ground. The Middletown residents, however, have made it crystal clear that they want to see a better working relationship between the two entities to not only reduce taxes, but to keep the public better informed of issues that affect their families. And in turn, all the candidates who ran this year for both BOE and TC made 'working together' and 'transparency' a central platform of their campaigns.

So here's the latest beef as I see it...There have been passing statements made by members of the Township Committee since the election, that they felt the Board of Education elections should be returned to April. Here's where it gets a little complicated so bear with me while I give you some background...

-BOE elections are presently held in November. There are no party affiliations on the ballot and they are purposely sectioned away from party-specific positions on the physical ballot.
-November elections are directly tied to a 2% cap on the BOE's budget, meaning the BOE may not raise their overall budget by more than 2% in a given year thereby limiting any taxpayer increase. (There is a minor exception with banked cap.) The budget, in turn, does not have to be voted on by the public.
-We used to have BOE elections in April several years ago, but we moved them to November.
- Moving elections to April, would eliminate the cap of spending, and allow the BOE to present any increase they feel necessary with the codicil that is will now be voted on by the public. There were several budgets passed with increases up to 11% to the taxpayer when this was the case.
- If the budget does not pass, it would be turned over to the Mayor for revision.

Still with me? Great! At my last BOE meeting in December, these statements and/or rumors from the TC were addressed. Our attorney told the BOE (all in public and on video at the middletownk12.com website) that basically, whoever passes a resolution first gets to decide when these elections occur, (which seems ridiculous to me, but I digress). I advised my fellow BOE members, that although I did not trust the motivation for the TC's talk of this that they should reach out and try to work together as well as table the decision making until the two new BOE members were sworn in.
On January 2nd, the new BOE had a discussion about passing a resolution to prevent the move to April elections, as a number of BOE members felt strongly that the move was frivolous, among other reasons. There was also further talk of having the resolution prepared for the January 15th meeting, giving the public and the TC about 2 weeks to digest the idea and allow time for discussion with the TC.

Keep in mind here, as stupid as it sounds, whichever governing body passes their resolution first, wins this debate.

Fast forward less than 48 hours later...The TC sends the BOE their resolution to move the elections to April. No public discussion, as the BOE did. No input from the public, which the BOE did. They sent the resolution and informed them it would be voted on at the Township Committee Re-organization meeting on...(wait for it)...Sunday morning....Seriously? The first official act of this new TC is to undermine the BOE and dictate to them, without any time for input or public opinion, when their elections should be.

Not to be outdone , the BOE quickly reacted by sending public notice with intent of their own of passing a resolution keeping the elections in November. The BOE meeting is 9 am Sunday. The TC Meeting is 10 am Sunday morning....Neither meeting is a particularly accessible time of the week for residents to get involved or give residents enough time to learn about the issue, but both are open to the public.

So the pettiness, blame-game and political battle will continue into the new year for the TC and the BOE. The audacity of the TC to presume to know what's best for the BOE without sufficient consultation with them is alarming. There are two sides to the timing of school board elections, and I see validity in both, as I outline below, but to push this through quickly, without public input or even school board input is a deceptive and arrogant move by the TC. My suggestion to you is to share this information and write the TC and BOE and demand your input be counted and transparency be a priority. Otherwise, we will continue to be dictated to and told our voices are obsolete. It is sheer hubris that allows our elected officials in the TC to presume issues are too complicated or too unimportant for our input. And I find it terribly ironic that our TC spouts about the importance of keeping taxes down, while simultaneously voting for measures that cost us more money, and have the potential to raise taxes exponentially.

Here's my take on the pros and cons of April/November Elections....

April...Pros
-Likely a more informed voter base, as school elections draw out those who know the candidates, with the possibility of less votes based on presumed political affiliation
-Public input in the budgeting process for the BOE. The Budget Ad Hoc Committee (of which I was a member) was designed to help inform and sell the public on what their money is being spent on.
-The public votes on whether to approve the budget.

April Cons...
-The additional cost of approximately $40,000 to run the elections separately will be assessed to the BOE, who has already lost $1.3 million to state cuts.
-previously elected BOE members to 3 year terms will be cut approximately 8 months, undermining the will of previous voters.
-Budgets have the potential to skyrocket if approved by the turnout of residents.
-Voter turnout is substantially lower
-If a full day of voting, another day added to the school year, if school's close.
-If a 4-9pm voting window, the possibility on minimal voter turnout broadens and could be considered voter suppression.
-2% cap is lifted on BOE budget.

If the Budget fails during April elections, the mayor would be responsible for revisions and quite honestly, I believe this is why this nonsensical pissing match is happening. The Township Committee wants more oversight of the BOE. Tony Fiori is still whining about losing his precious Stevenson Park Complex and being asked by the public to work with the BOE to upgrade fields. But ask yourself who is more qualified to make financial decisions that concern our children? The BOE Business Administrator and Superintendent in conjunction with teachers, principals, parents/residents and the 9 people elected to the BOE or our (likely) new mayor Tony Perry, who has shown himself at the very least to be dishonest in his campaign practices with zero experience in what our children need to succeed?

No other district in the state has ever gone back to April elections after moving them to November. That doesn't bar us from doing it, but it should give us pause to take our time, talk it out in public, get input and make the right decision, instead of this race to mediocrity we have in Middletown with these rash decisions, excluding all public input. Let's take a step back, take our time and do the right thing for the taxpayers and more importantly our children...

Please share, share, share and help keep Middletown Residents Informed!

Let's Not Forget, There Are School Board Elections On Tuesday Also

As most of you know by now, Tuesday is Election Day and along with voting for who you'd like to be the next Governor of NJ or who will represent Middletown on its Township Committee, we will also be voting for 3 people to serve on the Middletown Board of Education(BOE). It's important that voters educate themselves about the ten individuals who are seeking seats on the BOE this year. Of the 10 people running this year 3 are incumbents and it's questionable in my mind as to whether or not they should be reelected.

Back on October 23rd, I attended the "Meet the BOE Candidates" night sponsored by the Harmony School PTO. I've been meaning to post about it since but was waiting to until after the second candidate night that I had heard was coming up but didn't know the date. As it turns out the second candidates night was held over in Lincroft last week and I missed it, oh well.

That being said, its been nearly two weeks since I attended that candidates night at Harmony School so a lot isn't fresh in my mind as to what was discussed, however, Middletown Patch posted a column on the night a couple of days later. The one flaw that I have with the article though is that it dwelt on a very small portion of the meeting, which was whether or not the school board should have given Middletown Superintendent of Schools, Dr. William George, merit pay. The night's event touched on much more than just Dr. George's pay, people were interested in a number of different issues ranging from redistricting and class size to properly preparing our kids for the future and turf fields. Nevertheless, I recommend you read it and the comments that follow the article to see what people where saying afterwards about the night and the candidates.

Another good source on this year's BOE election is this weeks article in the Independent, "Board of Education candidates focus on taxes, curriculum" . The Independent sent a couple of questions to the candidates via email and posted the responses from 9 of the 10 candidates ( Bob Banta being the only candidate not to respond).

Finally, another source for information (opinion) on the Middletown Board of Education and this week's election is the Middletown Reader Forum on NJ.com. Read the posts dated from October 20th through today. The comments are impassioned and enlightening in both  positive and negative aspects of the BOE and those seeking election this year.

Before anyone asks, if you are wondering who will be the 3 people I'll be voting for the BOE this year, I'll tell you right now, I'm not telling.

I'm not telling, not because I'm worried who will know who I'm voting for and support and therefore endorse. I'm not telling simply because I'm not sure yet who I'll be voting for. There are pros and cons with each candidate that I still need to weigh.

However, I can tell you who I will not be voting for and why. I will not be voting for Chris Aveta or John Bennet.

Aveta is more worried about cutting costs in order to  establish some "street cred:" with district taxpayer for a future run for Township Committee, than he is with the welfare of the districts school kids. John Bennet is  barely out of high school,  lives home with his parents and has never paid 1 nickel in property taxes in his life. Hell, he probably spends more time playing his XBox or PS4 than he does working or going to school himself. How can you possibly have a "kid" like Bennet making important decisions that involve the future of our children.

Also, Aveta and Bennet have each failed to properly support Superintendent George and his personal decisions. Aveta and Bennet were 2 of the group of 5,  that voted against Dr. George's recommendation to hire school principal, Eric Paulson permanently at Harmony School. It took an overwhelming. outpouring of public support from members of the Harmony School community, teachers and colleagues to make them change their mind and re-vote in Paulson's favor.

So remember, Tuesday you'll also be voting for members to represent the community on the Middletown Board of Education. Take the time to learn about the candidates and the issues (as you should with all candidates seeking office) before pulling the leaver on Tuesday. For the kids sake, Middletown's  children deserve an informed decision.

Middletown Board of Education Has Filled Vacant Seat; New Member To Be Sworn In And Seated Wednesday Night

Last week the Middletown Board of Education finally got around to conducting interviews to fill the open seat on the board vacated by the sudden resignation of Bob Banta, who was elected to the BOE just this past April.

On Wednesday July 13th, 8 people individually sat down to be interviewed by board members, 3 of those interviewed were individuals that sought election to the BOE this past April but didn't receive enough votes, the remaining 5 were new comers to the process.

Of those 8 individuals interviewed, the one chosen was new comer Sue Griffin, who resides on Holland Drive and has been a regular at BOE meeting will be sworn in as a member of the Middletown Board of Education tomorrow night.

I received this information from Allan Burns, who was one of the 3 who sought election to the BOE this past April.

After Allan Burns learned of the selection of Ms. Griffin, he was a little disappointed to say the least, he expressed to me that he didn't have a problem with her appointment and welcome the choice, but questioned whether she had prior experience or ran for election to the BOE in the past. He felt that if she had never ran, shared her views or answered questions from the public, it was a problem.

I understand that the Board of Education had no obligation to chose one of the 3 individuals that ran for the BOE this past April. Their job was to find, in their opinion, the best qualified person to fill the vacant seat left by Bob Banta's resignation, but I happen to feel that it might have been better if they had chosen either Allan Burns or one of the other 2 individuals that had campaigned back in April for the position.

Burns and the others stood at numerous gatherings and forums answering questions about themselves and their views on education while being vetted by the residents of Middletown. I think that the residents had a right to be familiar with the person that ultimately would have been appointed to the BOE. Residents will not have that chance to vet Sue Griffin themselves until next year when she will have to run for reelection to the Board of Education herself.

I am thinking that one of the main reason why Sue Griffin was selected to fill the vacant seat on the board was simply familiarity.

Ms. Griffin being a regular at Board of Education meetings and often expressing her views and concerns to the board, which I suppose is a good thing, showed that if you're committee enough to attend meetings and express your views to those that sit in authority then you'll have a leg up on others when such openings come up.

I wish her well and hope that she can be a calming and somewhat influential force on the Board of Education. I hear from many people that the current make up of Middletown's BOE is dysfunctional and lacks experience to handle important issues within the Administration.

Personally I would know if that was true or not but if I hear from several others, there must be some truth in it.

Robert Superti, Candidate Middletown Board Of Education

I received the following letter from Robert Superti, who is seeking to be elected to fill 1 of 3 - full three year terms on Middletown Board of Education during tomorrow's April 27th, 2011 school board election:

As a candidate for the Middletown Board of Education I have spoken at all four scheduled forums for the Board candidates, distributed hundreds of copies of my history of experience and knowledge. I have delivered recorded messages of my philosophy for action in the school system. I’ve returned numerous phone calls to my home and answered all questions of concerns involving our school system.

In all of my conversations of our community two main themes emerge as major concerns about our school system. One is cost (taxes) and the other is quality of education. The cost issue involves decreased funding from government agencies, loss of revenue due to individuals loss of income and increased cost of living: which increases the tax burden of those who still pay taxes.

The quality of education involves mandated legislation that was intended to improve productivity: but has failed to do so. The administration and faculty have expended time and energy to carry out those mandates.

Our community pays a staff of experienced professional to implement our goals for education. They should not be micro-managed by outside interests to perform their duties. If good proposals are submitted by outside interests our managers should decide on how those ideas are implemented in the system.

If our managers appear not to be performing well then it is the responsibility of the Board of education to intervene to remedy the situation. The Board of Education represents the entire community: therefore representatives that consist of administration, faculty, parents, community activists, and the Board members should participate in dialog to forge a unified vision and approach to maintain and improve our system.

When I say, “Stop exploitation of our schools” I refer to the imposition imposed by negative rhetoric that emerges from representatives of government who decry that our tax burdens are primarily due to school budgets. Political negative rhetoric or spin doctoring is an effective tool to divert attention or resistance to other desired agendas.

Negative rhetoric demonizing of teachers and unfunded mandates degrade productivity in our school system.

Please vote for me, Robert Superti, line #4 in this year’s Middletown School Board election tomorrow, April 27th, 2011.

Allan D. Burns, Candidate Middletown Board of Education

I received the following letter from Allan D. Burns, who is seeking to be elected to fill the 1 year unexpired term on the Middletown Board of Education during tomorrow's April 27th, 2011 school board election:

I would like to take a moment to share with you the reasons for which I have decided to run for the Board of Education.

I am a lifelong resident of this community and like many of you I’m concerned with the budget, the direct impact this has on our tax payers, the lack of accountability and the lack of transparency. I’ve been an observer and listened to others use our children and their futures as bargaining chips for their own personal gain and propaganda. And when the only solution offered is to “increase taxes and cut services” I knew we had to do better and can do better! Our children deserve more and it should not be at additional cost to the tax payers. Positive change begins with hiring the right individuals who are not afraid to challenge the budget and put it to task. That is what I intend to do. For the well being of the whole community, I am running because I believe I can do better for my child, my parents, the students of Middletown and the tax payers alike!

I pledge my unwavering commitment to all the members of this great community. I promise to challenge every dollar and be accountable. These values are critical because we will have to soon hire a new superintendent and negotiate new teacher contracts. These decisions will shape our future. We need a superintendent who will work hand and hand with a unified Board, the tax payers and the community’s best interest and in doing so, our children will receive the benefits they deserve. I cannot possibly have all the answers though I know when to listen and will put the necessary time in for discovery, ensuring that every option is explored, with your best interests at the forefront.

We need people with a sense of community, negotiating skills, business skills, the ability to speak with an open mind and challenge the system, now more than ever. It is these principles that help benefit the community as a whole. If we take the right steps now, we will not be handcuffed in the future.

If I am elected on April 27th, I promise I will fight for what is best for our community, as a whole. I thank you for your time. Allan Burns position #1 for the one year term.

Allan D. Burns,

Candidate Middletown Board of Education

MiddletownPatch: Six Candidates Vie For Three Open Full-Term Dais Seats

MiddletownPatch this morning has followed up yesterday's article "Three BOE Candidates Seek One-Year Term" which profiled the three people who are seeking the 1 year unexpired term to the Middletown Board of Education, with a profile of the six who are seeking three - 3 year terms to the board.

Today's article "Six Candidates Vie For Three Open Full-Term Dais Seats" is very well written and informative. If you haven't seen or heard the candidates speak for yourself at the various Candidate Forums held over the past two weeks, the column on the MiddletownPatch website gives good impressions of the individual candidates.

Below is a portion of what was written, go to MiddletownPatch to finish reading:

"The three incumbent Middletown Township Board of Education members whose seats are up on the nine-member board are not running in this year's election. Vying to fill their three-year seats are six newcomers to the race.

Each has pointed to a vast number of issues they'd like to address in the district if elected.

In interviews with the candidates, everything from better budget balancing, to improvement of school facilities, to exploration of more shared services, to greater focus on academics were listed as motivations for running.

Others cited imminent district needs such as transparency, tackling pension reform and review and reassessment of administrators' salaries. One candidate said that the simple addressing of "negative rhetoric" on and around the board is critical.

All felt they had the expertise, qualifications and background necessary to make them most qualified for the job.

Voters will decide at the polls tomorrow, April 27, which of the three candidates running for the three-year terms will serve as their new Board of Education members.

In the meantime, Patch has the background and comments of each for your review ...

Bob Superti, 36 Oakwood Road

Superti has been retired from AT&T, where he worked for 35 years, since 1989, as an auditor and technological consultant. In his line of work, he said, reducing costs for customers, improving productivity and expanding AT&T’s client "enterprise" were his areas of expertise.

Outside of the corporate structure, in the political arena, for approximately three years Superti has been a county Democratic committeeman. He also volunteers his time promoting the Middletown Fire Department and working with the non-profit 180 Turning Lives Around. He is a life member of both the Red Bank Elks and the McKee Technical High School Alumni.

While he has never served on the Middletown Board of Education, Superti is a former board member of the Paramus board. He also served on the ad hoc committee for Middletown’s Building and Maintenance Committee, which was charged with studying the school facilities.

"I would bring expertise in maintenance and deteriorating facilities, and finance," he said. "I know what needs to operate a school system," pointing out that in his career he has analyzed insurance policies and understands contracts. With that sort of experience, he feels he can better help clarify and address areas of concern in the school district.

Calling himself a troubleshooter by nature, Superti also said his understanding of how spending works and past experience examining proficiencies in a company would be beneficial contributions to the board.

"I would attack all the negative rhetoric that is hurting our schools, clarify the false statements, such as demonizing our teachers," he said. "Many things that are said that are inaccurate about our schools, I would be the voice to verify some of those things," he said...."

Banta and Wexelberg, Candidates Middletown Board of Education

I was forwarded the following email from a friend who had received it from another. The email is from Middletown Board of Education Candidate Bob Banta, who along with his ticket mate Jerry Wexelberg, are each seeking to be elected to 1 of 3 - full three year terms to the Middletown Board of Education in Wednesday's Board of Education election.

The email was introductory in nature and tells the readers a little about both Banta and Wexelberg and what they would like to accomplish if elected to the Board of Education:

Parents,

I would like to take a moment to ask for your support and appeal to your sense of community. I have been the Director of Soccer for the St. Mary's Athletic Association for about 5 years now and with the program for a few more than that. I have had the privilege and honor of working with some of the best volunteers in our community dedicated to youth sports here from our SMAA Board of Directors to all of our Coaches and Assistant Coaches, as well as hundreds of the best kids anywhere! In this time, I have seen our program grow from about 35 teams of approximately 350 kids to our present 78 teams of OVER 1100 kids.

One of the great things about this program is that it is made up of kids from all over Middletown, from many of the elementary and middle schools as well as St. Mary's and some of the other Catholic schools. There have been drastic budget cuts to the Board of Education's budget last year and this years budget is well under the 2% cap set by the Governor. If afforded an opportunity, I would like to make sure all the kids in our town are receiving the best education possible as well as be part of the process to ensure that these budget cuts don't translate to necessary programs being cut. I am sure that as a fellow taxpayer you may agree that all of our tax dollars for education should be carefully spent on the children's education and not wasted in areas that the kids do not receive a direct benefit from. I would also like to see that all of the youth programs in town have a better and more realistic opportunity to use the existing facilities at our public schools which all of our taxes support. I am looking forward to helping the existing board work together in one direction and use my unique team building skills to unite the other board members. These are some of the reasons I have filed the paperwork to be on the ballot for the Middletown Board of Education election this April.

Finally, I would like to let all the parents know that I am going to be running with Jerry Wexelberg in this election. Jerry is a longtime Middletown resident and has supported the education system as well as the athletic programs of our public schools for many years now. He is currently the President of the Booster Club for High School North. Jerry and I share many of the same views on many issues related to the Board of Education.

Thank you for your time and consideration and I hope we can count on your support on Election Day! Please ask as many families, friends and neighbors as possible to come out this coming Wednesday, April 27th and vote.

Sincerely,

Bob Banta
SMAA Director of Soccer