Meet Ray Garland, Running For Long Branch Board Of Education

LONG BRANCH, NJ — This year, eight people are running for Long Branch Board of Education, and voters will be asked to choose four.

Patch asked all eight candidates the same set of questions, and this week we will be publishing the candidates who got back to us.

Voters will be asked to choose three:

• Julio A. Rivas
• Michael Zimmermann
• Jon R. Zimmerman
• Violeta Peters - current Board president, seeks re-election
• Raymond Garland - current Board member
• Joseph M. Ferraina - current Board vice president, seeks re-election

There is also a one-year term, voters will be asked to choose one:

• Dominic Sama, Moving Forward Together
• Jason DeSantis

Garland, Peters, Ferraina and Sama are all running together as a slate.

Provide a brief bio on yourself. Age, education, occupation.

I am Ray Garland, candidate for Long Branch Board of Education. I am 59 years old and retired from 25 years of public safety with the Port Authority of NY/NJ. I am a voting member of Long Branch Urban Enterprise Zone. I worked school security with the Colts Neck Schools. I am President of The Ocean Plaza Condominium Association at 525 Ocean Blvd, Long Branch. I am a past member of The Monmouth Park Charity Organization and I serve on the board for The Figli di Columbo Long Branch.

Do you have children in the district or formerly in the district?

I do not have any children in the Long Branch School system.

What experience do you have that would make you a good BOE member?

I have 25 years of experience working in public safety. I took an oath to save life and property. I assisted with recovery efforts at WTC Ground Zero and was a member of the Port Authority Bereavement Team. During my time in Public Safety I responded to hundreds of calls for medical assistance, and when on scenes of emergency my only goal was to help. Now that I am retired I would like to give back and use the knowledge and experience I received to the Long Branch BOE, and community. I feel together we need to use all resources available to help our students and faculty succeed.

Where do you think the Board needs to improve?

We need to work together to keep our schools safe for our children and faculty.

Looking ahead, what are some of the biggest challenges facing the Long Branch school district in the next 2-5 years, and how do you plan to confront them?

I feel that the biggest challenges are the budget, need for teachers, school safety and trying to give our students the best available education to succeed. Along with Board members we need to look in to grants, local and federal funding. These challenges can only be resolved by a group effort, but I feel together we can succeed.

Who else got back to us:

Meet Long Branch BOE President Violeta Peters, Seeks Re-Election

Meet Long Branch BOE Vice President Joseph Ferraina, Seeks Re-Election

Meet Dominic Sama, Running For Long Branch Board Of Education

The election is Nov. 5, but you can vote early in person at the Long Branch campus of Brookdale Community College 213 Broadway, second floor, Long Branch, NJ 07740, from Oct. 26 -- Nov. 3. Hours will be Monday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. and Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. No appointment is necessary, according to the state of NJ Division of Elections. And there is also mail-in voting.