The resolution that raised all the ruckus was tucked away on page six out of seven on the agenda for the Secaucus Board of Education meeting on Thursday, Jan. 22.
Finance Committee Resolution R3.9 reads, simply, “approval of the board to move the annual school election to November.”
After hearing arguments against the resolution from several residents including Mayor Michael Gonnelli, the board voted 9-0 in favor of moving elections to November, with School Board Vice President Joseph Lewis absent from the meeting.
Cost savings
Town resident Don Evanson succinctly laid out the context of the resolution in his argument against the change. “In 2010 the governor of New Jersey made a bargain with school boards. If you cap the school budget at 2 percent or under, you don’t need to get taxpayer approval,” he said. “The second part of the deal was to offer school boards the option of retaining the April public election process or abort it by shifting to November. If they shifted to November, the cost of the election would be borne by their county.”
By moving the election to a day when other elections are held, it decreases the cost to the district – but people also don’t get the right to vote on the tax portion of the school budget anymore.
The board voted 9-0 in favor of moving elections to November.
____________
The state itself encourages the move. The New Jersey School Boards Association holds training for board members starting in January. New members coming on in April have to wait until January to get their training.
The cost of holding the Secaucus election in April last year was estimated at $44,000.
“I think we’re looking more in the neighborhood of $60,000 a year [in savings],” said Board Member Jack McStowe. “To me, with a middle school being built, that money could be better utilized to put staff into our school because we’re going to need more teachers going forward.”
Town resident Lou Giele is an adamant opponent of the plan. “The cost to run an election should not be the prime concern driving any decision regarding elections,” he insisted. More important is “the loss of the right to vote.”
Mayor Gonnelli agreed. “People have a right to vote for how their tax dollar is being spent,” he said. In praising the members of the board for doing a “tremendous job” in the best interests of the town and students, he said, “I know in good conscience that no one on this board is looking to drive that budget up to 2 percent every year if you don’t have to. And in some cases you may have to. We have a new school coming. With that new school is going to come many expenses. And I can assure you, the way we’ve been working together we’ll support you in getting what you need to maintain that new school and maintain the quality education that our children are getting.”
Chaos at the polls
Another argument against moving the elections to November was the profusion of voting choices taking place during an open election.
“Hoboken was one of the towns that quickly moved their election to November, and in Hoboken there was chaos at the polls,” said Gonnelli. “Federal, state, local, and county elections and questions and candidates [were] on the ballot and I can tell you from my own experience [in citywide elctions], we ran as independents and we’re not with the As and the Bs; you’ve got to look for us in the Ds and the Es. And people were coming out the voting booth saying, ‘We couldn’t find you,’ because we’re not on the party line. And my feeling is by moving to November you’re going to have that problem in a much bigger way.”
In addition, he cautioned that board candidates would inevitably get tied in with the campaigns of other political candidates
“We’re standing in front of the school handing out our leaflets and our pamphlets. People are going to ask who we’re supporting. And they’re going to base their vote a lot of times on who we, as government officials, are supporting. And I don’t think that a school board election should be in any way, shape, or form tied in with a municipal political election.”
Board member Robert Anderson responded by saying, “I agree with the mayor as far as finding their way through the ballots, but if it’s that important for the people to come out to vote, then they can stand in the booth a couple of extra minutes and find who they have to vote for.”
Four year buy-in
“There seems to be a need to rush into this,” said Giele. “I’m not sure why. I would have thought that in trying to make a change like this that it would have taken the opportunity to have this be a process over a period of time. And that process would include holding meetings to educate the voters on the pros and cons of moving the election from April to November.”
He suggested putting the issue on a referendum in April and allowing voters to decide if they want to approve the move.
“Elections are part of our democratic system,” he said. “We also strive – at least I hope we do – to get more parents and other residents involved in the education system. So why would we want to infringe on their input by taking away their right to vote on the budget? Residents support their local schools with their tax money and should have a say on how that money is spent.”
“I know 90 percent of the municipalities across the state have switched. Maybe more than that,” said Gonnelli. “But I consider us to be really unique, tight-knit community where people want to come out and do the right thing.”
“This is a four-year buy-in; once you do it you’re stuck with it for four years,” he continued. “But I think you’re going to see after that four years a lot of the towns that jumped to that quick decision to move are going to jump right back.”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.