M-W voter approve $150 million budget

CENTRAL VALLEY — Voters in the Monroe-Woodbury School District approved a $150 million budget, okayed the nearly $1 million purchase of 11 new school buses and returned two incumbents to the school board in this week’s election.

Voters also elected John Otero, a newcomer to school politics who was aligned with incumbents Natalie Brooks and Eleni Carter, as they turned aside bids from three other candidates also seeking office for the first time.

Otero will take the seat now held by John Broderick, who chose to set down.

Mark O’Brien, Clara Munoz-Feliciano and Guilaine Leger-Vargas had been labeled as supporters of a group of dissident members of Kiryas Joel who live outside the ultra orthodox village in the Town of Monroe.

Residents of Kiryas Joel have their own, separate school district and do not vote in Monroe-Woodbury school district matters.

But the premise, first articulated in an e-mail from school board member Jennifer Trumper, went that the dissidents wanted to gain a foothold on the nine-member school board in order to influence where their children attend school. In exchange, the dissidents would deliver a large block of votes to the candidates. If you listen to the whispers, that number of votes ranged from 300 to 600.

Hoax, lies and rumors O’Brien, Munoz-Feliciano and Leger-Vargas each and individually said they were not aligned or in league with the dissidents or each other.

O’Brien called the “KJ alliance a hoax,” adding that he could not believe “how ethically low” some people would act to get elected for “non-paying position.”

In a letter to the editor that appears in this week’s Photo News, Clara Munoz-Feliciano wrote: “I maintain my innocence and clearly state that I stood alone in this race along with my Lord Jesus, my family and my true friends and supporters.” (The letter appears on page 13).

In an e-mail exchange with The Photo News, Guilaine Leger-Vargas wrote: “I cannot believe all the lies and rumors put out there by people who don’t know me. As I said when I started this journey, I will help any parent of a special needs child get services that the Monroe-Woodbury school district cannot provide.”

Rightly or wrongly, simply mentioning the name Kiryas Joel or the initials KJ polarizes many discussions and opinions in Monroe, Woodbury and other nearby communities. One local politico described it as akin to “yelling fire in a theater.”

Part of the reason for such polarization is fear. Another part is the separateness that Kiryas Joel residents maintain because of their religious beliefs.

Part of it, too, is the political power the community has exhibited in local, county and state races.

It would appear that none of political weight was at play in Tuesday’s voting. Voter turnout in Monroe-Woodbury typically ranges between 3,900 and 4,900 votes. This year’s total was about 4,300. The votes were:

John Otero: 3,082 Natalie Brooks: 2,969

Eleni Carter: 2,873 Mark O’Brien: 1,362

Clara Munoz-Feliciano: 1,163 Guilaine Leger-Vargas: 922

State audit The other contentious issue in the contest was a recent state audit that criticized the district for overestimating appropriations over the last three years. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s auditors said the district failed to fully inform of the public of a $13.6 million surplus accumulated during this time while increasing the tax levy for the last thee fiscal years by a total of $9.3 million.

The audit noted that district officials did nothing illegal.

School Board President Dr. Michael J. DiGeronimo has been adamant in his defense of the district, calling the state’s criticism questionable “given that the district has limited its spending growth to less than one percent in recent years, corresponding to record low tax levies.”

But the candidates, particularly O’Brien kept asking questions on the topic.

The budget Voters approved a $150,550,309 spending plan for the 2012-13 school year that will increase the tax levy by .89 percent, which school officials described as the lowest increase in the district’s history.

Nearly $7 million was cut from the budget through retirements and reductions. It includes a $300,000 capital fund that will go for repairs like parking lots, a boiler, bathroom repairs through the district’s building.

In an e-mail exchange with The Photo News, Carter wrote: “I believe this election means that we managed to communicate to the public the important message that the makeup of the Board is as important, and maybe more important, than the budget itself. When you change the composition of the Board, you change the direction of the Board and the District.”

Editor’s note More than two dozen people from the Monroe area contacted us after we asked readers to let us know if they had received copies of the Woodbury Gazette inside last week’s editions of The Photo News.

All said they had, but only a few indicated that they had found the Gazette in the middle of the Photo News. The majority of people who responded said the Gazette was randomly included the Photo News, much like other pieces of mail, rather than as an advertising insert. The Photo News was not compensated in any way.

Thank you for letting us know. By Bob Quinn