Council Moves BOE Election Despite Outcry

Before a unanimous City Council vote moving the school board elections to November, opponents blasted the governing body and promised political payback in a sometimes harsh 45-minute discussion.

Under new legislation, either the municipal council or the school board could take action to move the elections for a four-year period. Assemblyman Jerry Green last week urged the governing body to take the lead, but on Monday school board president Renata Hernandez criticized the council for not reaching out to the board first and told Green, who claims not to be involved in school district affairs, "You are as neutral as acid."

Hernandez called the process a "travesty" that will affect shared services between the city and school district and said the council put "selfish needs" over what is best for children of the community.

"I might have to run for a City Council seat," she said. "The Third Ward seat might look good on me."

Council President Adrian Mapp represents the Third Ward and is up for re-election this year. Mapp said the council had asked in December for a joint meeting, but got no response. He said he heard from one board member who asked him not to support moving the election. But he said the April school board election is drawing less than 1,000 voters, choosing people who make decisions affecting 7,000 children and a $150 million budget.

Assemblyman Jerry Green, seated at center

Green pushed hard for the council to be first with the vote (see Plaintalker's earlier post here) and on Monday called the protest "nonsense." He claimed that while other towns reached out to him as a legislator, "not once" did the Plainfield board reach out.

Among other speakers, board member Wilma Campbell said a November school board meeting will be "clouded this year by the need for us to elect a president," and said the cost for the traditional April election amounted to only $3.68 per taxpayer. She implored the council to "do the right thing and stay out of the business of the Board of Education."

School board attorney Charles Craig said out of 140 districts that have moved the election to November, not one has done so through the governing body. Craig called the impending council vote disrespectful, pre-emptive and politically motivated.

New school board appointee Susan Phifer called for collaboration, but said,"It seems the decision has been made and it really leaves a bad taste."

Speaking in favor of the council vote, former school board member Marie Davis recalled the days when thousands of voters came out for school elections. But board member Alex Edache characterized the situation as "a cat fight."

Political powerhouse John Campbell, whose "Grand SLAM" team now holds a super-majority on the school board, called the move to November "a great mistake" and taunted Mapp, alluding to "his Caribbean accent" and aspirations for re-election to the Third Ward seat or to run for mayor next year.

"I'm not sure what a Caribbean accent has to do with anything here," Councilwoman Rebecca Williams said. She urged the move for greater participation, saying the April election hours from 2 to 9 p.m. hinder voting.

Councilman Cory Storch called John Campbell's remarks "polarizing" and urged all to "calm down."

Mapp responded to Campbell's taunts by saying he was raised to be respectful and "the amount of venom spewed" Monday would not cause him to be less respectful.

The unanimous roll call vote settled the matter. For the next four years, the Plainfield school board election will take place in conjunction with the November general election, which falls on Nov. 6 this year. School board members whose terms would have expired this spring will serve until Jan. 1, when winners of the November election will be sworn in.

--Bernice