Running for BOT - 3 incumbent Trustees are uncontested; 2 women competing for VP seat

Nope..not me. But who?

Here's what we KNOW:

Seats currently held by the following people are up for election on May 12, 2015: (4 months away)
- Alex Torpey (in office since 2011)
- Mark Rosner (in office since 1998)
- Howard Levison (in office since 2007)
- Deborah Davis Ford (in office since 2007)

Torpey has stated he is not running again
Strong rumors on the street are that Rosner, Levison and Davis Ford DO plan to run together again.
I have heard unconfirmed rumors of some other people who MAY be interested.

As you may recall, Rosner, Levison and Ford ran UNOPPOSED 4 years ago.

The deadline for filing petitions to run is March 9 (2 months from tomorrow) and requires the signature of between 120-130 people on a petition that can be obtained from the Clerk's office.

If you are interested, now is the time to start planning, so you can meet the March 9 filing deadline.

Having run and served for two terms, I would be happy to help provide advice and help to anyone who is interested or wants to learn more about what is involved in running and/or serving. Contact me via PM or email.

If Ben Salmon could add another knife to those he is currently juggling, I'd love to see him win a seat.

soorlady said:

If Ben Salmon could add another knife to those he is currently juggling, I'd love to see him win a seat.

But everyone likes him now... why would he do that to himself?

@marylago - Everyone still likes Sheena and her "think outside the box" rationale has served us well. Ben's comments on this board are very thoughtful and reasoned - he would be another sane voice on the board.

I happen to like and admire Sheena greatly, but don't kid yourself... not everyone does.

True - but I don't think that those who supported her when she ran for office have had a change of heart during her time on the board.

Michael Thanks for starting the thread. What is the real time commitment for serving effectively on BOT? What sort of financial disclosures are required? Thanks.

@SoGuy - Historically, there have been two types of BOT members: those who attend all BOT meetings, committee meetings, neighborhood meetings, community events, etc and those who show up twice a month for the televised BOT meetings. To be a BOT Member in the first category, you need to plan for meetings an average of 2-3 nights per week, plus fielding emails during the day.

As for financial disclosure, there is an annual form that is filled out, but I always found it to be rather pointless. As I recall, it simply asks for significant sources of income, such as the NAME of your employer, but not your actual income.

I appreciate those that have already contacted me privately and am happy to answer any additional questions.

michaelgoldberg said:

Nope..not me. But who?

Ahh, Bummer.

I am happy to see Michael giving an honest assessment of the hours. When he hoodwinked me..er encouraged me to run the hours presented to were limited, "Don't worry Nancy, It is only one meeting every two weeks…." I would also be happy to speak to anyone about being on the BOT. PM me with your number/email and I will contact you.

Miss you, mgould...

-s.

Thanks Soda, perhaps you'd like to run?

We need you to run again, Michael.

The one thing I'd disagree on is that the time commitment is spent at meetings. I've found the majority of time I spend on the BOT is actually doing the work in between meetings which are nights and weekends. Meetings are usually used to provide updates and build consensus, delegate tasks, and then go do the work.

And certainly agreed that if being liked is what someone desires, politics probably isn't the place. And the more you do and more opinions you have, the more likely someone will disagree with you and ultimately may not like you as a result. If you're OK with that, you'll get a great deal accomplished. If it bothers you, you'll spend a lot of time feeling bad about yourself and that's not what this job should be about.

Lots of people say it's a thankless job but that's really not the case. If you're doing good things for the right reasons and working hard, you'll meet a lot of fantastic people and get things done. With all that said, it's incredibly rewarding and amazing and an incredible experience - and even that's an understatement ;-)

Sheena is correct..there is a lot of time spent out of meetings working on issues as well. In addition to the many meetings. And if you want everyone to love you this is totally not the job for you….

I do want to add that it IS incredibly rewarding and it really interesting. If you are at all curious do contact me.

All the trustees here provide a best-practice model for how to do things when in public office, whether you always agree with them or not. Then, of course, there is the "say much, do little" model. And we all know who they are.

marylago said:

soorlady said:

If Ben Salmon could add another knife to those he is currently juggling, I'd love to see him win a seat.

But everyone likes him now... why would he do that to himself?

I agree that Ben would be very good at the job, however, I do not see the problem being that people would not like him. Rather, Ben owns and runs a Retail store in the Village.

Business and Politics do not work. Look at the TC members of Maplewood, look at the BOT members of the Village. None have Retail stores.

I'm telling you, it just would not work well for him. That is why I hope he does not throw his hat into the ring on this one.

Later, Da
The UPS Store
George

Thanks for the kind words, JG, Lizzie and Jayjay

I agree with Sheena and Nancy that it is a very rewarding experience. I learned an enormous amount about the town and met amazing people.

Plus, you do get a free parking sticker to park in any permit space in town, as well as a free two-night stay in Atlantic City each November for the annual League of Municipalities convention. ;-)

I would hope that my fellow South Orange residents ask themselves, "do we want to have the same people term after term running our business." At least look at the records of the people up for re election. You can't tell me that Trustee Ford has made the village a better place to live since she has been there. What has she actually done?

funtimes said:

I would hope that my fellow South Orange residents ask themselves, "do we want to have the same people term after term running our business." At least look at the records of the people up for re election. You can't tell me that Trustee Ford has made the village a better place to live since she has been there. What has she actually done?

She requested that the BOT pass a resolution requiring cell phone manufacturers to have kill switches.

And she orchestrated the firing of our clerk, Robin Kline. Let's not forget that little maneuver.

Oops, almost forgot. She worked her way into a photo op for Sheena's initiative for Irvington Ave improvement.

We should all write in the same candidate when the election comes.

I also believe most qualified candidates, are smart enough to know that they do not want the role.

Sheena said:

The one thing I'd disagree on is that the time commitment is spent at meetings. I've found the majority of time I spend on the BOT is actually doing the work in between meetings which are nights and weekends. Meetings are usually used to provide updates and build consensus, delegate tasks, and then go do the work.

And certainly agreed that if being liked is what someone desires, politics probably isn't the place. And the more you do and more opinions you have, the more likely someone will disagree with you and ultimately may not like you as a result. If you're OK with that, you'll get a great deal accomplished. If it bothers you, you'll spend a lot of time feeling bad about yourself and that's not what this job should be about.

Lots of people say it's a thankless job but that's really not the case. If you're doing good things for the right reasons and working hard, you'll meet a lot of fantastic people and get things done. With all that said, it's incredibly rewarding and amazing and an incredible experience - and even that's an understatement ;-)

Thank you for all of your hard work to date.

I don't want to vote against people. I want to vote for people. Let's see who runs.

Latest rumor I have now heard from a few people is that Bill Calabrese is thinking of running again. That could make for an interesting race.

To Michaelgoldberg,

Now I know that you are nuts? Have you heard the rumor that Deborah Davis Ford is planning to run?

resident48 said:

To Michaelgoldberg,

Now I know that you are nuts? Have you heard the rumor that Deborah Davis Ford is planning to run?

Yes. As you will recall, she had a fundraiser last Fall, but no ELEC campaign finance report has been filed.