Monday, April 15, 2013
What's in the budget, who you can vote for and where you can vote.
Chatham residents are among those in 41 school districts who will go to the polls on April 16 for the annual school elections. The 2013-14 school budget, two additional questions and four seats on the Board of Education are up for a vote. Before you head out to vote, here are some things you need to know: Polls open at 2 p.m. and remain open until 9 p.m. Chatham Borough residents who are registered to vote may do so at Chatham Middle School. Chatham Township residents may do so at Chatham High School. The district has proposed a base budget of $65,131,111 for the 2013-14 school year, $55,409,234, or 85 percent of which, will be raised through local taxes. Voters can vote for or against this budget. The state allows for up to a 2 percent …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The school board candidate discusses strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the school district.
In his campaign for school board representative from Chatham Borough, Ed DiFiglia said making the meetings more open is one of his main concerns. The Board of Education meetings often conflict with meetings of the Chatham Borough Council. DiFiglia said in this "age of YouTube," the meetings should at least be put online to view, if not broadcast on local access channels. Chatham Patch sat down with DiFiglia recently and asked him about his background in town, why he is running for the Board of Education, what his most important issues are and what the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the School District of the Chathams are. DiFiglia's family moved to Chatham when he was a child for the school district. Now he lives in …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Phil Franz and Ed DiFiglia discussed their goals for the upcoming term on the Board of Education, where they see room for improvement and what the district's most important facets are.
Board of Education candidates Ed DiFiglia and Phil Franz answered questions from the public at the Candidate Forum held Tuesday at Chatham High School. The two were asked their thoughts on the upcoming school budget vote, which includes two additional questions, one for school counseling and one for school security. Franz said in crafting the budget, "you have to identify what you need today" and put that in the base budget. The additional questins he said, were for "valid" needs that "the kids would benefit from," but it was the community's decision whether to pay for them. DiFiglia said he too thought they were both worthwhile questions, especially the first question to enhance school counseling staff, but he questioned the need for an …
Sunday, April 7, 2013
The League of Women Voters will organize the debate.
The Morristown Area League of Women Voters will host a candidate forum for the two Chatham Borough candidates for the Board of Education of the School District of the Chathams. Phil Franz, currently an incumbent member of the Board of Education, and Ed DiFiglia will participate in the forum. Louise Murray of the League of Women Voters will moderate the forum. The two incumbent candidates from Chatham Township, Matt Gilfillan and John Nonnenmacher, are unchallenged in this election. The forum will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the media center at Chatham High School. Each candidate will give opening and closing statements, and will answer questions provided by the moderator. Each question will include an answer one candidate and a …
A look at what to expect from Chatham Patch this week.
Each Monday we welcome you back to the work week with a look at what to expect in the Chathams. From content you'll find on Patch as the week goes on to community activities, here's what you need to know this week: 1) You need to know about the Board of Education candidates: We'll have video profiles of the two borough candidates running for the single open seat. 2) You need to know about debates: The League of Women Voters has scheduled a debate between Ed DiFiglia and Phil Franz, the two borough candidates for the Board of Education for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Chatham High School. We'll have coverage of the debates. 3) You need to know about AlertChathamBorough and Everbridge: Chatham Borough and Chatham Township are both using a new mass …
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
DiFiglia said improved public access to meetings is high on his priority list.
Chatham Borough resident Ed DiFiglia said he filed a petition to run for the Board of Education of the School District of the Chathams Tuesday. DiFiglia, 30, is chair of the Chatham Borough Democrats. He also volunteers on the borough's Environmental Commission, the Open Space and Historic Conservancy Advisory Committee and the Municipal Alliance Committee of the Chathams. He first moved to Chatham in 1989 as a child and attended both Washington Avenue School (WAS) and Chatham Middle School. He majored in journalism at Saint Michael's College and holds a master's degree in legislative affairs from George Washington University. He currently works as a prevention associate with the New Jersey Prevention Network. One of DiFiglia's campaign …
R. Swanson
1:44 pm on Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The regressive property tax hikes have got to stop until the state economy improves and state aid funded from income taxes resumes an upward trend once again. Now is not the time to be raising taxes for wish list items - the School District of the Chathams needs to learn to live with the revenues it has until the economy improves just the way families and seniors on fixed incomes are forced to do… more ›