BOE Member’s Ethics Complaint Over Pre-Election Fundraiser Dismissed

The state of New Jersey Department of Education's School Ethics Commission has dismissed ethics complaints filed by a current Fort Lee Board of Education member against school administrators and current and former members of the BOE stemming from a campaign kickoff and fund-raising event in March for then incumbent board members Peter Suh, Joseph Surace and Michelle Stux-Ramirez.

Named in separate complaints filed by Helen Yoon on April 28—the day after she was elected to a first term on the board—were Fort Lee Superintendent of Schools Raymond Bandlow, Assistant Superintendent Steven Engravalle and Business Administrator and board secretary Cheryl Balletto, along with current board member Suh, former board president and current board member Carmello Luppino and now former board member Stux-Ramirez.

The School Ethics Commission dismissed the complaints against the three school administrators, in which Yoon contended that Bandlow, Engravalle and Balletto violated the state School Ethics Act when they attended the fund-raising dinner on March 21 at in Fort Lee “for the re-election of incumbents running for the Board,” according to documents obtained by Patch.

Among Yoon’s contentions, according to the ethics commission’s decision on the motion to dismiss in at least two cases, were that the three administrators were introduced “in their official positions and not as regular citizens” and posed for pictures against the backdrop of a sign that said, “vote for these incumbents” and that during a TV interview with Korean media outlets Bandlow "went on camera encouraging everyone to exercise their right to vote, right after an incumbent went on camera asking everyone to vote for the incumbents."

Dinner and drinks were paid for or “donated” by “political associations” sponsoring the fundraiser, including the Korean American Voters’ Council “and other Korean Associations,” in violation of ethics codes, Yoon further asserted, according to the state documents.

Yoon’s complaint specifically argued that the three school administrators were in violation of statutes in the state Code of Ethics for School Board Members, but the analysis portion of the commission’s decision states in part that “school administrators are not subject to the Code of Ethics for School Board Members” and cites legal precedent in affirming that while a superintendent is considered an “ex officio member of the Board,” he or she is also not subject to the same code of ethics as board members.

“We are both very pleased that the ethics charges have been dismissed and that the commission’s finding sustained our belief from the onset that the charges were without merit,” said Engravalle and Balletto in a joint statement to Patch.

School officials confirmed that the complaints against Bandlow, Luppino, Stux-Ramirez and Suh were also dismissed.

Included in both Engravalle’s and Balletto’s motions to dismiss was a “request for sanctions” against Yoon for filing a “frivolous complaint”—an allegation to which Yoon did not respond when given the opportunity, according to the state documents. But the ethics commission decided in favor of Yoon in that instance, finding that the complaint was not frivolous and therefore denying the request for sanctions.

“[We’re] just glad it’s been resolved,” said Fort Lee Board of Education president Arthur Levine and vice president Linda McCue in a joint statement.

Yoon, who could not be reached for comment Monday, first raised the issue publicly during a BOE meeting on March 28.