Board may move vote back to April

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield Board of Education held a special public meeting last Thursday, July 18, to discuss a possible rescheduling of the November board elections to April. The elections can be moved with a public referendum or a board resolution. A resolution was under consideration for the next regular meeting, this past Tuesday, July 23. Business Administrator Vicky Guo said on Monday, July 22, a vote had not been scheduled.

In a telephone interview Monday, BOE President Jill Fischman said that after the Thursday meeting she wanted the board members to think about the change.

“I let them go home and digest the information,” she said. “I asked them their preference and what they wanted to do, put it on the agenda or not.”

From the response she received, the majority wanted more public input and more time to think. Only seven members of the public attended the special meeting.

In 2013, the board moved its April elections to November. As a consequence, public budget approval was not required providing the budget did not exceed a 2 percent cap. The first year the state allowed the move was 2012. Any board making the move had to wait five years before returning to April elections. This is the first year the Bloomfield BOE is eligible to consider that.

The special meeting discussed four topics: a timeline and legal framework for an election change; the estimated cost for the move; ballot positions; and the implications of a public budget vote. All board members with the exception of Thomas Heaney were present.

The overriding concern was that when school board elections are held in November, the list of school board candidates — all volunteers — are placed on Line A to the immediate right of party candidates running for public office. It was conjectured by some board members that after voting for public office candidates, an overwhelming majority of voters simply selected ballot positions 1-2-3 for the school board elections without caring. But since April elections are only for board candidates, the thinking went, there would be more consideration by voters before making a selection.

But Fischman presented board election results from 2007 which lent no credence to that. She noted the years and winning ballot positions: 2007-1,2,6; 2008-1,3,6; 2009-1,2,10; 2010-1,2,4; 2011-1,3,5; 2012-1,3,4; 2013-1,2,3; 2014-1,2,6; 2015-2018-1,2,3.
Board member Michael Heller said with April elections there appeared to be more of a variety of winning candidates. He added that board candidates can now run on a slate under a slogan.

Board member Ralph Walker asked if a candidate could have a slogan opposing the budget. Board member Ben Morse said yes providing the wording met guidelines.

In discussing the implications of moving the elections, Morse wanted to know how many school board budgets were voted down. It was determined only one recently and that in 2008.

“We have a good track record of passing budgets,” board member Shane Berger said.
But board member Ellen Rogers said whether November or April, candidates are at the mercy of 1-2-3 ballot positions. Fischman supported this. She said from 2007 to 2018, position No. 1 and either No. 2 or No. 3 won and sometimes all three.

“I like to think the November and April voters are just as informed,” Rogers said.

Fischman agreed and did not think it was a question of voter knowledge. She said candidate petitions for the November election were due July 29 and Aug. 12 was the final date to notify the Essex County clerk that a resolution to change the election date was passed. In the event that occurred and the clerk was notified, current petitions for the November election would be void.

Berger said April elections would benefit students because student achievement is more of a topic toward the end of the school year as opposed to November and the beginning of the school year. An April election, according to Berger, makes board members more accountable since there is the threat of being voted out of office with poor student achievement on the mind of the voters.

Gou said the estimated cost of holding an election is $50K and $60K. Berger, alluding to the township which is approaching a population of 50,000, said that cost would be $1 per person.

“It’s insurance,” he said. “You can put forward issues for April. You can’t do this for November.”

“We have choices to make,” Fischman said to conclude the meeting. “We can leave it alone, put it to a vote on Tuesday, have a special meeting, or push it further for 2021.”
For now, the board decided to move more deliberately.

In an email, Gou said currently in Essex County only Newark and Irvington are running April board elections. If Bloomfield were to have April elections, certain costs could be divided among the three districts, she said.

  Bloomfield Board of Education, Bloomfield Election