Carol Harrison Arnold and Bertram Okpokwasili, as incumbent board members, obviously attend board meetings.

I have seen Joel Torres at meetings and have seen him quoted in the paper at meetings.

I have read that the union complained how unfair it was that Monica Kress, after a meeting she was attending, spoke with Sangeeta and other board members at the end. So obviously she attends meetings.

Yvonne did not only interview these three because they attend meetings. She did so because she is not a journalist but a propaganda mouthpiece for the candidates in question. I wonder if they will declare her In Kind contribution on their ELEC forms.

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+1000

Only lunatics like Yvonne would find Richardson qualified or credible.

Pebble, I totally disagree, we have a city council which are filled with good people, I will grant them that, but are clueless on what happened before. When people have no history of what happen they you have a "rubber stamp" council. The same is true with the school board. Why are we giving out contracts but teachers come to the board to complain about the lack of supplies? Or they complain that the water in the building is not working or there is no heat? I wish all the of board of ed candidates had Richardson's knowledge. They don't and at this moment the school board during election time do not even video tape the meetings, not including the issue of public comments. They believe it gives unfair advantage to other candidates, which is silly. The council meetings are taped during municipal elections, they just don't want the public to see what is going on

I've met Richardson and heard him talk on the topic of education. Because of that, there is no way that I'd put him in charge of fence installment let alone a school budget.

I also think Yvonne's theory of meeting attendance being the only qualifier is rather silly. There are lots of people that, due to a variety of obligations, can't attend meetings but follow the voting and history if the candidates.

If someone made a terrorist threat, I would make a police report, besides there is security at the school meetings. I absolutely agree Richardson made a poor choice of words but I stand by my statements, if the board members felt threatened why didn't they file a police report? It shows poor leadership on their part. The board members are playing a game too.

As you said, you can make anything fit (your) agenda. It was reported on by actual media - not the lady with a home camera kind of media - so there must have been something to it.

In the context of that saying, he was referring to board members voting on contracts. Was it said gracefully? No. Was it a terrorist threat? The answer is no. Personally, the threat comes when you receive a tax bill that you cannot afford. 2,300 JC residents are in lien. Their threat comes from not being able to pay their tax bills, not words. Then there is the real threat of students graduating from the public schools but cannot read or write. We use money on outside contracts instead of books. Besides, the board of ed members had the options of calling the cops to have Richardson arrested. They didn't because they knew it was politics not a terrorist threat.

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Oh?

Richardson, speaking during a public comment section, said, ?My advice to all of you board members: Whoever has a gun to your head, let them pull the trigger. At least you will die with respect. OK? Cause if I was in that position, I?d tell them to pull the trigger.?

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... oard_candidate_forum.html

Passionate? Sure. Misguided? Definitely. If he is so committed to service, maybe he can read to kids after school or something. He is far too unstable to have such important responsibilities.

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It amazes me how little attention is given to this compared to the goings-on in the City - given the size of the BOE budget.

Perhaps we need a Fletcher to run for the BOE or County?

I have seen Richardson at Board meetings, he does not make terrorists threats but you can take anything someone says and make it fit according to an agenda. Actually, Richardson have spoken before the city council for years even when he was a council aide. I never found his comments to be threatening. By the way, I don't condone violence and strongly believe the teacher who slapped the student should be arrested. The teacher's union also endorse him, they also attend the board meetings. Some people do not like Richardson because he questions the board on these outside contracts. It is the outside contracts that is causing taxpayers money to be wasted while students in some public schools do not have books.

So if you show up to a meeting to make terroristic threats to the board members (a la Richardson), you're good with that?

I have a different view, after attending board meetings this year, I only feel comfortable voting for candidates that attend the meetings. There is a lot of waste in the budget. Having children in the system will not stop the waste unless you attend the meetings. It is the reason I only interview the Children First Team, you always find them at School meetings.

Personally, I only feel comfortable voting for a candidate that currently has children in the public school system - thus a vested interest in the success of the schools.

I have given a lot of thought as to what I believe would make an effective a council person or school board member and that a necessary prerequisite would be demonstrating successful leadership representing the interests of others, and having done so though an established community, neighborhood or parent/school organization.

my two cents, only.

An interview with the Children First Team.
http://youtu.be/0ztRaKXd5Vs?list=UUPZCDR4rCUMJtCl7__MaEag

Hudson County View:
http://hudsoncountyview.com/jcboe-can ... ontracts-charter-schools/