November 13, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Area Close vote leaves candidates awaiting tally certification A close vote has left two Franklin Lakes Board of Edu- cation candidates awaiting the final certification of the tally from last week’s election. Three seats were available this year, and four candidates ran. Incumbent Christine Christopoul received 1,317 bal- lots, former board member Kathie Schwartz received 1,012 ballots, while newcomers Anthony Zolfo earned 978 votes and Ralph R. Valvano received 934 votes. Christopoul has lived in Franklin Lakes for 14 years. She holds a BS in financial decision systems and an MBA, both from SUNY Albany. She has been involved in com- munity volunteerism, including serving as a trustee of the Franklin Lakes Board of Education for the past three years. As a trustee, she has served on the Curriculum, Commu- nity Relations, Operations, and Legislative committees. She has also served as the board’s vice president. She said her business background combined with the knowledge and experience she gained while serving her first term on the board would provide her with the unique opportunity to benefit the community. She also said she wants to be a good role model for her children by dem- onstrating the importance of a good education and giving back to the community. Schwartz has been a Franklin Lakes resident for 15 years, and has three children who attend Franklin Avenue Middle School. She has a BA in accounting from Rut- gers University and an MBA in finance from NYU Stern School of Business. She spent 13 years in the banking and finance industry, with her most recent position as a manag- ing director with Deutsche Bank’s private client and asset management group. Having previously served four plus years on the board, Schwartz was the board’s president for two years, vice pres- ident and chair of the Finance Committee for one year, and served on all of the other board committees. She was the Franklin Lakes Education Foundation representative for the board for two years and the Woodside Avenue School PTA liaison for a year. She has been active in the community on the executive board of the Franklin Lakes Newcomers and Neighbors Club, a Meals on Wheels driver, and a member of the FAMS PTA and Valley Hospital Auxiliary. Schwartz said she was running again because Franklin Lakes deserves to be a top tier and model school district. She said she wants to bring experience back to the board’s table and that she would work with the board to direct its focus on setting the vision for the schools, hiring strong leadership, and making decisions that are strategic, well focused, and transparent. Valvano grew up in Franklin Lakes and attended the local schools. He graduated from Ramapo High. He now has two sons at the Franklin Lakes Middle School and a daughter in kindergarten at the High Mountain Road School. Regional school board trustees win Voters in Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes have endorsed the three candidates who ran unopposed for the available seats on the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School Board of Education. Franklin Lakes voters cast 694 ballots for John Butto, and Wyckoff voters cast 1,077 ballots for Lynn Budd and 907 for Thomas Bunting. There were no open seats for Oakland representatives on the board this year. Budd was appointed to the RIH Board of Education in 2009 to fill the unexpired term of Kathy Scarpelli. Budd was elected to the board the following year. She has served on every board committee during her tenure, and has (continued on page 10) He is a certified public accountant, having earned a BS degree in accounting from William Paterson University and an MS degree in taxation from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is chief financial officer of Flowers National Bank. Valvano is an assistant coach of the 13U and 11U Frank- lin Lakes War Eagles baseball teams and coaches in the town’s recreation basketball program. Previously, he served as president and was a riding member of the Franklin Lakes Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Zolfo was born in Brooklyn, and moved to Franklin Lakes in 1999. He has three children, including a daugh- ter at the Franklin Avenue Middle School and twin eight- year-old sons at High Mountain Road School. He earned his undergraduate degree from St. John’s University and his law degree from the University of Miami. He began practicing corporate law in 1986 and has worked for vari- ous Fortune 100 companies during the span of his 27 year career, the last nine with Express Scripts Inc.