Low Turnout, But Affirmative Results

By Rob Potter
SULLIVAN COUNTY — May 19, 2000 -- Voters in all eight school districts made their way to the polls Tuesday to decide on budgets for the 2000-2001 academic year and fill school board seats.
To the delight of administrators and current school board members who spent numerous hours putting together the budgets, taxpayers in each district approved the spending plans for the next school year.
Eldred
Voters in Eldred approved the 2000-2001 budget of $8,558,700 by a 232 to 154 margin.
In a light school board election, Andrew Boyar was the only candidate running for a seat. Boyar, who is the vice-president of the current school board, received 294 votes and will serve another term. He ran unopposed in the re-election bid.
Fallsburg
By an overwhelming 669 to 272 margin, Fallsburg taxpayers said “yes” to a $20,602,985 budget for the 2000-2001 school year. That means the district can come off the austerity budget it was on for the current academic year.
Had voters defeated the proposed budget, cuts in areas such as modifed sports, teaching staff, class electives and afterschool programs would have been made.
In school board races, Shawn F. Wiles received 478 votes to fill the expired term of Ruby Gold, Karen Fountain garnered 436 votes to win Robert Krutman’s vacated seat and Robert Scheinman won re-election with 584 votes. None of those candidates faced an opponent for the board seats.
In the one contested race, however, Darryl A. Wells defeated Kevin McDaniel by a 469 to 252 margin. Wells will now fill the unexpired term of Martha Slimskey, who resigned from the board.
Liberty
Voters in Liberty gave the thumbs up to the 2000-2001 budget of $22,640,046. The tally was 377 yes votes and 198 no votes.
Board members Joyce Burnett and Matthew B. Frumess were both victorious in their re-election bids. Burnett received 408 votes and Frumess 361, although neither candidate faced any opposition.
Some voters, however, cast write-in votes for the school board. Michael Stoddard garnered two write-in votes and John Milano had one.
Livingston Manor
By a three-to-one margin, Livingston Manor voters accepted the $9,530,703 2000-2001 spending plan. A total of 253 residents cast a yes vote and only 85 cast a no ballot.
In the battle for a three-year term on the school board, incumbent and current board president Judy Van Put defeated challenger Elizabeth Mohr. Van Put had 229 votes to Mohr’s 99.
Incumbent board member Allan Clark also won another three-year term. He defeated challenger Catherine Mead by a 199-128 margin.
Monticello
Monticello district officials said yesterday that the numbers were still unofficial, but the budget passed by a 687-612 margin. The 2000-2001 Monticello budget is just over $44 million.
Board member Vivian Liff was re-elected for a five-year term. She was unopposed for her seat and received 913 votes.
Roscoe
The 2000-2001 Roscoe budget of $4,195,997 was easily approved by district residents. A total of 197 voted for the spending plan, while only 69 opposed it.
Both Merlin Brock and Ed Park were re-elected to the school board. Brock received 212 votes and Park had 217 votes. Both men were appointed to the board three months ago after members Norm DeCotes and Roger Lynker resigned.
Sullivan West
Although voters in the former Jeffersonville-Youngsville district cast more no than yes ballots, the Sullivan West budget of $21 million easily passed.
The overall result was 805 voters in favor of the budget and 588 opposed to the spending plan. But in the former J-Y district, 299 people cast no ballots and 297 cast yes votes. In the former DV (308 yes to 240 no) and Narrowsburg (200 to 49) districts, voters approved the budget.
In the school board races, incumbent Jeff Nober kept his board seat by holding off challenger Arthur Norden. Nober was victorious by a 688 to 573 margin. But in the former DV district, where Norden had served on the old DV school board, he garnered 280 votes to Nober’s 202.
Incumbent Richard Sandler also won re-election, besting challenger Tim Lanese by a 753 to 493 margin. But Lanese, who once was a J-Y board member, did better in his old district. Lanese had 338 votes to Sandler’s 228 at the polls in the former J-Y district.
K.C. Garn, the only incumbent board member running unopposed, was easily re-elected by district voters. He garnered a total of 920 votes.
Garn, Nober and Sandler each will serve another three years on the Sullivan West board.
Tri-Valley
Voters at Tri-Valley said yes to the 2000-2001 budget of $17,132,226. There were 472 yes ballots and 280 no ballots.
In the school board race, Leonard Bernstein, Brian Edwards, Lori Mickelson and Gary Ter Bush all were elected to the board in an at-large method of voting.
Mickelson, with 552 votes, and Ter Bush, who captured 534 votes, will retain their seats on the board. Their terms expire on June 30, 2003. Edwards finished with 519 votes and will take the seat of Peter Ford, who chose not to run for re-election. Edwards’ term also expires on June 30, 2003.
Bernstein had 494 votes and will serve the one year remaining on the term of Peter Swain. Swain resigned from the board in April.