Christina Skop did her best to keep order as chairman of the Hudson County Board of Freeholders during this year’s Student Government Day on April 2. But like her counterpart in the adult version, she had to deal with the strong personalities of those who were serving as freeholders and other county positions.
Each year, students from Hudson County Schools of Technology and County Prep High School take over various positions in county government for an annual lesson in civics, and by participating in the process, they experience from the inside how government works.
According to county government officials working hand in hand with the students, Student Government Day allows students to actually perform duties and become involved in discussions that affect their lives. The students struggle with real issues, developing an agenda of items that are of interest to them.
Ideally, these public officials for a day research the issues, which should culminate in a meeting at which freeholders discuss the agenda items, often calling on student department directors to provide necessary information each items.
Hudson County School of Technology – commonly called High Tech – has two locations in Hudson County, one in North Bergen and one in Jersey City. County Prep High School is located in Jersey City. Students involved in this year’s program came from Jersey City, North Bergen, Bayonne, West New York, Union City and other municipalities.
Not only were students playing the roles of freeholders, but also county executive, county administrator, county counsel, county clerk, county surrogate, county register, county sheriff, department heads, and even members of the audience for a special day time meeting.
How to keep control
Skop, a resident of Jersey City, had the unenviable task of serving as freeholder chairman. Although guided by Junior Maldonado, her adult counterpart, she soon realized that running a meeting was more difficult than she first imagined.
The first task was to keep order, and to make sure that those playing other roles followed the proper rules of government. Another part of her job was to direct questions to the proper directors to allow her fellow freeholders to understand the issues so that they might vote intelligently.
Skop, who currently attends Hudson County Schools of Technology, is no stranger to extracurricular projects. She was part of a team of students that planned, built, and launched their own boat into the Hudson River when still attending Our Lady of Czestochowa School in Jersey City a few years ago.
“Why should a person face a fine or jail if he swerves into a bicycle lane?” – Walid Salis
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As is the case in the adult version of the freeholder board, a lot of the answers were provided by “County Administrator” Konstantinos Vogiatzis, also a student of County Prep High School and a member of the Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church in Jersey City. Guided by adult Mark Morchell, deputy county counsel, Vogiatzis tried to meet Salis’s requests, but sometimes she could not.
Learning the ropes
The meeting included presentations by Celine Molfetta as county executive, Arij Sohail as county clerk, Bryan Thompson as county registar, and Nick Casias as county sheriff.
Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari credited his counterpart with comprehensiveness of his study of the job.
“He really got into it,” Schillari said. “He got a good idea of what the Sheriff’s Department is all about.”
Each of the students studied their position and reported on its duties.
But even setting the agenda became a lesson, as students learned parliamentary procedures that including sponsoring and seconding legislation, and following the process for getting legislation passed.
The agenda items were picked for their interest to the students. They included resolutions on how to enhance the county’s winter storm preparedness, to adopt policies for dealing with potholes on county roads, for construction of bicycle lanes, to support for a 15 cent increase in gas tax in the state, for the support of red-light cameras, and to increase the tax levy to the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund.
The student freeholder board also talked about the $160 million bond to build the new Schools of Technology building in Secaucus.
Among the lessons that students learned were the limitations of county government. Shannon Murphy – who took the place of the Bayonne freeholder – wanted to know if churches were affected by snow removal penalties, and soon learned that the county government was responsible for overseeing county property.
This lesson was further brought home in a sometimes animated discussion over red light cameras. Prompted by O’Dea, Salis – representing Jersey City – wanted to know who received the money from red light camera fines. He learned that the five year pilot program had ended late last year, but the county had shared revenue from the fines with Jersey City.
Salis continued to question the bicycle ordinance, and learned that blocking a bike lane could result in a fine or even jail time.
“Why should a person face a fine or jail if he swerves into a bicycle a lane?” Salis asked, igniting an uprising that resulted in that resolution being voted down.
In proposing an increase to the state’s tax on gasoline, the students amended the resolution to require a portion of the increase to be dedicated to mass transit.
A report on the new school
Of more interest to students was the bond ordinance for the construction of a new school in Secaucus.
Frank Gargiulo, superintendent of the Hudson County Schools of Technology, fielded a number of questions about the bond – which the adult freeholder board has already approved. He said 60 percent the total cost would be paid by the state, with the remaining 40 percent coming out of local taxes and sale of the North Bergen property where one of the campuses is currently located.
The middle school, which is currently located on Montgomery Street in Jersey City, would be moved to a new location in Jersey City.
Students involved in the program included Gerard Bellow, Chantel Encalada, Viquar Chaudhry, Robert Zika, Diane Mieles, Alessandra Carreno, David Franco, Hiba Andina, Carolina Bonetti, Stephanie Guzma, Bryan Abanilla, Skylar Kofsky, Dally Matos, Arij Sohail, Bryan Thompson, Umradha Shievkumar, John De Las Rosa, Joseph Vasqueze, Cindy Fernandez, Kassandra Ulloa, Leslie Puma, Sheri Elsaker, Waira Uribe, and Jessica Castro.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.