Watch Chatham's Board Of Education Candidates' Forum To Meet Them

CHATHAM, NJ — The League of Women Voters live-streamed a forum on Monday night with the four candidates who are running for two School District of the Chathams Board of Education borough seats.

The candidates for Chatham Borough seats included incumbents Ann Ciccarelli, who sits on the board in a three-year seat and her opponent Lara Freidenfelds. Incumbent Chris Delsandro who is serving in an unexpired term and is running for a one-year seat, was also a forum participant, along with his challenger Brian Hargrove.

The Morristown Area League of Women Voters conducted the forum, with Toni Zimmer the candidates’ moderator, a member from outside of the Morristown Area League. Zimmer explained that the candidates agreed to the ground rules ahead of the forum, would each have time for a two-minute opening statement, one minute each to answer questions that had been submitted by the public and then another two minutes for closing statements.

They were chosen by the League to introduce themselves as follows and here’s what each had to say:

Delsandro said he started with the School District of the Chathams’ Board of Education to fill a vacant board seat in early 2021. He said that he’s a local small business owner with over 1,300 clients, about 400 in Chatham. Delsandro said he supports the Chatham Education Foundation, Senior Fashion Show, Chatham Boosters Club, Chatham Athletic Foundation and the Chatham Performing Arts Boosters. He said he “speaks to Chathamites on a daily basis” while working in their homes, about their concerns and thoughts, with mostly praise about the school district. He and his wife have lived in Chatham for 29 years, Delsandro added, with four children who have been in the school district, two out of college and two in college now. He said all of his kids attended school in Chatham from Milton Avenue Elementary School through Chatham High School, mentioning his children and others - he said - because as a coach as well for many years, he has found most Chatham students to be “thoughtful, respectful, communicative, intelligent, inclusive and seem to have a collective consciousness of who they need to be as human beings.” He feels he owes gratitude and debt to the district for “empowering our children to be their best self," which is why he said he’s running for the board.

Ciccarelli, who is running for her third term, said she and her husband moved to Chatham 24 years ago, having raised two sons who attended school in the district, from K-12. Her one son has since graduated college and her younger son is still in college, she said. Professionally, she said she’s been a “jack of many trades,” with a finance background, having worked as a municipal bond trader for eight years before her sons were born. She had additionally run two home-based businesses and is presently a real estate agent in Chatham for the past seven years, Ciccarelli added. Ciccarelli said she has felt the need to give back to the community and while growing up in Mountain Lakes, her father had been the president of the Board of Education there for 10 years, serving on the board for 14. After watching her father’s example, she said she wanted to do the same, after receiving the education that she had in Mountain Lakes; and her children had in Chatham. Ciccarelli said she’s been involved with the PTO, volunteered with the Chatham Youth Wrestling Club, been a room mother and has served as the booster and PTO liaison for the Board of Education.

Hargrove said he and his wife moved to Chatham 16 years ago and they have three children who have gone through the school district. Their youngest child is in elementary school, they have a daughter who is a junior in the high school and their son is a sophomore in college, where he plays lacrosse, Hargrove said. Hargrove explained that he is running for the Board of Education so Chatham “remains an excellent school district that will prepare our children for the 21st century and our global economy.” Hargrove said he’s been involved within the county, with Morris County Home Solutions, the Table of Hope ministry and the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. He has a military family background, Hargrove added, his grandfather in the Army and his father having served 20 years in the Air Force. Both grandparents were teachers and educators, with each of his parents having participated actively in their community, something that inspired Hargrove to serve the community as well. Hargrove described his background in building “internal relationships and collaboration” within management teams, as a senior procurement and vendor management professional with “the ability to drive value through negotiations.” Through his career and community service, Hargrove said he’s developed strong leadership and communication skills. He said developing practical solutions to problems and having fiscally-sound quality of service, policy management and leadership are other skills he can bring to the table if he’s elected.

Freidenfelds said she’s been a Chatham Borough resident for 12 years, with her two children presently in the high school. She said she grew up in Madison, where she was a student in the public school system. She has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard in social anthropology and a PhD in the History of Science. She’s taught at Harvard, University of California at Berkeley and Wellesley College. Freidenfelds said she’s also published two books with academic presses, she’s a writer for an online publication in her field and is an historical consultant. Her entire career, she says, has been in research and education. She said she understands what colleges expect from students and knows the writing and research skills schools need to aim to develop in students. She also said she has a “nuanced perspective on current debates that are embroiling our discussions about how to teach history in the schools.” Freidenfelds said she lives in a multicultural household, her husband Chinese-American and while a graduate student, she studied conversational Mandarin, to help her conversationally with her husband’s parents and grandparents, originally from Taiwan. She added that STEM education additionally interests her and when arriving to Chatham with her “tech-obsessed” child, who was then five, it was difficult to locate programs that supported her son’s interests. In turn, Freidenfelds said she ended up coaching LEGO robotics on his LEGO league team at the Lafayette School, which she said she continued for his younger brother. For both of their sons, Freidenfelds said she developed programming to support the boys’ peers in the high school’s Computer League. She also said she’s had a part-time dance career and a longtime involvement in musical theater. She said she’s bringing all of her skills and interests in hopes to use them to serve on the Board of Education.

Click the video below to watch the forum in its entirety:

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.