the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, on Monday January 8 the Board of Ed met and had their annual reorganization. A few points to ponder:
1. The Board attorney made it abundantly clear that newly elected Mary Micale cannot vote on or even be in the room for discussion about anything to do with salaries and contract negotiations. This ban is in place for one year. It is a result of the fact that the union endorsed her campaign. How idiotic is it that 20% of our elected officials cannot vote on these important matters. And think about this- if Julie Mchedlishveli had been elected (she was a close third), then we would have TWO trustees recusing themselves from all this. Wow.
2. Hyun Ju Kwak nominated Mohammed Mahmoud to be Board President, saying very eloquently that his time had come, and that in this terrible era of Islamophobia this would be a wonderful and powerful statement of support from the community and the schools. It looked like Mr. Mahmoud was caught off guard, and he declined. Too bad the vote did not take place before Sheila was nominated. Chances are that he would have won.
3. Instead, Sheila Brogan was elected as President. Fresh off her mortifying censure for an ethics violation, she has now risen to the top. What do they say about things (?people?) that rise to the top? Mortifying ? – for the community, yes, but evidently not for HER. And at the end of the meeting Mr. Rurik Halaby stated that Brogan should not worry about the ethics and should put a big smiley face on the violation. Egad.
4. Mary Micale and Mohammed Mahmoud joined Brogan in electing her as President, showing that the two of them don’t respect the fact that she was found guilty of an ethics violation. Hyun Ju Kwak and Saurabh Dani voted NO, because they clearly understand that it is dead wrong to have a board president who has been deemed unethical by the State. So only 40% of our Board understands this.
5. Watching the screen the morning after, we could see that Michael Lembo was logged in and watching. Really Mike? Give it a rest. You lost, and you lost big time, the citizens did not want you, and no amount of lurking around will change that fortunate outcome. Memo to Lembo: rarely do FORMER trustees and councilpersons insert themselves into the business of the Board and Council.
6. The Board attorney indicated that Board members must not use their own private emails for Board Business (Brogan) or social media accounts for Board Business (Lembo).
7. The Board attorney said that ethics violations can most certainly be brought against trustees who are no longer serving (Morgan, Lembo); the fact that they are out of office does not protect them.
8. The trustees all took turns reading the NJSBA Code of Ethics. It was cringe-worthy listening to Brogan reading statements about ethical behavior.
9. Citizens spoke about the artificial turf, flooding issues on the fields, fields out of commission, and poisons leaching into the ground water. Dr. Schwarz indicated that fixing this is a big priority. We are not holding our collective breaths.
Stay tuned citizens of Ridgewood, it’s going to be interesting.
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Mohammed Mahmoud missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Whoops!
Brogan’s flunkie
He was smart in declining the position. Kwak should have been selected.
As a private citizen, Lembo has every right to attend a BOE meeting. Moreover, Trump notwithstanding, there is a long tradition in this country of former leaders being present for a peaceful handover of power.
Or Hillary… Russia Russia russa
He was there for the handover. Photos with people and so on. And that totally embarrassing moment when Schwarz asked for someone to read the resolution honoring him and NO ONE volunteered to do so. Eventually Sheila said she’d go ahead and read it. Lembo was a train wreck on the Board and he needs to accept that. You are done Mike. Get it? Done.
Yes it’s going to be interesting indeed. That place is a mess
That place a complete embarrassment! Might as well as selected Micky Mouse to run the district.
Why are rules different for Micale?
Mohammed and Sheila were also endorsed by the union? The union notified it’s members to vote for them during their elections too.
Sheila still participated in negotiations.
So if I get it right, this year is union contract negotiations and three members of the board were elected from union endorsement? Mohammed, Sheila and Micale?
Brongen is a union pet since day one
I wish Mahmoud had said yes.
I agree, Micale should not have to follow different rules.
Brogan has been in bed with the union and both Brogan and MM were endorsed by the union during their elections.
Same rules should apply to Mary Micale and she should be allowed to vote just like MM and Brogan.
Who is the author of this summary..?
Claudine Gay 🙂 that’s hilarious!!
Jeffrey Voigt
I have heard that Sheila Brogan is often spotted with the Union President Mike Yannone.
Why is Mary Micale being asked to recuse for one year, if Sheila always participated in the negotiations?
FUN FACT: Close to 1M of tax payer’s property taxes go to support REA, and their president’s ego.
We pay taxes to pay teachers salaries, which are inflated by about 1M, so the teachers can pay their union dues!
What does REA do with that money? Ask their president to disclose their financials and you will be surprised!
Welcome Ridgewwod!
Sheila and Yanone are good at the public drama and backdoor agreements. Just wait and watch – I bet this will be a repeat of 2017 negotiations, where publicly they will project there differences and perform drama at the public meeting and issue press releases against each other, and ink a deal backdoors to screwup tax payers and junior staff members.
Voters tricked again. Micale boosted about being a 15 year attorney. She knew from the start she would be banned but failed to tell her constituents that major detail.
Mary Micale said- “Endorsed by the REA, as an “immediate positive force on the Board…”
the lie detector determined that was a lie.
THREE RING CIRCUS. Brogan, Micale and Mahmoud. Way to go Ridgewood voters!
Ridgewood Voters aren’t taking the time to educate themselves before taking to the polls. Voting has become a popularity contest based on who puts on the best dog and pony show. BIG MISTAKE.
The ban is only for one year. After that, Micale can join forces with Mahmoud and Brogan (also bough by the Union). That’s when the real destruction can begin. Unless Voters choose wisely in the Nov. 2024 election.
Please show me proof that the REA actually endorsed Brogan and Mahmoud? I must have missed that email.