John Westfall-Kwong Appointed to School Board

Following a unanimous vote Monday, the Millburn Board of Education appointed John Westfall-Kwong to fill an open seat on the township school board. 

"I'm just delighted to be joining the board and very grateful that they appointed me," Westfall-Kwong said. "I also want to recognize the other people who ran with me. They are doing great things around the community, especially with the strategic planning."

The appointment fills the vacancy left when Jean Pasternack resigned in February to focus on family matters.

Westfall-Kwong will retain the seat for the remainder of the term, which expires on Jan. 6, 2014. To continue for another term on the board, he will to run for election in November.

The deadline for residents to submit a petition to Essex County to run for the Millburn Board of Education is June 4, Business Administrator Steven Di Geronimo announced at the meeting.

Westfall-Kwong was nominated for the position by board member Regina Truitt. Board member Dr. Eric Siegel seconded the nomination. No other candidates were nominated. 

Westfall-Kwong ran for the open seat against four other Millburn-Short Hills residents: Lucinda Mercer, Jane Greenwald, Emily Jaffe and Milton Resnick.

"We'd like to thank everybody that put themselves out there as a candidate for a seat on the board," board president Jeffrey Waters said. "Not surprisingly in our community we have a lot of well educated, intelligent, well spoken people who are passionate about education and want to give back to the community."