BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield voters elected two new members to the Board of Education on Tuesday, Nov. 8 and ended the two-term incumbency of another.
With 100 percent of the votes counted, the unofficial results from the Essex County Clerk’s Office had incumbent and BOE President Jill Fischman receiving 5,787, or 23.8 percent, of the 24,282 votes cast. With three board seats being decided, Fischman was followed by challenger Gladys Rivera with 4,258, or 17.54 percent; and challenger Lillian Mancheno, 3,540 votes, or 14.6 percent.
The losing candidates were incumbent Shane Berger with 2,670 votes, or 11 percent; challenger Eileen Murray, 1,851, or 7.6 percent; challenger Catzel Bumpus, 1,795, or 7.4 percent; challenger Benjamin Morse, 1,789, or 7.4 percent; challenger Djanna Hill-Tall, 1,399, or 5.8 percent; and challenger Laura Izurieta, 1,134, or 4.7 percent. There were 59 write-ins.
In an uncontested race for a one-year term, challenger Linda Lo received 3,545 votes, or 99 percent.
In a telephone interview, Fischman said she was glad to be re-elected to a second term so that she would still have the opportunity to serve the students of Bloomfield.
Regarding the election results, she thought they had a lot to do with the position of the candidate’s name on the polling line when people voted. She said the first three candidates, candidates J-1, J-2, and J-3, were the winners.
“I was fortunate to be in the first ballot position,” she said.
With three new board members joining the nine-member board and needing to be trained, plus work on the 2017-2018 budget to be accomplished, Fischman said the board has work cut out for it.
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Still waiting for any comments or even information about Gladys Rivera and Lillian Mancheno. Unlike many of the candidates, the new board members lack any record of public service, and they have not spoken publicly about their candidacies or their experience, or made any public comments at board meetings. During the election they did not affiliate themselves with any of the current teams, which, of itself, is fine and not an issue, but the fact that they edged out current and past board members by a significant margin raises some questions. The only information the public has comes from a BHS student who spoke at a recent BoE meeting about an encounter with Ms Rivera that was concerning. It may be that the candidates benefited from the first positions on the ballot, but to be honest, I suspect that their candidacies were purely political, and I am concerned that they are unprepared for their new duties on the board. We shall see.