A Challengers’ Sweep

The new editions of the Phoenica Times and Olive Press are out and about with the following story, written by Paul Smart. You can read it in more detail online here or here.

"Just as recent elections have been decided by late-arriving vote numbers coming in from Olive and Marbletown voters at the Bennett School, the pendulum-like sweep victory of four challengers to incumbent Onteora board members Mary Jane Bernholz, Cindy O’Connor and Rita Vanacore had to wait Tuesday night, May 20, for the Phoenicia School to provide the final clue as to the district’s wishes.

Which seemed only right, given that the issue pulling the biggest blocks of voters out had to do with a pending decision to close at least one community elementary school in Phoenicia to create a new 5-8 Middle School on a rapidly centralizing Boiceville-based campus rather than the Large Parcel threat, or reality, that drove Olive voter turnout since 2005.

“Taking Large Parcel off the table changed the demographics,” said Ralph Legnini, the evening’s top vote-getter and a West Shokan resident, after all the tallies were counted. “I’m glad people came out and participated. They spoke out to change the way things have been going.”

Legnini received a total of 2,460 votes, with Woodstocker Donna Flayhan at 2,379, Phoenicia-resident Ann McGillicuddy at 2,294 and Willow resident Laurie Osmond getting a total of 2,267 votes.

On the incumbents side, O’Connor received a high of 1,446 votes, current board president Bernholz got 1,384 votes, and Rita Vanacore ended up with 1,301. All were from the Town of Olive, which voted for them overwhelmingly, albeit by slightly less numbers and splits than other candidates have received in recent years.

Woodstock-based High School senior Adam Pollack got a total of 739 votes but promised to try again next year.

All four propositions on the ballot passed. The budget, a proposed $48,215,077 budget representing a 3.08 percent hike in spending, won 2,468 votes to 1,165; a proposition to purchase $189,127 worth of new busses, got through 2,063 to 1,529 after several previous failures; a $1.8 million expenditure of already-there capital reserve funds was okayed 2,062 to 1,457 and finally, a request to establish a Child Safety zone requiring use of school busses to pick up and drop off kids near the high school in Boiceville passed 2,642 to 964.

“I’m just so pleased we passed a budget, a proposition to get new busses, and a child safety zone; all really wonderful things that are good for the kids of Onteora,” said District Superintendent Leslie Ford after hugging the incumbent board members who hired her, and with whom she’s worked for the last year, and welcoming their replacements warmly. “We welcome the new board and their energy… That is a feature of working with the board, that is the democratic process so that’s not something to be disappointed over.”

Asked about how she and the district would handle a series of pending decisions — some made like the decision to create a 5-8 Middle School at the high school and take that issue out for bonding in January, and others about to be okayed, such as the official closing of the Phoenicia School that had been set for mid-June, Dr. Ford spoke about process.

“The new board will decide what still stands. The new board, as it formulates, will decide the directions they want to go in. As you know, I serve at their pleasure.”

Osmond, as the lowest vote-getter of the four winners Tuesday night, was sworn into office during a terse board meeting where all results were accepted by the current board. She will be filling the vacated board seat of Herb Rosenfeld, and will be up for re-election next May.

“I am overwhelmed that the community spoke and got to vote on the direction that they want the schools to go in,” Legnini said after it was all over. He said that come July, when he and his three other challengers take office, they would work on a proper procedure to overturn the 5/8 middle school proposal. “We have to reflect the vote that was cast by the community-we ran on those issues and the community spoke.”

“I feel like the vote was so overwhelming that it’s a mandate for the four of us,” added Flayhan. “Clearly people voted for us because of what we are against – the $70 million bond and the five-through-eight middle school. We have a mandate to move forward to fix the elementary schools and make sure we keep the student teacher ratios low.”

She added that she and her slate had also spoken about shifting away from the current committee structure, a governing style picked up from the town of Olive that the challengers feel may have insulated the defeated incumbents, and entire board, from truly hearing from the wider community about their wishes and dislikes.
...

“I think this is a sign of very good things to come,” said Osmond, soon after being sworn in as the first new board member of four.

“It was a grass roots effort by so many members of the Onteora community,” added McGillicuddy. “I look forward to working with everyone in the community.”"