By JOSEPH KELLARD
‹ since trustees Maryanne Lehrer and Robert Transom in Oceanside and Steve Foster in Island Park are running unopposed.
While Island Park has seen contested elections in each of the past two years, 2007 marks the second straight year that Oceanside is without a race. In 2006, incumbents President Al Lyson and Kim Garrity ran unopposed, a year after Sandi Schoell defeated Donna Taylor when both vied for the seat of the retiring Diane O¹Conner. In Oceanside, school board trustees serve three-year terms.
In Island Park last year, Jo-Ellen Risolo Sarnelli replaced the retiring Ann Goldman, defeating Elen Levitt, who sought a return to the board after losing in 2005 to challenger Ellen Speight. Board seats have five-year terms in Island Park.
Many ‹ perhaps most ‹ school districts experience cycles of contested and uncontested elections. Two local trustees who are familiar with the ups and downs are Lehrer and Foster, who, between them, have run for election to their respective boards for nearly six decades.
Lehrer, who is known for her work with government officials at the county, state and national level to get more representation and state aid for Oceanside, was first elected to the board 30 years ago. She explained that challengers usually surface to oppose incumbents when controversial issues are brewing. As an example, she recalled the election of 1983, when she was challenged by Irene Kaplan and the hot issue was the consolidation of the then two middle schools into one building and the candidates¹ differing visions of its programming.
Aside from many residents¹ concerns with increased property taxes, a worry that is universal across Long Island, Lehrer sees no contentious issues in Oceanside today. ³I think people may be generally pleased with the direction of the district right now,² she said when asked why she thought she was running unopposed.
Foster sees it the same way in Island Park. ³I would think that maybe people are satisfied with the way the board is moving, and maybe there are no pressing issues at this point,² he said.
Foster was first inspired to run for the board in 1980, when his eldest daughter began attending Island Park schools and he was concerned about her education. He has been re-elected to the board ever since, and has served as president for more than 10 consecutive years. ³I do it because I enjoy it and feel like I¹m paying back my community,² Foster said.
Many of those who express interest in running for the school board fail to realize the hours and dedication that being a trustee involves. So says Bob Transom, who was first elected to Oceanside¹s board in 1997 and has never faced a challenger when he has run for re-election. ³There¹s a very large time and training commitment that happens over time,² Transom said. ³Most people don¹t want to put that part into it.²
Transom noted how one week a trustee may devote a mere hour to school-related matters, while other weeks he or she can spend up to 18 hours at the job, between sitting on school committees and attending school events.
Oceanside Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown agrees that being a trustee is a major responsibility, and that this is a key cause of uncontested elections, at least in Oceanside. But, echoing Lehrer and Foster, Brown, too, believes people are mostly satisfied with their board members. ³When people aren¹t satisfied by the work being done,² Brown said, ³they tend to want to change things, and the way they change this is by running for the board.²
Considering the tens of thousands of Oceanside and Island Park homeowners, relatively few ‹ at most, about 5,000 collectively ‹ turn out to vote for school board candidates and budgets. Transom said that each year the board and district struggle to get a significant number of people to head to the voting booths. ³We fight even to get people with kids in schools to come out and vote,² he said.
But what about years when there are contested elections? Do more voters mean more support for the budget? Brown said that contested elections tend to motivate more people to vote, but are not a predictor of how they will vote. ³Our job is to send newsletters home and try to remind people to vote,² the superintendent said. ³ ... We have to make sure we get people to come out and vote.²
Dr. Ed Price, superintendent of Island Park schools, said that whether or not there is a contested board election is irrelevant to the fate of the budget in Island Park. ³In this district, since I¹ve been here, and from my understanding for many years before,² Price said, ³the budget has always been approved. The community here has been very supportive of the schools, regardless of whether there were contested or uncontested elections.²
Tuesday¹s board election and budget vote in Oceanside runs from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at schools 5, 6, 7 and 8. In Island Park, the vote is from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Lincoln Orens Middle School.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
