File in June for BOE Seats

Don't ask me why, with everything else going on around here, I was obsessing today over when school board candidates have to file in 2012.

Someone said they would have to follow the same schedule as municipal candidates. But, but ... those elections are partisan and school board elections are not, my inner fussbudget muttered. A look at the election dates on the county web site this morning shed no light, so I emailed the Board of Elections and found out that school board candidates will have to file on June 5, the day independents file for the general election. And instead of a hop, skip and jump to Myrtle Avenue, they must schlep to Elizabeth to the County Clerk's office.

The county election date list is now amended, although as of tonight the downloadable PDF file of election dates is not. I'm sure it will soon be updated as well. I did not see this information in some of the other likely places, but Hoboken has a comprehensive timeline. It is enough of a change to warrant frequent reminders to those wishing to run.

The former filing date was Feb. 27 for an April 17 election. Now that the election has been moved to Nov. 6, school board members whose terms would have been up in the spring will serve until Jan. 1. They are Lisa Logan Leach and Brenda Gilbert completing three-year terms and Keisha Edwards serving an unexpired term replacing Pat Barksdale. Appointee Susan Phifer replaced Rasheed Abdul-Haqq and will have to run for the balance of his term.

The new election calendar holds for four years, at which time the district can revert to an April election or stay with the November general election. Apparently that means all incumbents who formerly would have been up for April elections will get an extra eight months in office.

Meanwhile, on April 2, municipal candidates must file for the June primary. Two City Council seats are up, one representing the Third Ward and the other for all four wards, the Citywide at-large seat. The regular Democrats have already announced their candidates, Adrian Mapp for re-election to the Third Ward and The Rev. Tracey Brown for the Citywide at-large seat. Incumbent Annie McWilliams is not seeking re-election to the latter.

School Board President Renata Hernandez has publicly challenged Mapp for his seat, but the Grand S.L.A.M. team which now dominates the school board has not formally announced a slate.

Of course, there will also be three freeholder seats and a new District 12 seat up for election this year, not to mention a president, but being hyperlocal, this blog is focusing on the Plainfield contests. There is also a lot of talk already about 2013, when Plainfield voters will elect a mayor, Fourth Ward representative, Assembly people, freeholders, school board members and up to 68 members of the Democratic City Committee, who will in turn choose a party chairman for two years.

--Bernice