Board of Ed Candidate Says Superintendent Campaigned for Incumbents

On April 27, Fort Lee voters will go to the polls to elect three Board of Education members out of a field of six candidates. At the BOE meeting Monday, one of those candidates made comments suggesting that Fort Lee Superintendent of Schools Raymond Bandlow took part in campaigning efforts for the three incumbent candidates—Peter Suh, Michelle Stux-Ramirez and Joseph Surace—by attending and speaking at a campaign kickoff and fundraising event organized by Suh earlier this month.

First-time school board candidate Helen Yoon stepped to the microphone that had been set up in the School No. 1 gymnasium, where the meeting was held to accommodate what was expected to be a larger than normal crowd because the 2011-2012 school budget was on the agenda, and said, “As a taxpayer, I’d like to express some concerns.”

Yoon then delivered the following comments:

“We as members of the community elect the nine board members. These board members allocate 60 percent of our tax dollars. The board also elects the superintendent, among other school officials. The board monitors or evaluates the performance of the superintendent. And the board also is the decision-maker in the contract negotiations of the superintendent. So when the superintendent participates in the reelection campaigning efforts of three incumbents, it doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to question the relationship between these board members and the superintendent. I think there are some ethical implications here that we need to be paying attention to as a community.”

Yoon’s comments were met with mostly stunned silence from the crowd, many of whom had come to discuss the budget, and board president Carmelo Luppino’s customarily polite, “Thank you. Next?”

After the meeting, Yoon elaborated on her comments, telling Patch that her concerns stem from a March 21 event at on Lemoine Ave. organized by Suh as a campaign kickoff and fundraising event for the three incumbents. The event, Yoon pointed out, was covered by Korean media outlets MKTV and KNN, which are broadcast on cable.

“I think there are certain roles and responsibilities of the board members, and there are certain roles and responsibilities of the superintendent,” Yoon said. “And when a superintendent is participating actively in the election of incumbent board members, it raises a red flag.”

On Wednesday, she added, "These are the board members who came up with the referendum that failed the community and our children twice."

The Korean news report shows signs bearing the names of the three incumbents in English and some of the attendees, including Bandlow and other members of the administration and board. On camera, Suh, standing next to Stux-Ramirez, says in Korean to vote for numbers six, two and five on April 27—the numbers corresponding to Suh, Stux-Ramirez and Surace respectively on the ballot—and then mentions each by name.

The next shot is of Bandlow addressing the crowd, and then in an on-camera interview, the superintendent says, “I would strongly encourage everyone in the Fort Lee Korean community to exercise your right to vote. The school board election is coming up in April. It’s very important that you go to the polls and cast your ballot.”

Bandlow stood by those comments Wednesday, saying he always encourages people to get out and vote and that he would say that “any time, anywhere.”

“Notice I didn’t say who to vote for,” Bandlow said. “I wouldn’t do that. So that’s perfectly okay. I can encourage people to vote.”

Bandlow strongly denied that his presence at the event was tantamount to campaigning on the incumbents’ behalf, saying he was merely an invited guest.

Bandlow read from a written invitation from Suh, which said, “We would like to showcase what a great job the administrators have done and what can be accomplished when we work together as a team.”

“So, how could I not come to that?” Bandlow said. “Certainly I’d be happy to come, because I think that’s important for people to know that we have accomplished a great deal. And by ‘we,’ I mean as a board and an administration. I’m not talking about any specific board members.”

Bandlow called Yoon’s comments “very unfortunate” and a misinterpretation of his intentions in attending the event.

Candidate Paul Umrichin reacted to Yoon’s comments in an email to Patch after Monday’s meeting, saying he didn’t “feel that Dr. Bandlow is supporting any particular candidates.”

After viewing the video Wednesday and having it translated for him however, Umrichin wrote, “I am disappointed in our hired school administrators. The reporter states that this is a fundraising event for the 3 incumbent candidates. That being the case Dr. Bandlow’s, Mr. Engravalle’s, and Mrs. Balletto’s presence there is misleading to the public eye. If they had only attended the event I may be inclined to shrug it off as these candidates have had a close working relationship with the administrators for the past 3 years. Having the Superintendent of our school district deliver a speech as well as pose for pictures with the candidates and the Assistant Superintendent gives the impression that they are backing them whether or not their speeches or presence is benign.”

Candidate Tracy Mattei agreed in part with Umrichin, saying at first that she did not feel excluded as a candidate, “intentionally or otherwise,” and that the administration has been helpful. She did however call Yoon’s comments “polarizing to the greater community,” and said Yoon was “incorrect in her approach.”

“I have come to find out why Helen was angered at the BOE meeting,” Mattei wrote in an email. “Now I do understand her frustration and hope that next time she will share more with the people of Fort Lee. I have been told by each of the administrators, through many contacts, that they cannot endorse any candidate, and they have been very forthcoming and generous with information. So, learning of this conflict of interest disappoints me. The contracted employees inadvertently allowed themselves to be used as honored-guests at a luncheon that turned out to be a fundraiser for the incumbents. I question the incumbents as to why they would allow our paid employees of the town to be used as honorees at a fundraiser, inadvertently or not. I will also challenge the three incumbents’ ability to remain objective and independent in decisions regarding the Board of Education. Their judgment  is compromised. The voters of Fort Lee will see them as compromised also.”

She added,  “This type of conflict of interest is not what this election is about. It is not what the spirit of volunteerism is about and it is detrimental to the culture in the Fort Lee School system.”

Luppino invited Yoon to speak with the board attorney after Monday’s meeting if she wanted to discuss any ethical concerns.

Yoon, who stood by her comments Wednesday, said she chose not to do that.