TUF

This Years BOE Candidates
April 4, 2008

The BOE consists of nine members. Two incumbents, Eva Nagy (Current BOE President) and Peter Jordan, are running. (The President of the BOE is selected every year by the board itself, the public has no direct input into that decision.) Bernard Siegel's term is also expiring but he has chosen to not run. The three challengers are Jean Bernstein, Phyllis Beals and John Moon. You'll recall that Bernstein and Moon ran last year.

TUF believes that all five candidates have appropriate credentials to be on the BOE. In the order that they will appear on the ballot.

Line 1 - John Moon is a Professor at Seton Hall. He is a retired Navy Commander. He was once the fastest man in the world as well as an Olympian, Olympic coach and still coaches track.

Line 2 - Peter Jordan has been a resident for 25 years and has been on the BOE for six years and has served as the BOE vice president.

Line 3 - Jean Bernstein has served for several years on the BOE in Clifton. She attends most BOE meetings so she would be ready on day one to get to work. She has a Masters degree in education and has worked as a teacher and guidance counselor. She currently lives in one of the over 55 communities

Line 4 - Eva Nagy has been on the BOE for 15 years and is currently the BOE president. She has a BA in education. She is on the NJSBA at the state and national level.

Line 5 - Phyllis Beals is a 20-year Franklin resident and has been very active in the PTO for several years. She has two children in the school system and one that graduated last year.

TUF is endorsing all three challengers Moon, Bernstein and Beals, lines 1, 3 and 5. Our main reason is due to a lack of confidence in the incumbents to embrace change.

As we learn more about the budget of the past years under the Westfield administration we see more and more waste. Nagy, Jordan (and Siegel) are the only remaining BOE members that supported that administration. While they both eventually came around to supporting televising the BOE meetings neither were strong advocates for it.

They also have opposed the outside review of the BOE budget again until the last minute. Jordan stating when he voted yes that he was doing so "very, very, very reluctantly". Nagy stated that she had been against it but now was for it because Superintendent Seto was for it.

At the very least Nagy and Jordan have not been strong advocates for advancement. We acknowledge that they have worked hard for the school district and that their hearts are in the right place but we disagree with the direction they have brought school.

In fairness, as I state below, the budget is "under cap" for the first time in 15 years and Mr. Jordan is on the financial committee that developed that budget.

Perhaps our biggest problem is with Ms. Nagy because of the way she insists on running the BOE. As an example, at meetings she attempts to prevent other Board members from speaking indicating that she is the voice of the BOE. Her typical answer to most questions asking if they have considered certain approaches is, "The Board looks into everything". When someone makes a suggestion it appears to this observer that she is more interested in explaining why it can't happen than figuring out how it may help and how to get it to work. In short we believe that she impedes rather than promotes innovation and that the responsibility for the lack of communication between the community and the BOE rests with her. She insists on being the voice of the BOE yet we feel that when the high school opened days late her communication with the public was late, sparse and inaccurate. In short, if you think the BOE has gone in the right direction for 15 years then vote for Ms. Nagy, otherwise …

Our opposition to Mr. Jordan is less severe. We are just very, very, very disappointed that he voted for the review very, very, very reluctantly. While he has accepted change and progress he has not championed it.

In the past two years we have seen six incumbents run and all six be defeated. We believe it's time to complete the change and vote lines 1, 3, 5. Moon, Bernstein, and Beals

Phil Kramer
Taxpayers United in Franklin