2009 School Board Budget Vote & Election

I am convinced, with President Obama, that the future of America depends on the quality of education. In White Plains, the School Board Budget Vote and Election on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 gives us the chance to support both excellent quality and continuing improvement.

The Budget and the Election this year are both contentious and more important than ever. They deserve a few minutes of your time now to read about them, and on Tuesday, to vote at the Mamaroneck Ave School at 7 Nosband Ave off Bryant Ave between noon and 9:00 pm. (Voters who don't live at Bryant Gardens can call 422-2071 to find their polling location.)

The Budget The 2009-2010 budget totals $185,778,149. Because of strong pressure from the community, including from the White Plains Council of Neighborhood Associations , of which Bryant Gardens is a member and I am the Co-President, the increase over last year is the smallest ever -- 0.74% (less than 1%).

The confusing thing this year is that the proposed budget and the state-mandated contingency budget are the same amount, so whether the budget passes or fails the increase in school taxes will be the same, about 2.41%. So why bother voting?

You need to vote YES on the budget because the contingency budget curtails much-needed extracurricular activities due to state-required cuts in use of the school buildings.

The proposed budget, which you can examine for yourself , isn't perfect. But it is a carefully-crafted program that maintains quality and growth consistent with Federal and State mandates and contractual obligations.

The Board The School Board, which is not a City agency, consists of seven members who serve staggered three year terms without pay. This year three seats, or nearly half the Board, will be elected.

The six candidates, in my order of preference, are:

• Peter Bassano, a local attorney (a Board of Education Member since 2002)

• Donna McLaughlin, Board of Education President
• Jim Hricay, former White Plains Deputy Budget Director, now Stamford Budget Department
• Reynolds Longfield, a former cosmetics sales and marketing executive, now an educator
• Elsie J. Lahrmann, retired Director of Emergency Planning and a natural medicine practitioner
• Augie Zicca, Jr., a retired Westchester County Correction Officer and former IBM analyst

The controversy, unusual in a School Board Election, comes from two sources -- the Teacher's Union and the politicians.

The Teachers, who might be expected to know better, have decided to blackball the two strongest candidates, the incumbents Bassano and McLaughlin, both of whom are committed, knowledgeable and experienced -- qualities that will be very important in guiding new Superintendent Clouet, when he takes over July 1. The Teachers Union endorses Hricay, Lahrmann and Zicca.

What's the beef? The Teachers have been working without a contract since last June, and the incumbents, at the direction of the community, have been taking a strong stance on cost of living increases. The Teachers want to "teach them a lesson." But at what cost?

Jim Hricay, whose wife teaches at the Highlands School and who has children in the White Plains system, is qualified by motive and training, and besides, is a friend and next door neighbor to Kerry Broderick, the Teachers Union president.

Elsie Lahrmann apparently "qualifies" by friendship, too. Her family is friends with the Brodericks. But nobody can figure out how Augie Zicca qualifies.

Certainly not the Democrats, who got into the fray by regurgitating some of Augie's past sins, including alleged intolerance towards immigrants. Which would be bad enough in itself, but Augie and Ms. Lahrmann are Republican stalwarts, which led the Donkey to bray about the Elephant.

No one has endorsed Reynolds Longfield whose business and educational credentials would make him a strong candidate if his motive were clear. Now in his second career, he teaches in what he calls "The Inner City," where he has qualified as a potential principal and potential district leader. I'd guess he'd like to use the School Board as a stepping stone to a Superintendent's slot.

The Journal News Editorial Board has endorsed , with sound logic, Bassano, McLaughlin and Hricay. I agree with their endorsement and urge you to return two great educators to the Board and start grooming another in Hricay.

You can decide about the candidates for yourself by watching the Candidates Night sponsored by the League of Women Voters, which originally took place Tuesday, May 12, and which is airing on community access channels 46 (Verizon Fios) and 77 (Cablevision). Unfortunately, Zicca and Lahrmann, were no-shows, so you won't be able to evaluate them for yourself.

Candidates Night broadcasts:
Friday, May 15 - 8:00 pm
Saturday, May 16 - 12:15 pm & 4:00 pm
Sunday, May 17 - 9:00 a.m., 3:15 pm & 7:00 pm
Monday, May 18 - 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 5:15 pm, 8:00 pm & 10:00 pm
Tuesday, May 19 - 9:00 a.m., 12:00 pm & 3:00 pm

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More Reading:

• White Plains teachers target 2 trustees over stalled talks, job cuts
• Party leader contacts White Plains Dems over school board race
• Teachers contact (sic) at center of White Plains school board race