Dear Editor:
As a candidate for election to the Secaucus School Board on April 17 I believe that an important issue is the independence of the members of the Board, specifically independence from political control.
Having been a member of the school board for a total of six years, I have seen the subtlety of politics play its role in the decisions made by members of the Board. However, this year the politicians have outdone themselves by making a blatant attempt to wrest complete control of the Board. How? By filling three candidates, Mauro DeGennaro, Cory Robinson and Michael Harper. Had these three candidates remained in the election, together with the two incumbents Anthony Rinaldi and Michael Schlemm, Kathleen McFarlane and myself, then the voters would have had a total of seven candidates from which to vote for three seeking election to three openings on the Board. This presented a problem for the politicos since I could very well be one of the three elected and as everyone knows, I am not in the pockets of any politician.
To cure this problem facing the politicians they had Mauro DeGennaro and Cory Robinson withdraw as candidates leaving Michael Harper to team up with Anthony Rinaldi and if Michael Schlemm doesn’t tow the line they could always go for Kathleen McFarlane. The object of course is to prevent Tom Troyer from being elected to the Board.
Let us look at the record. Two years ago when he was appointed to the Housing Authority the newspaper story described the record of Michael Harper, “at age 15 he had already seen more than most people when it comes to politics. He learned the ropes the old fashioned way.”
The record disclosed that nowhere in his background has Michael Harper been involved in the educational system. Take a look; he was the campaign manager for former Mayor Anthony Just; his mother is a past president of the Secaucus Democratic Club; he brags about being a protege of Rocco Impreveduto; he is Democratic Party committeeman; he was a political aide to Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto; he is a political aide to the state Democratic Assembly Office and is currently a political aide to Assemblyman Albio Sires who doubles as mayor of West New York. This is his record as disclosed in both newspapers that cover Secaucus and the Housing Authority Times in 1999. You will note that his record does not include any educational involvement.
If the parents of our school children and the taxpayers of Secaucus want our school board to be politically controlled then, of course, vote Harper.
However, if we are looking for a trustee on our school board who puts children before politics, then please vote for Tom Troyer, 3A, on Tuesday, April 17th.
Tom Troyer