Julia Dunn has only resided at the Galaxy Towers in Guttenberg for two years, but she wants to get involved, so she is seeking a seat on the Board of Education.
“It’s the first time I’m seek an election for anything,” said Dunn, a widowed mother of three, last week. “But I’m very sincere in my endeavor and I feel like I have a lot to offer.”
Dunn is one of 11 Guttenberg residents seeking a seat on the Board of Education, as voters head to the polls Tuesday.
The names of six North Bergen residents will appear on its Board of Education ballots Tuesday as well.
Residents of both districts also will vote on proposed 2001-2002 budgets that will feature significant tax increases. The polls will be open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the same locations used for general elections.
For Dunn, politics is new, but education isn’t. For 35 years, she was the owner and operator of a private school named after her daughter. The Kathy Dunn Cultural Center of Hasbrouck Heights started with modest beginnings, as simply a pre-school. It went on to include kindergarten through fourth grades. Dunn ran the school for more than three decades.
“I always wanted the children to reach their ultimate goals,” Dunn said. “I worked out a curriculum that featured cultural enrichment every day. I really loved helping children.”
Dunn started to become more active in her new home when she realized that the Guttenberg school district will offer early childhood classes for 4-year-old students for the first time.
Dunn is running against David Hepperle for unfinished one-year term that became open when a board member moved from town.
Four incumbents will battle five challengers for the three three-year terms at stake.
The incumbents are Thomas Rizzi, along with Armando Cabrera, Dr. Michael Baruch and Donna Buckman. The challengers are Patricia Turnbull, Frank Criscione, Brian Guaschino, Adela Martinez and Dean Mannion. In North Bergen, three independents, Herbert Shaw, William Koehler and Hitesh Mehta, are seeking to unseat incumbents Charlotte DiGennaro, Miguel Hector and Edward Latour, all of whom are seeking their third three-year terms as members of the board.
All three of the incumbents have received the support of the township’s Democratic Association, which will make things a little easier for them to gain re-election next Tuesday.