UPDATED STORY: MacDermant Says He Thought He Would Win Point Boro Board Seat

John MacDermant thought this election would be like all the other elections he had ever been in for Parent-Teacher Organization positions and Point Borough Board of Education seats.

"In my heart, I thought I would win, just like I always did," said MacDermant, a 13-year board member. "Maybe I got cocky. I've never lost an election before, not for the board, not for PTO.

"But I'm not upset because I know the people who won and I know they'll do a great job," said MacDermant, referring to newcomer Sue Ward, who unseated him by 208 votes, and incumbent Regina Foley, who was the top vote-getter.

"They don't have experience," he said. "But they are very intelligent people and they care about the school system. The most important thing is heart first, and then the knowledge comes later."

Foley was appointed last year to an unexpired term vacated by Larry Williams and just ran for the first time.

"There were three good candidates, and the two others took away votes too," said MacDermant, referring to himself, Ward and Foley as "the three" and James Barber and Tim Harrison as the "two others."

Harrison announced last week he no longer wished to be on the board, but his name was still on the ballot and he got 247 votes.

MacDermant didn't campaign, but the other candidates didn't either, except that Ward made some efforts among people she knew and posted a few signs.

"When I ran with Larry Williams, we didn't put up signs, but we both won," said MacDermant. "I don't know if I offended someone when I was board president for two years. Maybe people just wanted someone new."

When asked if he would run again, MacDermant said, "Not unless someone dropped out, they really needed someone to fill in and no one else wanted it. But I would not run against anyone up there now.

"I've done my time," he said, laughing.

"Grassroots public relations," and knowing a lot of residents from living in the borough for 26 years, are the reasons cited by Sue Ward for narrowly winning a borough Board of Education seat in Wednesday's election.

"I can't really give you a reason beyond personal contact," said Ward on Thursday afternoon, as she reflected on unseating MacDermant.

"I had small groups of friends and acquaintenances who supported me," she said. "Sometimes people would say they were supporting me and they didn't give me a reason, like someone working at the library or someone working at a store.

"I seemed to be the only one who put signs up and that doesn't hurt," said Ward, who lives on the section of Riverwood Avenue near Hillside and Bridge avenues.

"I was very happy when I found out I won, certainly surprised, but very happy too," she said.

Ward will be sworn in as the newest member of the board on May 9, when the board will vote for a board president and vice-president. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Ocean Road School.

The reorganization meeting is the culmination of one of the quietest, uneventful campaign seasons in recent years.

There was no candidates forums held, no mailers and only a few lawn signs for Ward. Candidates said nothing but nice things about each other in Patch interviews.

MacDermant had acknowledged in an interview last week that he hadn't really been campaigning. He said in the past he used to ask supporters for donations for signs and mailers.

"But with the economy the way it is, I really didn't want to bother people for that," he said.

MacDermant could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.

Ward, in her first contest for a board seat, won with 1,044 votes, unseating 13-year  MacDermant, who received 893 votes.

The difference was only 151 votes, less than the amount received by newcomer Tim Harrison, who had announced last week he no longer wished to be on the board.

Harrison received 247 votes. Newcomer James Barber received 348.

Incumbent Regina Foley won with 1,101 as the top vote-getter. Foley, who was appointed last year to fill an unexpired term, will now serve her first, full term.

Ward said her first priorities will be to go for mandated training and learn what her responsibilities are.

"I want to, initially, be an active listener and observer," she said. "And then, slowly, I'll interject my opinions into the conversation."

When asked for his thoughts about why an incumbent was ousted, Mayor William Schroeder said, "You don't need controversy to get swing. Sometimes people just want change."

Schroeder said he learned that himself when he didn't win re-election after serving the first time as mayor from 1999 through 2002.

"I wasn't controversial and I had accomplished a lot," he said. "I didn't take the loss as a personal attack against me. People just felt it was time for a change.

"It is a bit surprising that John lost," Schroeder mused. "He's done a great job for Point Pleasant. He was a good liasion between the school system and the public.

"Now we're going to have a change and I hope it's a good change," he said. "It's a demanding job. Board members have to go for training, they have a lot of meetings and they have a lot of functions to attend. Good for John that he did it as long as he did."

The Ocean County clerk's web site was reporting on Wednesday night that there were 32 write-in votes and a total of 3,665 votes for candidates.

All totals include absentee ballots.

The tax levy received 1,360 yes votes and 945 no votes, according to the county clerk's office.

Voter turnout was somewhat lower than last year.

Last year, there were 1,636 votes for the budget and 1,745 against, with a total of 3,381 votes, compared to 2,305 votes cast on the budget question this year.

If the levy was voted down, the school budget would have been sent to the Borough Council. Municipal governing bodies have the option to cut school budgets or to leave them intact.

The tax levy of about $29 million supports a total budget of about $37 million.

The proposed borough budget raises the local school tax rate of 90.89 cents per $100 assessed valuation by 2.43 cents up to 93.32 cents per $100 of assessed value, district officials have said.

That increase means the owner of a borough home assessed at $375,000, which is the borough's average assessment, would pay another $91 in school taxes per year, according to district administrators.

Schools Superintendent Vincent Smith said at the board office, just after results came in Wednesday night, that he believes efforts he and other district officials made this year to explain the budget process and the budget to numerous school, parent and community groups helped make the difference.

"Last year was a more controversial year, with a big cut in state aid, but even last year we got close (to passing)," Smith said.

"This year we told everyone about the process and I think it really paid off," Smith said. "Last year I think there were some misconceptions and some newspaper articles about the tax rate that were untrue.

"But this year we talked to a lot of groups, there was a positive attitude and people listened and asked questions," Smith said.