Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • October 30, 2013 Ho-Ho-Kus Incumbent, challenger vying for board seat by Jennifer Crusco Ho-Ho-Kus Board of Education Presi- dent Colleen Federer and challenger Amy Langevin will be competing in the Nov. 5 general election, when one three-year seat will be available. Federer is a regional sales vice president for a major insurance company. She is now running for a third term. Prior to becoming school board president, she served for three years simultaneously on both the Northern Highlands Regional High School and Ho- Ho-Kus K-8 boards of education. As a Ho-Ho-Kus trustee, Federer has served on several negotiating committees, including those responsible for the last two agreements with the Ho-Ho-Kus Educa- tion Association and the current contract with Northern Highlands. She chairs the Borough Liaison Committee and recently spearheaded the district’s bond refunding, which resulted in approximately $1 million in savings to Ho-Ho-Kus taxpayers. Federer and her husband Fred have been Ho-Ho-Kus residents for 17 years. They have two children and multiple nieces and nephews in the local school. “During the seven years that I have been on the Ho-Ho-Kus Board of Education, our district has seen many changes and we have faced some substantial challenges. Together, our administrators, parent organizations, teachers and staff have worked to overcome the unanticipated loss of state financial aid, as well as to address recent state and federal mandates such as NJAchieve and the intro- duction of the Common Core Standards,” Federer said. “I do believe the Ho-Ho-Kus School District is stronger than ever and on the path to even greater success.” Federer said her goals include the imple- mentation of the Common Core Standards and the review of the newly-launched NJA- cheive Teacher Evaluation System. “We are pleased with the recent intro- Schultz planning to retire Eugene Schultz, a long-time officer with the Ho-Ho-Kus Police Department, has announced that he will retire on Dec. 1. Schultz graduated from Waldwick High School in 1983 and from the Law & Public Safety Institute in Mahwah (then known as the Bergen County Police Academy) in June of 1988. He previously worked for the Ho-Ho-Kus Department of Public Works. “He is one of my closest friends,” Ho- Ho-Kus Police Chief John Wanamaker said. “He is a good officer and a good friend.” Schultz could not be reached for com- ment on his future plans. On his departmental baseball-style trad- ing card, Schultz included the following quote: “Dare to be yourself. Pain is tempo- rary. Pride is forever.” J. CRUSCO See related story on page 5. duction of the ‘Marshall’ (evaluation) pro- gram and look forward to the results of these efforts, which we believe will be of great benefit to our students and teachers,” she said. Federer also plans to focus on future contract negotiations with the Ho-Ho-Kus Education Association and with Northern Highlands, the regional high school district that now accepts Ho-Ho-Kus students. She said she would also work toward shared ser- vices and facilities management. “I believe that I bring to the board a great deal of understanding and perspective as to where we have been and a vision for where we want to go,” she added. Langevin has been a Ho-Ho-Kus resi- dent since 1999, and currently has two chil- dren in the school system. She earned a degree in accounting from Ramapo College and now works for KPMG, LLP, where she manages a multi-million dollar budget. She supports volunteerism in the school and in the community. She is a supporting member of the Ramapo College ENACTUS program – a student/business leader partnership supporting an entrepre- neurial spirit and global sustainability, and a parishioner of Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River. Langevin has sup- ported the Ho-Ho-Kus/Waldwick Coopera- tive Nursery School in key roles. Langevin invites the community to “like” her on Facebook at Amy 4 HHK BOE. “Like most of you, I chose this town for the quaint community and excellent school system,” Langevin said. “A few years ago, I made the decision to volunteer in our school and work toward a seat on the board of edu- cation. I’ve been a regular attendee at the board meetings for the past three years and have been an active contributor by making suggestions and asking questions. If elected, Langevin pledged to work toward greater transparency between the board of education and the community and ensure that board meetings are more acces- sible to the public by videotaping/streaming them on the school website while allowing students to use the TV studio facility. She would also work to ensure that Ho- Ho-Kus children are obtaining the best education through the most updated cur- riculum; support the teachers; end ensure that the school facility is safe and appropri- ate while keeping within the constraints of an economical budget. Langevin also said she would work with the other board members to provide enrich- ment programs to our children who are faced with many adult-like challenges at younger ages. “We cannot simply rely on academic excellence alone. As parents we must do more so they can face the challenges of today’s society,” Langevin said. “I am very comfortable working in a collaborative environment and want to be a voice for our community. I fully understand that I am the underdog in this election, but that will not deter me. You have my commitment to bring a fresh new perspective to the school board.” Merger options (continued from page 5) entered into at least one new shared-service agreement – “a negative answer to which could result in a reduction in state aid.” The document further states, “(T)wo municipalities within the NW Bergen Shared Services Group, of which the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus is a member, approached Ho-Ho-Kus with the proposal of a merger of construction departments, initiating an investigation into such a pos- sibility by the borough administrator and the chief financial officer and…a review of this possibility was conducted in depth over a period of many weeks with the Borough of Midland Park, with which the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus already has two inter-local agreements (the purchase of gasoline/diesel fuel from Ho-Ho-Kus by Midland Park, and Midland Park Construction Depart- ment services for the elected officials of Ho-Ho-Kus), and after a number of discus- sions with the mayor, chief financial officer, borough administrator, construction offi- cial, and construction department technical assistant of Midland Park, a shared-service agreement based upon improved economy and efficiency seems quite feasible.” In September, Ho-Kus Borough Admin- istrator Don Cirulli said officials from multiple municipalities had contacted Ho- Ho-Kus concerning proposals for shared service agreements. The outreach came after a state-level official stressed that New Jersey is encouraging municipalities to pursue inter-local service agreements that involve departmental mergers that will result in reduced costs and increased effi- ciency. Cirulli said he had spoken with New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Director of Shared Services Nancy Malool, who was addressing a joint meeting of mayors and administrators from the 13 municipalities that belong to the Northwest Bergen Shared Services Group. In addi- tion to Ho-Ho-Kus, that group includes Allendale, Franklin Lakes, Glen Rock, Mahwah, Midland Park, Oakland, Ramsey, Ridgewood, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River, Waldwick, and Wyckoff. In his September report to the Ho-Ho- Kus Council, Cirulli said the director “spoke to us in no uncertain terms about the need to create new shared service agreements on an ongoing basis.” When he told Malool that Ho-Ho-Kus currently participates in 17 shared service agreements, the director clarified that the state is referring to depart- mental mergers. Cirulli further noted that Malool remarked that “the state feels that no municipality with a population under 5,000 or so should even exist if it is unwill- ing to create some meaningful inter-local agreements as she had just described.” J. CRUSCO