Two Fort Lee BOE Candidates Withdraw, Two to Vie for Open Seat

The Fort Lee Board of Education announced Wednesday that it has only one candidate who will appear on the November ballot to fill the remainder of former board president Arthur Levine’s unexpired term, that two of the on the board have withdrawn their names from the November ballot and that one of two people will fill Levine’s seat until the board’s reorganization meeting in January 2013.

“Per the law, [Levine] in the beginning of August,” Board Secretary and Business Administrator Cheryl Balletto told  Patch. “So because it’s 60 days before an election, the Fort Lee Board of Education has to appoint someone to the open seat until the re-org meeting in 2013.”

Balletto people had to send in their resumes for the board to review by Aug. 25.

“The board will review those resumes and interview the candidates, and then based upon the resumes and interviews, the board would then appoint someone into that seat up until the re-org meeting in January [2013],” Balletto explained. “There are only two people who have done that: [Patrick Spina] and [Candace Romba].”

Each of the two candidates will be interviewed at the next public board meeting on Monday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m., according to school officials.

But Balletto said only Romba filed to be on the ballot in November to fill Levine’s unexpired term until the following election.

“She is the only person you can vote for for that one-year term,” Balletto said of Romba, adding that if elected, Romba would fill the seat until the reorganization meeting in January 2014.

In addition, the Fort Lee school board announced Wednesday that now former candidates Tracy Mattei and Steve Byoun have withdrawn their names from the ballot to fill one of the three-year terms, leaving just four candidates for three seats: incumbent John Bang, Esther Han Silver, Holly Morell and David Sarnoff. 

“Tracy and Steve won’t be on the ballot,” Balletto said. “As for the others, they’ll all be on the ballot, vying for three-year terms; it will be three of those four.”

Balletto added, “It could be either Candace or Patrick that could fill [Levine’s] seat until the re-org., but on the ballot, it’s only going to be Candice.”