BOARD OF EDUCATION
CANDIDATES FROM 8
TOWNS ON BALLOT

By Walter Elliott

ORANGE – Registered voters in this city, among the seven public school districts in eight “Local Talk” municipalities holding board of education elections Nov. 3, may have become accustomed to having a large field of candidates to choose from.

Orange’s nine, including some incumbents, is the largest single field to be featured among the Nov. 3 General Election Vote-By-Mail ballots in Essex County. It is also the fifth election since a majority of this city’s voters approved switching from a Type One mayor-appointed board to a Type Two elected board in 2018.

Orange Public Schools administrators, however, chose to join seven other Local Talk public school districts in holding their nonpartisan BOE member elections concurrently with the November General Election. (Newark and Irvington hold third Tuesday in April elections although Bloomfield’s 2019 school board had considered switching back to April.)

Voters here and in South Orange-Maplewood, West Orange, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Belleville and Nutley will find their school board candidates, along with state public question referendums, on their ballots’ second, or back, pages.

“Local Talk” has listed the following candidates alphabetically along with campaign and/or team slogans where possible. How they actually appear on VBM forms may be seen on the respective sample ballots posted at essexclerk.com.

ORANGE voters will find both incumbents and seven challengers to fill three three-year Orange Board of Education seats with.

Former Board President Ernest Lydell Carter is seeking to rejoin OBOE under the “Good to Great” slogan with challenger / Orange Housing Development Corporation board member Fatimah Turner and current school board member Jeffrey Wingfield.

It should be noted that “Good to Great” is also being used in a recent OPS press release heralding district students’ improvement on state test scores. The district administration and staff are not endorsing any candidates.

Carter, Turner and Wingfield are allowed to be grouped together on the ballot although Carter was the one drawing for ballot placement. Ballot drawing by lot is still being done – but a July 2018 state election law revision allows a team to be balloted together.

Samantha Corbett and her “Passion Purpose Planning” teammate Leonor Young are likewise alongside each other on the ballot. Care coordinator Marsha Escalliere and “Our Kids Matter” co-campaigner/meeting planner Sharon Forde are also placed next to each other. Charles H. Pryor II, a college administrator, is running a solo campaign.

Current Board President Tyrone J. Tarver is seeking his second full term. The “Boom” music producer was among the forefront of people who had advocated for the OBOE appointed-to-elective-board changeover.

The SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT has five candidates vying for four Board of Education seats.

Kamal Zubieta, the sole incumbent running, is actually in her first election campaign as being “For All Children.” The Maplewood resident is looking to fulfill the remaining two years of Javier Farfan’s term, who resigned after a year on the board.

While Zubieta is running unopposed, the other four are looking to succeed Elizabeth Baker, Robin Baker and Anthony Mazzocchi, whose full three-year terms end Dec. 31. Baker and Baker (no known relation) and Mazzocchi have decided not to run for re-election.

Susan Bergin and Courtney Winkfield are running on their “Collaborate, Belong, Thrive” platform. Bergin, a regulatory lawyer, is a 12-year Maplewood resident. Winkfield, a New York City Department of Education administrator, is a South Orange resident.

Deborah Engle, who is owner or part-owner of two “SOMA” businesses, is making her first run. She is a 15-year Maplewoodian.

Michelle Finneran, a Maplewood graphic designer, is also making her electoral debut.  She is campaigning as a “Parent for Change.”

Ellen Malespina, whose 20-year educational resume includes nine years with SOMSD and, currently, Verona High School’s librarian. The South Orange villager, under her own “Choice For Change” banner, last ran in 2015.

All candidates have children in the two-town district.

The sole open WEST ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION: seat this year is being contested between the incumbent and a challenger.

Current WOBOE President Ken Alpert is seeking his second term. He is running under his own “Leadership With Results” banner. First time runner Melinda C. Huerta is campaigning as “Homegrown in WOTown.” The WOHS Class of 2009 graduate and mother of four was born here in 1996. Second-time challenger Jeramias Salinas, who filed his signature petitions before 4 p.m. July 27, did not make the printed ballot.

The BLOOMFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS races have become a slate of three incumbents versus a team of three challengers.

Kevin Dudley, Nadeisha Greene and Satinek Margaryan are the “Vote for Equity” challengers. Incumbents Thomas Heaney, Ellen Rogers and Jessica Salinas are calling themselves “Empowered, Certified Leadership.”

GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS has four candidates vying for three seats.

First-time campaigners Jocelyn Gottlieb and Duval Graham have received Civic Conference Committee endorsement with incumbent Tracey St. Auburn. The CCC, made up of various Glen Ridge organizational and political party representatives, makes its endorsement after their interviewing the candidates.

Challenger Larry Rudman is running without CCC endorsement. Incumbent GRBOE members Alison Lang and Paul Romano have decided not to run for re-election.

BELLEVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS has both incumbents and four challengers contesting the two Board of Education Trustee seats.

Challenger Fernando A. Acevedo, Jr. and incumbent Erika V. Jako have teamed up as “Building Belleville’s Future.”

First-time campaigner Yael Cavelo-Isakowitz and fellow challenger Frank Velez III are under the “Moving Forward Together” flag. Lisa Misseggia is on her own “Excellence in Education” platform. Incumbent Michael Sheldon is running on “Integrity and Accountability.”

NUTLEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS has two of three incumbents and a former board member on the ballot.

Salvatore Ferraro and Lisa Danchak-Martin are respectively running for their fourth and fifth straight terms. Retired Nutley Deputy Fire Chief Frederick Scalera, who left his State Assembly seat in 2011 for his successful NBOE election bid, is not seeking re-election. Salvatore Balsamo, who was on the board 2015-18, is looking to succeed Scalera.

Voters may start mailing in their VBM ballots or drop them off at designated boxes starting on Oct. 15 – but they must be dropped off or postmarked on or before Nov. 3. Call essexclerk.com if you have not received your ballot on or by Oct. 15.

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