On the eve of the recent Mineola School Board election, residents in the district still seemed divided over the school consolidation plan and some believed that many voters would reject the budget to express their dissatisfaction over aspects of the plan.
But the $84.2 million budget with its historically low 2.37 percent tax levy increase passed by more than 400 votes. And incumbent board members Terence Hale and William Hornberger nearly doubled their opponents’ vote counts in a 3,000-vote turnout that many credit to a proactive grassroots group known as PEACE – People for Excellence, Affordability and Commitment to Education.
“I think they had a huge impact on it. I think PEACE got the word out,” Hale said.
PEACE was a movement initially formed in reaction to the politics of anonymous e-mails that characterized the campaigns prior to the bond votes for alternative school consolidation plans that were soundly defeated.
“We just didn’t think that was right,” said Kathy Darmstadt, who had been on the volunteer financial advisory committee that presented analyses of the three consolidation plans in a public hearing last summer.
Many of the PEACE members had worked with that group or on the 25-member Citizens Committee on Consolidation that had drafted the initial school consolidation options spurred by the school district’s declining student population over the preceding several years.
“They were just trying to strike people’s fears,” said Artie Barnett, one of the founding PEACE members, of the anonymous e-mailers. “I think we were honest. We’re accountable for what we say.”
Barnett said she and other district residents had grown tired of what they considered back-handed tactics by people who were opposed to the plan to lease the Cross Street School to the Solomon Schechter Day School or other aspects of the consolidation plan. She said they were intent to change the tenor of politics in the school election campaign.
“I was tired to hearing about people who were voting against the budget because they weren’t getting what they wanted,” said Darmstadt,
So while Hale and Hornberger logged unmeasured miles of door-to-door campaigning against their opponents, Veronica Levitan and Joseph Manopella, the PEACE activists, also carried their campaign to the streets, distributing flyers and engaging their neighbors face to face. They endorsed the budget, reminding voters that the consolidation plan would save a projected $37 million over 10 years and endorsed the plan to make the Hampton School the pre-K-grade 2 school in the southern part of the district. They also warned voters to beware of anonymous flyers.
From a core group of five people, Barnett said the creation of a Facebook page helped to organize 150 people for the campaign. They also took out newspaper ads that carried some of their names. And the flyer campaign took on a life of its own.
“There were many people handing out flyers. It really took off. It was really like people got involved,” Darmstadt said, adding. “We always felt that if people knew the facts, they would vote in favor of the budget.”
Barnett said.
School board member John McGrath, who had been very public in his opposition to consolidation, said he thinks the group may have had some effect on the election – but thinks the lack of a viable alternative consolidation plan from Levitan or Manopella was a more decisive factor in the election outcome.
“I think the PEACE group possibly had an impact,” McGrath said, noting that it included many present and past PTA leaders. But he added, “The real impact was people were tired of the fight. I think the candidates that stepped up didn’t have a plan that the community felt comfortable with and I think that had more of an impact.”
Levitan, who could not be reached for comment, had said she favored keeping the Willis Avenue School in the consolidation mix, suggesting the Hampton School should be jettisoned. That ran contrary to the consensus among district voters who repeatedly criticized Willis Avenue for its lack of green space and a controversial plan to put a playground on its roof that its continued use would have required.
PEACE’s campaign ran counter to the negative campaign tactics used by opponents of two bond issues and appeared to carry over to the school election campaign.
An anonymous flyer raising questions of the lease plan with Solomon Schechter was inserted in the church bulletin at St. Aidan one Sunday became a source of opposition among residents in Williston Park.
School board Vice President Christine Napolitano said the PEACE approach made a difference in an election environment that was far from predictable.
“The message takes on a different meaning when you know where it’s coming from,” Napolitano said. “It was a nail-biter, believe me. We really had no idea of what was going to happen.”
She said the 21st century approach PEACE employed with Facebook gave voters a chance to interact in a new way and helped spawn a fresh energy in the school district that brought more people out to vote.
“I do believe that they inspired people to take a close look at the issues and really encourage people who had not voted in prior elections to do that,” Napolitano said. “I think they were able to mobilize individuals to vote.”
Mineola Superintendent of Schools Michael Nagler agrees that the group had a positive impact.
“I think the PEACE movement raised the collective consensus of the community and urged them to participate in the vote and election. Greater voter turnout can never be a bad thing,” Nagler said.
Although the election is history, PEACE has not disbanded and intends to play a “watchdog” role in the school district, according to Barnett.
Napolitano said she is hopeful about the future of the district – and the role PEACE may play in it.
“Encouraging people to become active participants in the process is always a good thing,” Napolitano said. “I think they are a watchdog and they’re a good watchdog.”
Hale doesn’t think all the bad blood from the consolidation battle has dissipated, but he thinks the election results speak for themselves.
“I think there’s still a lot of animosity out there. But 1,600 people voted for me and Will Hornberger,” he said.
