Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • October 24, 2012 FLOW Area Seven compete for seats on K-8 school board by Frank J. McMahon On Nov. 6, seven candidates will be seeking election to the three available three-year seats on the Franklin Lakes Board of Education. Incumbent trustee and current Board President Kathleen “Kathie” Schwartz and incumbent trustee Margaret Bennett and are seeking reelection, as are newcomers Michael Ben-David, Julie L Kim, Shirley Hermansen O’Reilly, Evros Vassiliou, and Jacqueline “Jackie” Veliky. Ben-David is a life-long North Jersey resident and a graduate of Rutgers College (BA), Seton Hall Law School (JD) and CSE (M.Ed). He has spent the last 14 years as a school administrator, teacher, and coach, and currently serves as a middle school principal in Wayne. Prior to entering education, Ben-David was a litigation associate, served as a judicial intern/clerk to current Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Bankruptcy Court Judge Rosemary Gambardella and founded a real estate development company. “The mission of all school districts should be to significantly increase student growth and achievement through a keen understanding of the factors that influence educational success -- personnel, curriculum and instruction, facilities and culture,” Ben-David said. “School districts also have an obligation to the taxpayers to engender excel- lence in a responsive, transparent and, most importantly, fiscally responsible manner, keeping taxes low and enhancing property values. As a current principal, former teacher, coach, and attorney, I am excited about lending my time, expertise and passion to the students and families of Franklin Lakes.” Bennett has lived in Franklin Lakes for nine years and she has four school aged children. She received a BA and an MA from San Francisco State University and spent 15 years developing financial research and industry-specific research teams. Most recently, she managed a research group for a mid-sized brokerage firm where she helped develop a widely-used successful financial research product. She has also been a writer and editor. A Franklin Lakes Board of Education trustee since 2009, she is chair of the board’s Curriculum Committee and serves on its Legislative, Operations, and Community (continued on page 25) There is no opposition in this year’s Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School Board of Education election, where three candidates are seeking election to three threeyear terms. Incumbent trustees Elizabeth M. Pierce and Debra “Debbi” Strauss are seeking reelection, and Kenneth A. Porro is seeking his first term on the board. Trustees Ira Belsky, a Franklin Lakes representative, and Robert Gebhard, a Wyckoff representative, are not seeking reelection this year. However, the unexpired oneyear term on the regional school board that is open as a result of the 2011 relocation of former trustee and board president Wayne Peterson will be filled by the write-in candidate who receives the most votes in the election, or by the Bergen County Superintendent if that person declines to take the position. Regional candidates run unopposed Pierce is a 23-year Oakland resident whose son is a graduate of Indian Hills High School and is now a junior at Allegheny College. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and economics from CUNY and an MBA from NYIT. She has been an AT&T business/finance executive who managed $600 million budget and retired after 25 years of service. Her community activities include serving as a Cub Scouts chairperson and den leader. She was on the governing board of the Heights Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, and she has been active in Oakland recreation. She was the vice president of the Oakland Education Foundation, and has been a member of the RIH Board of Education since 2009. “The biggest issue for our local schools today is how (continued on page 17)