the BOE Election

I've seen smattering posts on social media, but haven't been able to follow the heart of the issue - my feeds are so random - can someone summarize what the hub bub is about - or throw is your 2 cents for who you're endorsing?

I got my mail-in ballot, filled it out and submitted it before I had even heard there were write-in candidates. 

This is something that and future write-in candidates need to really take into account. Lots of people get mail-in ballots from the state a couple of months before the election. 

Shayna Sackett-Gable, Liz Callahan and Will Meyer team I’m going for. Shayna knows the schools inside out, and I’m feeling like a lot of people want a change. As for the hub bub I don’t follow social media to know what it’s all about. If I had to guess I’d guess it’s concerning Bennett and Mazzocchi. Here we go again…

Jeff Bennett and Anthony Mazzocchi were two of the better regarded BOE members here over the past couple of decades and Bennett's deep dives into state aid funding and busing options are very impressive. However, winning as a write-in is nearly impossible, but at least their late entry has led to some discussion, debate and clarification of issues among the candidates who were previously running unopposed.

The biggest issue seems to be the renewal of Superintendent Taylor, whose contract expires in June. I'd say the general feeling is that Shayna Sackett-Gable, Liz Callahan and Will Meyer would be more likely to consider renewing Dr. Taylor's contract. For example, they seem to place most of the blame for the district's transportation problems on the bus companies, while the other slate talks about holding the Superintendent responsible for the problems. 

Here are the two slates' websites.

https://www.somaboewritein.com/

https://www.somaboe2023.com/

Did Mazzocchi finish his term previously? I thought he hadn't. That makes me hesitant to select him. I don't really understand the whole, "Well it's better to have a superintendent than to go through change again." He's not doing a good job. Find somebody competent. It's not like the job isn't paying well. 

I remember seeing somethin on line about a five candidate debate which was recorded and is viewable on YouTube.  I didn't focus on the details since i had already deposited my mail in ballot in the drop box.  

jfinnegan said:

Did Mazzocchi finish his term previously? I thought he hadn't. That makes me hesitant to select him. I don't really understand the whole, "Well it's better to have a superintendent than to go through change again." He's not doing a good job. Find somebody competent. It's not like the job isn't paying well. 

I have no confidence in the BOE or District to hire an effective superintendent.  Ramos was a failure. It was obvious he was just looking for a US-based employer to relocate him back from the Middle East.  The SOMSD BOE fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

Ficarra was a sh#t show and was basically the BOE's hatchet man. He didn't really care what happened after his temporary assignment was over.

Now we have Taylor. If we get rid of Taylor, what happens next? Another two years of a hack like Ficarra?

Here's the forum:

The big question that just came up is the idea of entirely deleveling the district.  Our superintendent is in favor of it and can do it without the permission of the board.  This is a big issue from both sides.

DanDietrich said:

The big question that just came up is the idea of entirely deleveling the district.  Our superintendent is in favor of it and can do it without the permission of the board.  This is a big issue from both sides.

If Taylor completely deleveled everything, he would lose any support he may have left at this point.

Did you see the minutes of the board meeting?  

yahooyahoo said:

DanDietrich said:

The big question that just came up is the idea of entirely deleveling the district.  Our superintendent is in favor of it and can do it without the permission of the board.  This is a big issue from both sides.

If Taylor completely deleveled everything, he would lose any support he may have left at this point.

There is a good debate of all the BOE candidates (video plus very brief summary) released 10/23:

https://villagegreennj.com/towns/maplewood/video-5-board-of-ed-candidates-talk-supt-renewal-deleveling-busing-special-ed/

They all basically say that the deleveling proposal the superintendent (and the BOE members that supported it) is a bad proposal, and at a bad time. And that the superintendent doesn't get to just do it without anyone's approval. (Can we get any more dysfunctional than a sup't who doesn't care what teachers, parents, or the BOE thinks?)

I would like to see 4 of them (the current 3 on the ballot + Bennett) on the board based on this debate, and what I know about each of them from previous runs/service on BOE and previous work with SOMSD schools. 

I doubt a write-in has much of a chance, but maybe Bennett can run on the ballot next time. I didn't always agree with his opinions when he last served, but I agreed enough, and his in-depth look at the financials and education data are valuable to this cash-strapped district.

The Village Green asked the candidates about the district's transportation problems.

https://villagegreennj.com/election/village-green-ask-the-candidates-2023-boe-candidates-on-busing-and-transportation/?fbclid=IwAR12PbQmVFZOQEz2woO_8jbQZTDQlwqCwKpjQ88XR4Robb6tJ8bLb_LMnvo

I don't know how anybody could sit through that BOE meeting last week and even consider bringing Taylor back. If the only reason is because it's difficult to find somebody else that is not a good enough reason. He's incompetent. 

I felt all of the candidates were pretty good in the debate, but it's difficult to vote for anybody that was unable to say Taylor needs to go. 

The three on the slate seemed to pretty much say (and I think Shayna said it directly) that they would review the information, including confidential info that they don't currently have, and work to have consensus in the BOE... While also admitting that at this point, it would take a significant amount of positive evidence to vote to keep Taylor (i.e., they are leaning 'no').

https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/news/local/2019/04/12/willingboro-superintendent-resigns/5451095007/

dickf3 said:

https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/news/local/2019/04/12/willingboro-superintendent-resigns/5451095007/

https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/news/2012/06/27/willingboro-superintendent-given-vote-no/17373011007/

SOMSD is not the first place the teachers have given a vote of no confidence for Taylor.

Not sure if Friday night's decision by the BOE not to renew Dr. Taylor's contract and to put him on administrative leave will affect today's election. Write-ins Mazzocchi and Bennett, who supported non-renewal, praised the decision. The Sackett-Gable/Callahan/Meyer slate sharply criticized the process though did not call for Dr. Taylor to be retained. However, presuming they take the three seats, they along with the current BOE members who opposed non-renewal, would have enough votes to bring Dr. Taylor back.

chalmers said:

The Sackett-Gable/Callahan/Meyer slate sharply criticized the process though did not call for Dr. Taylor to be retained. However, presuming they take the three seats, they along with the current BOE members who opposed non-renewal, would have enough votes to bring Dr. Taylor back.

From Village Green:

The three candidates who filed to run for South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education — Shayna Sackett-Gable, Liz Callahan and Will Meyer — have indicated that they will move forward in working with South Orange-Maplewood School District Acting Supt. Dr. Kevin Gilbert and seek to find new leadership for the district in the aftermath of Supt. Dr. Ronald Taylor’s placement on administrative leave last night.

In short, they would not rescind Taylor’s removal, nor negotiate a new contract with him, should they win election.

Any idea when the write-in votes will be tallied? This is what I see so far.

jamie said:

Any idea when the write-in votes will be tallied? This is what I see so far.

According the Board of Elections website, roughly 5,000 ballots were cast today. Sackett-Gable, Callahan and Meyer each got about 3,000 of those votes. To win, Bennett and Mazzlochi would need more mail-in votes than they got at the polls.

This is the board of elections site : https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Essex/119027/web.317647/#/detail/48

As of last night at 10:30

DaveSchmidt said:

According the Board of Elections website, roughly 5,000 ballots were cast today. Sackett-Gable, Callahan and Meyer each got about 3,000 of those votes. To win, Bennett and Mazzlochi would need more mail-in votes than they got at the polls.

Oof. That post is wrong, because I forgot what SO stands for in the SOMA School District and counted only MA’s turnout. If you subtract the Sackett-Gable/Callahan/Meyer ticket’s 3,000 votes at the polls on Tuesday from the district’s total turnout of roughly 8,200, Bennett’s and Mazzocchi’s ceiling for write-in votes at the polls was 5,200, not 2,000.

Even without including their mail-in votes, 5,200 beats 5,000, 4,584 and 4,775 (tallies that do include mail-ins), so a Bennett-Mazzocchi’s victory still appears to be at least mathematically possible.

[Edited, with apologies, to fix Mazzocchi’s name.]

Where are you seeing the total turnout?

mrincredible said:

Where are you seeing the total turnout?

I added up the precinct totals listed on the Elections Board website’s Turnout page. (“Roughly” and “about” are my acknowledgment that my arithmetic, or calculator skills, may not be perfect.)

According to the Village Green, each of the three candidates on the ballot are hovering about 5000 votes from the turnout of roughly 8300. It would be remarkable for a write in campaign to garner 3000 votes, but even that wouldn’t be enough to surmount the lead.

https://villagegreennj.com/election/sackett-gable-callahan-and-meyer-likely-winners-in-board-of-ed-race/

First, I have to say that we were lucky to be able to choose from  five candidates who all seem qualified.  But I wonder how well the write in process worked.  I heard mixed info on whether I could use a ball point pen or a narrow point sharpie.  I also wonder if everyone remembered to fill in the dots below the written name.  Finally, what about poor penmanship (me) or misspelled names?   I wouldn't be surprised if 50% of write in ballots were somehow disqualified.

DanDietrich said:

First, I have to say that we were lucky to be able to choose from  five candidates who all seem qualified.  But I wonder how well the write in process worked.  I heard mixed info on whether I could use a ball point pen or a narrow point sharpie.  I also wonder if everyone remembered to fill in the dots below the written name.  Finally, what about poor penmanship (me) or misspelled names?   I wouldn't be surprised if 50% of write in ballots were somehow disqualified.

The write in process is very problematic. To be blunt, it doesn't work with a Sharpie.  I had no other option than a Sharpie and there is very limited room to write legibly within the space provided.  What happens if the name goes over the line into another box? What if the name isn't legible?  

New Jersey needs to address this.  At the very least, a normal pen should work.

It will be interesting to see how many write-in votes are tallied, and also how many are recorded for one of the candidates. 

An advantage of voting by mail is that you don't have to rely on a sharpie if you want to write in a candidate's name.  An advantage of voting in person at your assigned polling place, at least my assigned polling place, is that pre-printed labels were on offer to paste in the write in boxes on the ballot.  On the whole, the write in campaign for school board member was far better advertised and far better organized than local write in campaigns I can recall in the past.  Even if the two write in candidates did not win, they certainly made an impact on this election.