How Did Your Neighbors Vote on School Elections?

Fewer than a quarter of eligible village voters found the time to and two open seats on the board of education Wednesday. But no matter, when the dust had settled, voters elected to approve the $81,323,178 budget that has no cuts in staff or programming and meets the governor's 2 percent cap; they also . Christina Krauss, a volunteer and former small business owner, wound up the leading vote-getter largely behind the strength of voters around the hospital, Somerville and the high school.

Sheila Brogan ran another strong campaign for her sixth term on the school board, and she and Krauss will serve for three-year terms. Laurie Goodman, who was instrumental in the district parent survey but had also taken shots for the fields controversies, fell to third. The overall results were muddied with dropout candidate Gerald Clark's name being on the ballot though he bowed out in early April.

Neighborhood-by-neighborhood, let's take a look and see how the villagers voted and what may have tipped the scales. The board will meet next on May 9 for its reorganization meeting, where Michele Lenhard's title as Board President is up. School taxes will rise by the average homeowner by $190.90 based on an evaluation at $797,000.

The West Side

Willard, election districts 1-3:

Many in the village say the Willard districts really pushed the narrowly-passed referendum through in late 2009. With a total of nearly 2,750 registered voters split among three districts, it's a significant neighborhood to capture.

Incumbent Laurie Goodman, a staunch supporter of the referendum, collected 282 Willard votes but challenger Christina Krauss notched a total of 269, keeping the race close. The top vote-getter was Sheila Brogan with 296 but Jerry Clark, a candidate who had dropped out but not in time to have his name cleared from the ballot, took home 24 votes.

Willard voters said they had no problem passing the school budget, tallying 341 yes votes to just 219 nays. Turnout in District 1 was among the stronger in Ridgewood with a 25 percent turnout rate, but Districts 2 and 3 sullied along with around 20 percent each, just under the village-wide percentage of 21.3 percent.

G.W. election districts 4,7

Another West Side enclave, the G.W. district gave Goodman the advantage over Krauss, totalling 174 votes to 132, respectively. Brogan again was the highest vote-getter with 181 at this West Side area under referendum construction and Clark's impact was less with 43 votes. The budget carried easily in G.W. with 183 yes votes to 140 no votes. About 19 percent of eligible District 4 and District 7 voters turned out.

Orchard, districts 5, 6, 10

Goodman again plated a strong offering to the final West Side district, topping Krauss by 31 votes with a total of 191 while a school budget passed the mustard by Dunham Trail with a large margin of victory–over 60 percent of voters said yes. Brogan, as she was across the West Side and in many of the East Side enclaves, remained strong. The fifteen-year member counted 224 votes in Orchard's three districts, leading the field. Turnout, however, was low with 16 percent turning out in District 5, 18 percent turning out in District 6 and village-low 12.8 percent turnout in District 10.

West Side total

It was all incumbents for the voters of Willard, G.W. and Orchard. Brogan ruled the roost with 701 votes with Goodman keeping pace with 647. Krauss trailed the pair with 563 votes while drop out Gerry Clark grabbed 155 votes from someone. The budget was a slam dunk in the West Side with a tally of 765 to 504 votes.

The East Side

Here's where things start to get interesting. The West Side was pretty clearly not in favor of a shakeup on the school board but vocal voters in a few distinct neighborhoods said no to the budget and no to Goodman.

Library, district 9

The smallest voting district in Ridgewood, the CBD-centered district marked the first Krauss victory. She led the way with 66 votes while Goodman placed second with 50 votes and Brogan had only 45 tabs. Voters told the school board 'not this year' when it came to the $86.77 million budget by one vote, a score of 57-56. Seventeen percent of eligible voters cast ballots on Wednesday at the library.

Travell/B.F., districts 8, 11, 15, 16

If Krauss was going to make waves electorally, it was here. With backing from powerful grassroots group Concerned Residents of Ridgewood (CRR), a stance against the proposed Valley Hospital expansion and ties to the elementary and middle school, the voters overwhelmingly checked the box for the mother of two. Krauss cleared 139 votes at Travell's District 11, with Brogan finishing second with 111 votes and Goodman far behind with 74.

The other Travell district, the further-away District 8, was much closer–Brogan finished had the highest total with 75 and Krauss came second with 67. Goodman again placed third with 58. A total of 19.6 percent of voters tabbed their vote at District 8 but a much healthier mark of 24.1 percent in District 11.

But Krauss came back strong at B.F. with big victories over Brogan. In District 15, which is directly next to the hospital, Krauss hit a decisive blow with 133 votes while Goodman claimed about half of that total–67. Brogan didn't fair much better, gobbling up 74 votes. Voters in the CRR-heavy district also said they were unimpressed with the budget, voting it down by more than any other district–99 no votes to 81 in support of the budget. Almost 24 percent showed up in District 15.

District 16, also reporting to B.F. was a bit more mixed. Krauss still showed a strong candidate, winning 107 votes, far higher than Brogan and Goodman, who had 71 and 82 votes, respectively. The budget did see more support with 85 yes votes to 65 no votes with a high participation rate–25.7 percent.

RHS, districts 12, 13

Here's where it became absolutely clear Krauss would claim a seat on the school board. Neighbors of the high school have been vocal in their criticism of incumbent Laurie Goodman, a Fields Committee liaison who had supported the turfing, lighting of the fields. While District 12 is an average-sized district, its turnout was anything but. Thirty percent of voters near the high school fields turned out to cast their vote, and did so for Krauss. Of the votes cast, Krauss took home 183 votes, far doubling Goodman's total of 79. Brogan maintained 117 votes. The district also borders Valley hospital on its eastern boundary, a section of town Krauss did very well in.

The three candidates all essentially kept pace in the southern side of the RHS by Brookside Field around S. Irving and Spring St. Goodman had 87 votes; Krauss 83; and Brogan with 79.

Glen, district 14

The Glen School area near the cemetery and Rt. 17, district 14, has the largest single mass of voters as one polling district. It was also one of the least interested group of voters, according to the election results. Only 15.8 percent of voters turned out. And when they did, they voted Goodman. The social media education enthusiast collected 89 votes while Krauss brought home 72 votes. It was one of the few districts Goodman was the top vote-getter in; Brogan counted 80 votes. The budget passed by a 93-81 margin in this district.

Somerville, districts 17,18

Goodman is a former Somerville HSA president while Krauss is known for her volunteerism and had campaigned on being the only K-8 representative. How would each fare in their own backyards? It was the newcomer stealing the show on Wednesday. Krauss lapped up 200 votes compared to Goodman's 165. Sheila Brogan again had a solid showing with 174 votes. The budget passed by a huge margin in District 17 with 117 for, 76 against. By the Lawns in District 18, where 23 percent of voters turned out, things were different. Voters said yes 92 times but said no 93 times, similar to the library's budget stance.

Hawes, district 19

Its motto of "Hawes Cares" in hand, the elementary school area said it cared about electing Krauss and Brogan and chipped in a respectable 23 percent voting turnout. Still, this was among the closer races with all three candidates within 10 votes of each other. The budget impressed voters by a 94-85 margin.

Takeaway points:

• Brogan had fairly strong support throughout the village, finishing the race the leading vote-getter in eight districts and staying in the thick of things in many other districts. Her biggest loss came at B.F.'s 16th district.
• Goodman again had support on the West Side but was unable to mount much in Valley-controlled sections and was battered by the high school.
• Krauss mostly struggled west of the tracks but cleared house around Somerville, the high school and the Valley neighborhoods. The three highest individual district totals all went to Krauss and all were from Valley 'hoods and the high school. While it's difficult to separate why people voted, it seems the CRR endorsement carried weight. Krauss collected 712 votes from those three zones, compared to Goodman's 447.
• The impact of the fields controversy is hard to measure–many residents both in support and against the turfing and lighting have spoken out. The neighborhood of the high school was solidly Krauss but bear in mind, it also counts a lot of CRR heads. 
• He didn't drop out before the county could take his name off the ballot, but Gerald Clark found a way to claim 510 votes. The highest totals for Clark per district were generally around 40 votes, and they came in districts Krauss so it likely didn't make a large difference between her and Goodman, who were separated by 202 votes. But just 139 separated Goodman and Brogan, and that may have tipped the tides, though Brogan was steady throughout the village.
• With the exception of the B.F. neighborhood closest to Valley (District 15) as well as the Travell neighborhood of District 11, there was little hubbub about the budget although the library (District 9) and Somerville's District 18 each cast one more 'no' vote than yes. The budget easily cleared with 1,812 in favor, 1,446 against.
• Like the special November council election, there are some interesting names that appeared as write-in candidates. Votes were cast for "Mickey Mouse", "Goofy", "Gomez Addams", "Walter A. Popiel", "See Governor Christie," and a few for Ridgewood High School Neighborhood Association (RHSNA) organizer Jim Morgan.