Yesterday, Montclair activist Pegi Adam was pulling out her hair in desperation. She told Baristanet about 50% of the signatures she collected on her petition to get the elected vs. appointed BOE issue on the November ballot were rejected by Linda Wanat, the town clerk. Most of the names were not listed in a county database of registered voters, some signatures could not be matched. She picked up the list disqualified names, determined to call each person, and hit the Farmer’s Market again.
An hour ago, Adam cried victory. Adam sent out this e-blast:
Sept 25 update: the BOE petition has reached its quota of 911 certified signatures!!. Yeah!! this means the question is on the Nov 3 ballot. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who stepped up to the plate and made this happen. Support for the effort was overwhelmingly generous, unexpected and wonderful.
That we actually did it seems like a miracle, accomplished by people who not necessarily agreed with us but who believe in the democratic process enough to pick up petitions and go for those signatures. The petitioners committee is very grateful.
And I must also extend thanks to the town clerk’s office for diligence in checking those signatures against the electronic database supplied by the state.
Baristanet called the town clerk for confirmation, we are awaiting her response.
UPDATE 2:40 PM – Evelyn Ostella, Deputy Clerk has confirmed that all names have been certified and the question will be on November’s ballot.
Meanwhile, here’s still an unresolved problem for registered voters whose names aren’t coming up in the database or whose status is incorrect. Adam is working on it…
*The fact that there seem to be many registered voters who are not in it isn’t the fault of the town; they use what’s supplied to them. I watched them input names (not signatures) into the database and come up “not in” I’m not sure where the problem lies, but it could be a problem that goes beyond petition certification.
*The database has been in use for 3 years. If voter sign in books are generated from that, the books must have been used for last Nov presidential election. Someone brought up the point that if registered voters were not in the books generated from the database, how did they vote? Good question.
*Anyone who has ever tried to input names into a database knows how hard it is to do and keep it maintained. I’m sending a sampling of names “NIB” (not in book/not in electronic data base) to the Essex Election Commissioner, who I expect will get back to me with some clarification.
*Any registered voter who signed the petition and wanting to know if they’re in or out of the database can email me pegi@mountsnow.org and I’ll check my petition copies. once I find out what the broader implications are or what they actually use that database for, I’ll post the info.
it really is rather simple:
If it’s a Democratically controlled district, the database is out of date because, well, it’s just such a gosh-darned hard thing to keep updated.
If it’s a Republican district then it’s wholesale disenfranchisement due to a dark plot on the part of Rove and Cheney.
ROC’s posts are finally making sense.
Congratulations Pegi!
Nice work Pegi, congrats on all your hard work! Now lets hope that the VOTERS can vote this in and approve this so that the VOTERS/Taxpayers can decide who controls the BOE. The voter education process and outreach must continue up until the election so that people are fully informed on the issue and can make cast an educated vote. Please keep updating and reaching the voters in town to alert them to this important ballot issue.
It sounds like a problem with the way their database interface is designed, or in the way it is being used.
The Voter Registration database from the state (which I have a copy of) is designed in such a way as to be difficult for the average person to use. The Voter History DB is even worse.
One more example of how poorly government(and federal is much worse) runs things — and we’re even considering giving them health care?
Congrats to all the concerned citizens who made this happen. I will be voting in favor and I hope it passes! You should be very proud of your efforts.
Its Bush’s fault.
Congratulations, petitioners!
Now the anti-election people can begin their accusatory fearmongering (some of which was on display at the town council meeting).
Basic theme: it’s all a racist plot to destroy integration and ruin the kids’ education.
Congratulations and best of luck moving forward!
appletony is right…and thats the excuse used while local history and urbanism are being destroied and affordability for people to live in Montclair is being ruined.
Hmm, funny. I’m still learning about this issue, but my observation is that the pro-elected board people (maybe it’s just a few loud voices?) have been incredibly negative and antagonistic on the matter, so much so that I actually went out of my way to avoid a few I know and generally am in synch with recently just to fend off this discussion.
Having a chance to vote on an issue is great, but, really, why so unpleasant in … well, less in defending their case for an elected board than in denigrating those who disagree?
Having a chance to vote on an issue is great, but, really, why so unpleasant in … well, less in defending their case for an elected board than in denigrating those who disagree?
Interesting perspective, Git2itGal. In my case, any seeming antagonism is fueled by several baseline presumptions that have been vigorously asserted by the pro-appointed board people:
1) that pro-elected board people don’t care about the well-integrated school system (pretty much saying that we’re racists or, at best, insensitive); and
2) that this is driven by people who are indifferent to the education of our children(!)
To me, them’s fightin’ words!!
I have kids in the public schools here and LOVE the schools and teachers. applespouse and I give to MFEE and volunteer our time and efforts for the betterment of the schools in many ways.
When we moved to Montclair several years ago, the choice of town was greatly influenced by the mixed population here — just like where we came from. Diversity here was absolutely a decisive factor for applefamily.
For me, it’s not about taxes either. I easily afford my property taxes and view them, essentially, as school tuition at 25% the rate we paid for a hoity-toity private school in NYC. That said, I disagree strongly with those who demean pro-elected board folks as people who are just motivated to reduce taxes. Reducing taxes is extremely important to many residents who are being slowly squeezed out by relentless pursuit of vanity projects like the new school. To dismiss those citizens out of hand is hubristic.
I’m frustrated as well by a resident who formed an anti-election group and was recently quoted in the Montclair Times as saying “it was ‘unconscionable’ for the referendum supporters to force the issue at a time when so many Montclair families are preoccupied with back-to-school events and holidays.” Democracy is NEVER unconscionable to me. This is how it works.
So, exasperation at implicit accusations of racial insensitivity and child-hating kind of, you know, PISS ME OFF. It may at times manifest with a touch of vitriol.
If the anti-democratic-process people choose to explain how the appointed board makes education better or makes decisions better or spends money more wisely than an elected board can and will, I will happily engage on substance.
Here’s a starting question:
We now have a board engaged in a process to determine what to do with the monsterously expensive school they built. It turns out that there’s not really a plan, yet they spent $35 million of our dollars to go down this path. Why should such a board continue to be allowed to have power over our tax dollars?
I’m not so sure of the 35. I’ll beleive it when I see the final talley and I’m sure they won’t release it voluntarily. If they do I’d like to see any traces of cooking oil.
no one loves more democracy than i do – BUT – this is not being done for the right reasons…it’s not simply a “transparency” thing – it’s a tax revolt, plain and simple.
i’ve seen elected boards first-hand: people w/time and means run for the seats, parents of in-district kids push their agenda then leave when their kids do, private school parents and corporate types want seats to do one thing: cut the budget, a dismal percentage of voters come out (and usually it’s the NO vote….you generally don’t leave the house if you like the status quo) to vote on the ONE thing they can funnel all their angst at (we don’t elect the zoning board, we don’t vote on municipal budgets)…
normally i’d say go for it – but not these people, not this town, not now….the last thing we need in “troubled economic times” is a bunch of reactionaries taking the problems of the present out on the the education of the future…
here’s a clue: great schools are expensive – don’t like it, move (kidding)…or better yet: CHANGE THE STATE FUNDING FORMULA to get rid of so much of the budget having to come from property taxes!!! that’s the battle we ALL should be fighting TOGETHER (see how other states do it – sometimes 50% comes from the state – even in affluent districts)
so ask yourself – why am i voting for this and why did this happen NOW? could the BOE do stuff better – of course…BUT is this being done to fix the decaying high school? to take our schools’ technology out of the late 90s? to fund essential “extra” programs? to close the achievement gap? to maintain magnets?
OR is this being done out of animus, from the right-of-center tax revolters? simply to take power and slash budgets? this is not a tea party protest – this is our kids’ future – we are all in this together – from the montclair tribe to the human race – decide wisely…
and if it passes, make sure diverse progressives get on that board, or all you’ll have is another affluent NJ town where the taxpayers and the schools are adversaries, not partners….THEN see what happens to the schools and our town…
normally i’d say go for it – but not these people, not this town, not now….the last thing we need in “troubled economic times” is a bunch of reactionaries taking the problems of the present out on the the education of the future…
OK, another example of part of the argument that raises my hackles. What is the above other than an announcement that all of YOU PEOPLE can’t be trusted to do the right thing?
Not these people, not this town? This is the most diverse and progressive — yet affluent — town that I know of. Seriously, all you are doing is saying that you want to retain non-democratic control because you think your neighbors cannot handle proper governance.
I disagree.
Woody44:
You are so wrong on so many levels! I was one of the petitioners and my issue is not how much we spend, so much how poorly we spend it. Do you realize that we just built a new school without even determining what it will be user for? Do you realize that the primary reason the new school was constructed was do to the board of education’s projections that the class sizes would increase, as this year’s kindergarten class fell by 20 heads. I look at that 35 million and see so many better ways to spend it to improve our Montclair school system. Did Alverez really have to travel to China to start a single grade Mandarin class? Go ahead and blame the state funding formula. For every dollar you claim Trenton is robbing from us, I’ll point out a dollar wasted by the board of education on non-educational pursuits. Woodman Field move? I’m sure that million really helped our academics.
we just built a new school without even determining what it will be used for
What??!! I have heard many things but this thread is really the first time for this one. What happened to the “Rand moves to the new school, and Renaissance goes to the Rand building” plan? Isn’t this what we were sold on? Wasn’t there ultimately a ruckus because the new school really won’t end up adding a lot of seats after all, even after they removed the jacuzzi (or whatever the heck it was) from the building plan?? And haven’t I heard the number “$42 million” thrown about as the final cost (I was thinking they’d already announced it was over budget from the original estimate, because the project was delayed due to the battle over the Little Y?)
So to recap: everything we heard before is bunk? What the *&%$ ??
FWIW, I kind of like having Renaissance where it is right now. Sure the facilities are not idea, but I like that my kids walk around town to their activities, such as Sharron Miller, Soccer Dome, and swimming at the YMCA. Not to mention, there are probably some serious retrofits needed in order to turn Rand into a middle school…
Maybe 9th grade should move to the new building, to open up more space at the HS?
Here it is, fresh from the Montclair Times…
http://www.montclairtimes.com/NC/0/2860.html
What??!! I have heard many things but this thread is really the first time for this one. What happened to the “Rand moves to the new school, and Renaissance goes to the Rand building” plan? Isn’t this what we were sold on? Wasn’t there ultimately a ruckus because the new school really won’t end up adding a lot of seats after all, even after they removed the jacuzzi (or whatever the heck it was) from the building plan??…
So to recap: everything we heard before is bunk?
Pretty much, it seems. $35 million dollars is a HUGE expenditure, but the “plan” for the new school turns out to have been more like a bit of an ungerminated seed of a plan to develop a clue about forming an idea to intend to investigate the possibility of, perhaps, knowing what to do with the new building.
Well, all I can say is, Crud! (I’d say something stronger, but after all, this is civilized discourse, right?)
OK, I know most people aren’t psychic, but if the disctrict had the foresight not to lease away the Grove Street school all those years ago, we might not have been in this situation now. Plus we would be ~$35M richer. (Or, since I think the town bonded the project, we also wouldn’t have a gazillion dollars in interest payments due for the next century.)
(((sigh)))
I feel that now the anti-election people can begin their accusatory fear mongering some of which was on display at the town council meeting.
Jamila
The destruction of integration in Montclair is a fact and probably mainly caused by the taxes that are unaffordable for many long time local families. Increasing the tax burden with the new school project worsens the problem. Why didn’t the Board of Education take this reality into consideration? It seems to me that the current education planning system and the individuals who create it (all behind closed doors) have reached the point of functional obsolescence. Time for an upgrade. (BIGTIME) To me this new school project seems like the BOE’s Crisco Court.