Absentee Ballot Returns Solidify Spindel's Victory

Absentee ballot results all but confirm that Fair Lawn Board of Education challenger Mark Spindel will join challenger Jeff Klein and incumbent Eugene Banta on the board next year.

Absentee ballot returns, released last week by the county, have solidified Mark Spindel's hold on the third and final contested seat in the Fair Lawn Board of Education election. Barring an enormous outpouring for incumbent Ron Barbarulo in the yet-to-be-counted provisional ballots, Spindel will join incumbent and leading vote-getter Eugene Banta and challenger Jeff Klein on the board come January. Banta and Klein held significant leads that virtually assured their victories before absentee ballots were counted, but Spindel's 87 vote lead over Barbarulo put him in a more precarious position. "I can't be very jubilant at this time until it is completely finalized," Spindel said the morning after the election. "There's still that uncertainty…

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Spindel, Banta and Klein Top Vote-Getters in Fair Lawn School Board Race

If the current numbers stand, two newcomers will join the Fair Lawn Board of Education next year.

One incumbent and two challengers received the most votes in a tight Fair Lawn Board of Education race with absentee ballots left to be counted, the municipal clerk's office confirmed late Tuesday night. Twenty-year board veteran Eugene Banta (3,277 votes) and newcomers Jeff Klein (2,987 votes) and Mark Spindel (2,689 votes) have received the most votes, but incumbent Ron Barbarulo (2,602 votes) is just 87 votes off the pace, making the race too close to call. In 2008, 973 absentee ballots and 83 provisional ballots were cast in Fair Lawn, but because of Superstorm Sandy, that number could be higher this time around. Challenger Vladimir Itkin (2,224 votes) and incumbent Josh Gillenson (1,712 votes) finished fifth and sixth, respectively…

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Banta Banks on Experience, Track Record in Board of Ed Race

Eugene Banta has seen an entire generation of students matriculate through the Fair Lawn public school system under his watch.

With 20-plus years on the Board of Education, Eugene Banta is Fair Lawn’s longest actively serving elected official. While quick to acknowledge that his lengthy tenure makes him an easy target for critics of the board, Banta’s not ready to walk away any time soon. “I know I’ve been here 20 years and people say, ‘Well it’s time for you to go.’ And If I was in congress, maybe I would agree with them. But I do this for free,” he said. “I’m doing it simply because I want to do what’s right for the kids.” Banta, an attorney with offices in Corona, Queens, views his two decades on the board as a major benefit, not a liability.  “After 20 years of being on all the different committees, after reading how many thousands of pages of documents that …

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Incumbent Gillenson Not Averse to New Ideas

Josh Gillenson, a board member since 2000, believes he brings a valuable combination of experience and openness to new ideas.

Josh Gillenson’s been a board member for over a decade, but he says his views are still evolving. “I very much consider myself to be somebody who is amenable to change and has changed.,” said Gillenson,  who recently became a school bus driver after working in a wide range of education and social service-oriented jobs over the course of his career. “I’ve come to look at my own development as still being a work in progress and me as still being on a learning curve.” In recent years, as state money has gotten tight and budget cuts have become necessary, Gillenson said he’s made decisions that he never fathomed he’d be able to support when he was first elected, like cutting the special education program’s extended school year by one-third or …

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Spindel an Experienced Educator with Fresh Ideas for Fair Lawn

Retired principal Mark Spindel believes the board of education needs some fresh blood and out-of-the-box thinking.

Challenger Mark Spindel is loath to criticize the schools board’s stewardship of the district; he just feels its members could use an infusion of fresh ideas.  Ideas that Spindel believes, as a retired educator with extensive experience crafting school budgets, negotiating contracts and developing curriculum, he has both the knowledge and the insight to ably introduce and implement. If elected, the N. Plaza Road resident, who retired in 2010 after 40 years as a public school teacher and administrator, hopes to boost parental involvement in the education process, increase academic rigor and make the board’s actions more transparent to the public. “It’s time for a change,” Spindel said during his closing statement at the candidate debate …

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The Week Ahead

The Week Ahead in Fair Lawn

Your guide to what's going on this week in Fair Lawn

For everything you need to know for Monday, check out 5 Things. Here is a little preview of what's on tap for the rest of the week in Fair Lawn: TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

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Question of the Week

What Are the Major Issues For You in the Upcoming Council Election?

We'd like to know what you think of this week's question

Election Day for Fair Lawn Borough Council is just 50 days away and campaigning around town is beginning to pick up. Seven council candidates (3 Democrat, 3 Republican, 1 Independent) are vying for three open seats. Beginning next week, Patch will run weekly profiles on each of the seven council candidates. The Fair Lawn League of Women Voters will hold a Council Candidate Forum next month on Sunday, Oct. 16. As the election draws near, Patch wants to know what issues are going to inform your vote?

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Jeanne Baratta

12:34 pm on Monday, October 10, 2011

Corrupt? That's a pretty strong allegation! 2 Jobs? I only have one paid job, my council position is volunteer; in my 6 plus years as a Fair Lawn council member I have never taken a dime (no salary, no benefits, no pension). Please understand, a double dipper is someone who holds 2 elected offices. Also, I am always proud to put my name to whatever I write.   more ›