What started as a crowded field of 11 has narrowed to six candidates in the 2014 Hamilton Board of Education election. When voters go to the polls Nov. 4, they will have the chance to choose three of them to serve three-year terms on the school board. The election comes at a vital time for the board and the district, with superintendent James Parla set to retire in January and board members Patricia DelGiudice and Joe Malagrino, whose terms run out this year, deciding not to run for re-election.
Only one incumbent, Susan Lombardo, is among the six candidates. Lombardo was appointed in June after board member Stephanie Pratico resigned. Five hopefuls join her in pursing a seat on the board—Garret P. Hengeli, Jennifer Kraemer, Vince McKelvey and Christopher Scales. A seventh candidate, Nancy Yantas, will appear on the ballot. Yantas withdrew from the race in mid-October, too late to be removed.
The Hamilton Post asked each candidate to provide biographical information and to answer four open-ended questions.
Garret P. Hengeli
Age: 51
Occupation: Mercer County Airport Noise, Safety and Environmental Specialist
Education: Hamilton Square Elementary School (now the BOE Building), Reynolds Middle School, Steinert High School, associate’s degree in Public Administration from Mercer County Community College, has completed coursework in public administration at Thomas Edison College and The College of New Jersey.
Previous elected office: None
Community involvement: former aide to Hamilton Mayor John K. Rafferty, former legislative liaison for a number of state government departments, former staff member in the state assembly speaker’s office, former member of district fee arbitration committee, Office of Attorney Ethics, District VII Mercer County, former member tuition assistance committee at St. Anthony’s School.
Connections to school district: None
Jennifer Kraemer
Age: 39
Occupation: Enrollment coordinator for the Community Education and Training Division for Mercer County Community College, James Kerney Campus
Education: Kisthardt Elementary School, Grice Middle School, Hamilton High School West, The College of New Jersey (bachelor’s in English Liberal Arts)
Previous elected office: None
Community involvement: Hamilton Township PTA Committee president (2012-2013), former Yardville School PTA president, current member of Mercer County Council of PTAs Board of Directors and several Board of Education Committees.
Connections to school district: I have three children currently learning in the Hamilton School District: two are in elementary school, and one is in middle school.
Susan Lombardo
Age: 46
Occupation: Senior Management Assistant
Education: Mercerville School, Our Lady of Sorrows, Nottingham High School and Mercer County Community College
Previous elected office: None, appointed in June 2014 to the Hamilton Township Board of Education
Community involvement: The Jeremy Fund, PTA member for 11 years, PTA executive board member for two years, Special Olympics New Jersey volunteer, community member for the Space and Enrollment committee.
Connections to school district: I have 2 stepsons Michael and Anthony, both who attended Klockner, Crockett and are graduates of Nottingham High School. Mike is presently in the Army, 82nd Airborne division, and Anthony is a student at the Culinary Institute of America. My daughter, Maria attended Robinson, Grice and is presently a sophomore at Nottingham High. In the past, I was a substitute educational assistant and substitute secretary, working at various schools throughout the district and also in the administration building.
Vince McKelvey
Age: 72
Occupation: Retired chief investigator in the Division of Law with the New Jersey Attorney General. Served in the Air Force for four years. Vietnam veteran.
Education: Trenton Catholic Boys’ High School, Trenton Junior College, Rider University
Previous elected office: None
Community involvement: Hibernian Club president and former president of both Mercer County Umpires and International Association of Approved Basketball Officials.
Connections to the school district: Daughter went through the district.
Christopher ‘Chris’ Scales
Age: 18
Occupation: Student/Customer Service Associate
Education: Sayen Elementary, Reynolds Middle, Steinert High. Currently a freshman at Rider University.
Previous Elected Office: None
Community Involvement: Student school board representative for the Hamilton Township Board of Education (2011-2014).
Connections to School District: My siblings, parents and I all went through the Hamilton Township school system.
Ann Hauck Wolf
Age: 50
Occupation: Project Manager for the N.J. Dept. of Environmental Protection – Blue/Green Acres Program
Education: Morgan Elementary, Nottingham Middle School, Steinert High School and Rutgers University
Previous elected office: None
Community involvement: Treasurer of the Friends of the Hamilton Library, gleaning volunteer for Farmers Against Hunger/N.J. Agricultural Society
Connections to school district: Two children (2012 and 2014 district graduates). Former PTA President, former PTA Treasurer, PTA executive board member (1998-2014), Steinert Marching Unit Parent Association executive board member, and parent participant in other school club organizations.
How would you improve communication between the district and its stakeholders?
Garret P. Hengeli: I would call for more board meetings to be held at other locations around Hamilton, allowing for more public participation. I would make myself available on a regularly scheduled, one-on-one basis, to residents, parents, students and staff. I would also limit the number and duration of BOE executive sessions.
Jennifer Kraemer: The Board of Education should make better use of social media outlets, text messaging to parents, and electronic newsletters or blogs. People today are used to receiving updated information in real-time, and it’s an easy way to keep people connected and engaged.
Susan Lombardo: I would encourage holding BOE meetings at various schools throughout the district so all citizens can easily participate; institution of quarterly get-togethers of the Superintendent and several board members with parents, to hear first-hand their concerns; and better use of a ‘robo-call’ system to immediately share important information.
Vince McKelvey: Have a regular common sense briefing at the public meetings. More transparency. Have it more inviting for the public. Let the public speak early. Don’t go into executive session and expect the public to sit in the meeting room for hours and wait for the board to come back. They got lives and families to get home to.
Christopher Scales: Our district needs to develop an honest and effective plan to enhance communication between the district and its stakeholders. By utilizing the district’s webpage more, community members will be able to access important information. I would like the see the district’s phone system used better, to include events across the district and as a way to get urgent messages to the public.
Ann Hauck Wolf: I would like to see BOE members attend more events at the schools to which they are assigned. The public should be able to phone-in or Skype if they wish to speak at a meeting because sometimes it isn’t possible to attend in-person. I would also like to see the BOE have a “suggestion box” for the general public to provide anonymous input.
Would you like to see the next superintendent come from in or out of district? What is the most important quality that person should have?
GH: They must be committed to this district! I would like to see a QUALIFIED person from within the district, if at all possible. If not, a qualified individual coming in as a superintendent should be required to move to Hamilton and be paid well under Dr. Parla’s current salary.
JK: Hamilton needs an enthusiastic, fully qualified, educational leader; one that will work tirelessly to instill pride and excellence in the school system. It’s my belief that individuals who hold a vested interest in the community will go above and beyond to see its success.
SL: Ideally, a local candidate would be wonderful; but the next superintendent must be the best-qualified candidate. He/she must be an education leader, who won’t rely on “connections” but will use student diversity to dramatically improve education. He/she must be a person of integrity who can rebuild the trust of the community by fighting for a thorough education for everyone.
VM: I would like to have the new superintendent come from the Hamilton area or the vicinity. The new person needs to understand the district and its needs. The most important quality should be common sense and good communication skills.
CS: The most important quality that person should have is a clear vision and set of goals for Hamilton. Our district needs a leader that is committed to finding solutions to our district’s problems, and knows how to implement them. I support a superintendent that exhibits these traits and is qualified for the position, whether he or she is from out of district or not.
AW: As long as there are qualified candidates within our district, I would like to see the next superintendent come from here. The most important quality for our next superintendent is leadership. Staff can provide management and focus on technical and operational details. We need someone with vision to guide and grow our district.
How much priority should the board put on improving facilities?
GH: About 46 percent of our property taxes go to the schools, yet by looking at our buildings, no one can see how the money was spent. I want a real building maintenance plan and a real plan to make all of our schools ADA compliant in a reasonable amount of time.
JK: Work must continue on priority facility projects, as outlined in the “Preliminary Districtwide Building Assessment Report Card” submitted to the Board in May 2013 by the architectural firm Fraytak Veisz Hopkins Duthie, PC. Students and staff deserve to spend their days in a clean, healthy, and safe environment.
SL: The facilities in which children learn are of fundamental importance, the new BOE should take the work of the Space and Enrollment Committee, and produce a Building & Renovation Plan that meets the needs of the students and the budget of the district. With a supportable plan to rely upon, our community would support the funding necessary to replace and update antiquated buildings.
VM: This is a high priority. You can’t teach or learn if the roof is leaking. Need to get a professional construction manger as the board did for projects in the past. The board needs a real plan.
CS: The facilities in our district are falling apart. We need to come up with common sense solutions to tackle this major issue. Our students and faculty should not be working in buildings that are unsafe and not up to code. I would like to see the board address this issue first thing in January, and include the public in the discussion, because our community deserves better.
AW: Facility maintenance is very important. If we don’t take care of our facilities, they won’t function properly and will cost us more money in the long term. We need to update maintenance needs and prioritize them within the budget. I would like to see the district explore things like solar power and other “green” initiatives to determine if they have long term cost savings.
An audit revealed manipulated financial records and other questionable practices. What would you do to ensure the district does not stray from the audit’s recommendations?
GH: I would use my 28-years of government experience to perform effective oversight on district finances and personnel, make regular visits to the business office and demand accountability from the superintendent and senior staff. They are employees of the board; they and the Board of Education are ultimately and equally responsible.
JK: Like students, school board members must be willing to “do their homework” and ensure that all recommendations from the superintendent have been vetted using best practices and performed in accordance with board policy. Follow-up should be performed regularly, paying particular attention to those issues raised during public meetings.
SL: The Board must make it clear that the Superintendent will be held accountable to ensure all recommendations are adopted and practiced, and those who fail to follow the recommendations will face a “zero-tolerance” review. The Board must also hold itself accountable for follow-through on the recommendations, by continuing oversight by its Audit Committee. A quarterly audit report should be given to the board from administration.
VM: For all the money spent on the audit, what did you get? A watered down report that said there was bad business practices. I would get an administrator that really knows the job and has run a school district as big as Hamilton and has a successful track record. For all the accusations of “something must be criminal,” the report, from what was said in public, never said anything in that regard.
CS: We need to ensure that our staff working in the finance office is consistently following the new practices outlined by the auditor and district business administrator. The board now has a better idea of what mistakes were taking place, and now we need to move forward in order to ensure that the practices of the past are left behind.
AW: I would like the audit findings to be public information. In order for the administration to verify that corrected practices exist, they must periodically report to the BOE and show proof of proper practices. The administration must be held accountable. If training is necessary, it should be provided.
Hengeli,
McKelvey,
