On April 30, 2013, six candidates for the North Shore School’s Board of Education presented opening and closing statements and answered questions from community residents. The Meet the Candidates Night was held by the League of Women Voters.

The candidates from left to right : Timothy Madden, Marianne Russo, James O’Sullivan, Sara Jones, George Pombar, & Michael Nightingale

Sea Cliff/North Shore POC was present to listen to the candidates statements, pose questions, and rate the candidates based on this information. The candidates were graded based on our perception of how well they intend to advocate for the taxpayers in the district.

Our impression of the candidates, what they said, and the SCPOC Report Card.

Note: KID = Kids in District – Candidate has children attending North Shore Schools.

Grade F: Timothy Madden. (KID) This candidate is a teacher and teacher’s union member. He made no mention of fiscal responsibility, he endorsed the flawed iPad rollout and increased foreign language programs, and he derided the teacher review process. Madden blamed high property taxes on the regressive nature of school funding, and suggested that increased income taxes were a cure. (He fails to mention the pitiful amount of state aid the NSSD receives, and that higher income taxes are no guarantee that state aid would increase to fund the district.) We have little confidence that Madden will be able to separate his personal views as a union teacher to represent district taxpayers. For these reasons we rank his candidacy with the lowest score.

Grade A: Marianne Russo. (KID) This candidate is an attorney specializing in labor and real estate law. She has a long history of working with the district by serving on various NSSD education committees. She is committed to a high quality education for our students, while also being fiscally responsible. She spoke about improving the budget planning process with a 5 year outlook instead of just planning for the short-term. She spoke about making fiscal choices wisely. She criticized the iPad roll-out as premature and costly.  Her labor law experience may make an effective contribution when it comes to collective bargaining with teacher’s unions. She was narrowly defeated in the prior year board election, and with her outlook and credentials she deserves a seat on the board.

Grade C:: James O’Sullivan. (KID) This candidate is a mechanical engineer and his current work involves management of fitness club facility expansions and overseeing large budgets. We felt this candidate answered the questions posed to him in an honest and forthright manner. He did not have a track record of serving on any committees within the district that we noted. We have some concerns over comments that he made about a wish to expand sports facilities at the schools. Given his work background he would be a natural advocate for such undertakings, which would pose a problem for overtaxed residents.

Grade D: Sara Jones. (KID). This candidate is a business owner of an online company. She cites her business experience as her main reason she would be effective on the board. When asked if she would be an effective advocate for the taxpayer she sidestepped our question. In all of her comments she made very little mention about fiscal responsibility, or how she would take on the issue of rising taxes. She did comment on expanding programs and curriculum, was a strong advocate for the iPad roll-out, and favored increasing foreign language offerings. We conclude she would be an unacceptable choice for the NSSD taxpayer.

Grade  D: George Pombar. This incumbent candidate has served on the Board for many years. He is a Bank Senior Vice-president. While very intelligent and capable, this candidate has a penchant for blaming Albany and “state mandates” for every district problem. He ignores the fact that pension and health costs can be controlled by controlling current salary costs. He voted in favor of increasing the 2013-2014 budget by 3.8%,  which we find unacceptable. He has never cast a dissenting vote on the Board that we are aware of. He defended the iPad rollout, and claimed that it saved the district in textbook costs – even while his own budget has made allocations for increasing textbook expenses. Despite this candidate’s likability and good-spirited nature, we feel the time has come for a change. UPDATE: This candidate is now apparently working in league with Madden and Jones, possible with the teacher’s union backing. This unholy alliance has forced SCPOC to lower Pombar’s grade and we feel he is now unacceptable as a candidate. 

Grade A: Michael Nightingale. (KID). This candidate is an attorney and on the Board of the North Shore District Reform Group. He has also participated on the NSSD Legislative Action Committee (LAC), and is a founding donor to the Viking Foundation –  a philanthropy dedicated to the North Shore Schools. He spoke about maintaining an outstanding school district, while also upholding fiscal responsibility. He commented that he would seek to increase Board transparency, and enact term limits for board members. He endorsed the video broadcasting of board meetings, and he believes the district should release more detailed financial records so residents can have a better accounting of expenses.  For his commitment to the school district and the community, while also showing an interest in protecting taxpayers, he earns a grade of A.

If any candidates feel they were misinterpreted or wish to offer revised statements in the SCPOC Report Card, please email seacliffpoc@gmail.org.