Here's the election results for the above as I understand it (if I am incorrect or have anyone's name wrong, please advise and I will correct):
Chairman Keith Hahn
Vice-Chair Margot Harris
2nd Vice-Chair Lisa Hansen
3rd Vice-Chair Shariq Ahmad
Treasurer Maria Tomaro (apologies-left this position out when I posted)
Recording Secretary Linda Karabinchak
Corresponding Secretary Jamie Palko
What sticks out to me is the Vice-Chair (who was just re-elected) is also a sitting member of the Edison Board of Education. Now, I don't know of anything that prevents anyone from holding these two positions and not suggesting there's anything wrong with it but it just doesn't seem right that the Vice-Chair of a Local Political Party that controls the entire Edison Muni-Government should also be part of the decision-making process for the Edison School District.
These are autonomous entities and kind of think there should be something in place that says maybe that's not something you want to do - even if you can.
I know, if I had known that, I certainly wouldn't vote for someone for the Board of Ed who held that position.
Anyhoo, it is what it is and thought it just a tad bit odd.
Hi Mr. Bucci - Margot (spelled with a "t"!) here - I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns about any potential conflict of interest with respect to my positions as Vice Chair of the EDO and as a sitting member of the Edison BOE. What I can tell you is that if you ask any of my fellow board members, who are Republicans and Democrats, they will tell you that I never inject mypolitical believes on any decisions that I make concerning the school district. In fact, when the vote was taken to move the Board of Education elections to November, I was one of two dissenting votes, and stated in my comments that evening that my biggest concern was the politicization of the board of ed. In addition, if you ask members of the EDO, they will tell you that I am extremely independent. I hope this clarifies for you the concerns that you stated in your post, and once again, I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
ReplyDeleteHi Margot - (corrected the spelling, I apologize). Anyone is free to comment on anything I write. Appreciate your response and understand your comments. Please understand that I went out of my way to say I didn't think there was anything wrong with it and certainly didn't suggest a conflict of interest - you did. But clearly, you should understand that it's the position I'm talking about and not the person that concerns me. Anyone in that position could use it for less than honorable purposes such as influencing or swaying a board decision or vote. For that reason, I don't think any Edison EDO Party Officer should be on the EBoE especially when the entire Muni-side is controlled by one-party. I sincerely hope that you understand that this is nothing against you but just the position you hold in the EDO. We can get into what your fellow board members say or don't say but don't think that would be helpful to you here. I would ask that you give thought to what I'm saying and, if nothing but for appearance purposes, consider giving up one or the two positions.
DeleteThanks, Ralph - FYI, I will not be running for reelection to the BoE this November, which will render this point, at least as far as it concerns me, moot...
ReplyDeleteOk, thanks Margot for letting me know.
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