Less than a week after newcomer Todd Hochman narrowly defeated incumbent Anjani Gharpure for a Plainsboro seat on the WW-P School Board, Gharpure has filed for a recount.##M:[more]##
Gharpure, who received 366 votes to Hochman’s 380, said “many friends and acquaintances have encouraged me to go for a recount.” She said she filed a petition in the Middlesex County Superior Court on April 27 for the recount.
There were four candidates vying for two seats in Plainsboro. Incumbent Anthony Fleres received 578 votes, while Shipra Mitra trailed Hochman and Gharpure with 172 votes.
In West Windsor John Farrell, who ran uncontested, was elected to fill the remainder of the term for the seat vacated by former school board member Stan Katz last year.
This year’s elections marked the 10th year in a row in which the WW-P school budget has received a stamp of approval from voters — this time in both towns.
In West Windsor, 1,”055 residents approved of the $155.9 million budget, while 803 voted against it. In Plainsboro, 587 residents voted “yes,” while 325 voted “no.” Only 7.92 percent of Plainsboro’s registered voters turned out to vote. In West Windsor 11.58 percent of registered voters went to the polls.
Traditionally, Plainsboro voters pass the budget, while West Windsor residents tend to vote it down. Last year Plainsboro voters passed the budget 463 to 221. Voters in West Windsor failed it, with 730 approving it and 831 voting against it, but it was salvaged by the Plainsboro vote.
Although the proposed $134.79 million tax levy for the 2009-’10 budget is only a 0.5 percent increase over last year, Plainsboro residents will see a 9-cent increase in their school tax bills, while West Windsor residents would see a 5-cent increase.
The budget comes with a 1.6 percent, or $2.4 million, increase over last year, a smaller rate of increase than the average 4.3 percent increase the district sees on a yearly basis.
This is the first year that taxes will be assessed based on enrollment percentages, rather than equalized valuation. However, school officials pointed out that because of varying calendars used by other agencies for tax collection, this year’s property tax bills will reflect the second part of last year’s taxes — still based on equalized valuation — and the first part of this year’s, based on enrollment.
Plainsboro taxpayers will be hit harder this year as a result of the new formula, bringing their school taxes back up to nearly the same level as in 2006. West Windsor residents make up 58.4 percent of the student body, while Plainsboro residents make up 41.6 percent. This is a jump from the percentages that were based on equalized valuation, where Plainsboro made up 37.8 percent of the tax base, and West Windsor made up 62.2 percent For a house assessed at $500,”000, the tax increases will translate into about $450 increase for Plainsboro and about $250 for West Windsor.
Gharpure said she was surprised with the election results, but offered her congratulations to Hochman and Fleres. “Interestingly, a majority of the voters decided to vote for one incumbent but not for the other incumbent,” Gharpure noted. “One would think that experience in the school district and community involvement should be important criteria for election of all the candidates. Mr. Hochman has a steep learning curve ahead of him, I wish him the very best.”
WW-P officials said they were unfamiliar with the recount process, but Assistant Superintendent Larry Shanok said that in the case that a recount changes the outcome of the election, his understanding is that Gharpure would be seated, and Hochman would be removed. However, votes on board matters and business handled during the interim, while Hochman served on the board, would still stand because it was done in good faith, he said.
Information on the New Jersey School Boards Association website confirms this: “Certified election results are valid unless overturned.” Shanok confirmed that the results had been certified. “The actions of the board during the challenge period will still be valid regardless of the final determination that is made on the challenge or recount,” the website also stated.
According to Jim Vokral, the Department Head Administrator at the Middlesex County Board of Elections, once a candidate files with the court for a recount, the Board of Elections is notified, and then the board would make arrangements to do a recount.
Vokral said the candidate has to specify whether he or she wants a recount of the machine votes, paper ballots, or both. Once that is done, the paperwork is processed, and all parties involved are notified, Vokral said. The paperwork would make its way to the Board of Elections, Vokral said, and a date is set for the recount in which the county clerk, Board of Election commissioners, and candidate are available. The candidate’s opponent is also legally notified, and he or she also has the opportunity to witness the recount, says Vokral.
At the end of the process, a letter is sent to the county clerk. “Then it’s subject to interpretation,” Vokral said. “They have the chance to look at the actual paperwork for the ballots and go to court to challenge the ones that were counted, and ones that weren’t counted.”
Vokral said the voting machines are held for 15 days after the election, at which time they are cleared in preparation for the upcoming primaries.
Regarding the budget, Gharpure said she was glad it passed, but noted that less than 8 percent of the registered voters in Plainsboro showed up to the polls. “Even though the taxes will go up for the Plainsboro residents, the budget passed by more than 200 votes with over 500 people approving the budget,” she said.
Gharpure said she has learned a lot over the past three years on the board but is not sure if she will run again for a seat. “There are many volunteer opportunities in our community and other non-profit institutions,” she said. “I have been involved in the school district not only through the board of education but also through the PTSA at High School North for over six years, and I will continue to work for the PTSA and for various activities in the school. I plan to continue helping out at High School North PTSA for the next year, until my son graduates in 2010.”
During the school board’s reorganization meeting on April 28, Hochman and Fleres were sworn in to their new seats. Farrell was absent.
Hochman said he was very pleased to win a seat on the board. He said he had called “every single resident whose number I could find” who lived in the Cranbury Brook development in Plainsboro, which is an active 55 and older adult community. Developments like these traditionally have high voter turnouts.
Hochman, of Daisy Court, holds a law degree from St. John University, as well as a bachelor of science in applied mathematics and statistics and economics from the State University of New York, Stonybrook. Hochman currently works as a director of compliance for Prudential Financial in Iselin. He also serves as vice president of the Walker Gordon Farm Homeowners Association. He and his wife, Lisa, have two sons — one a senior at High School South and the other at Grover Middle School.
What is the first thing he is planning to do as a board member? He says simply, “I’m going to listen.”
“Everybody here is very, very nice, and I’m very pleased to be working with such a great group of people,” he said.
Fleres also said he was pleased to be re-elected to the board, and said his most immediate goal is to find good replacements for the two assistant superintendents — Steve Mayor and Thomas Smith — both of whom have accepted positions as superintendents in other school districts.
Fleres, of Mifflin Court, a civil engineer, has lived with his wife, Maria, in Plainsboro since 1993. The couple has a son who is a high school sophomore and daughter who is in middle school in the WW-P school district. He holds a degree in civil engineering from the City College of New York, and an MBA from the University of Connecticut in 1980.
During the reorganization meeting, board members unanimously elected Hemant Marathe to his sixth consecutive term as the board’s president. They also unanimously elected Robert Johnson for his fourth consecutive term as vice president.
In West Windsor, Farrell received 1,”364 votes, the school district reported. Farrell, of Millbrook Drive, has lived there since 1992, with the exception of the three-year period Farrell and his family moved to Italy as a result of his job. They returned to the same home.
He and his wife have two children — Connor, a senior, and the quarterback for South’s football team, and Colleen, in eighth grade at Grover Middle School.
