3 Current Secaucus BOE Members Seek Re-Election, No Challengers This Year

SECAUCUS, NJ — Unlike last fall — when seven candidates ran in a crowded and sometimes contentious election for three seats — only three people are running for Secaucus Board of Education in 2025.

And all are current Board members asking the community to keep them in their seats.

Secaucus school board president Kelli D'Addetta, Christina DeBari and Alexander de Hombre all seek re-election this year. They are all running under the "For the Children" slate name.

They have no challengers. The election will be Nov. 4.

2205 is D'Addetta's sixth year on the Secaucus school board, and the third year for DeBari and de Hombre. So Kelli is asking voters to re-elect her to a third term and DeBari and de Hombre to a second (it's three-year terms).

Patch asked all three why they think nobody challenged them in 2025.

"I will respond for all of us when I say that we cannot determine why no candidates chose to run for election this year," said D'Addetta.

"I can tell you why we are choosing to seek reelection again. We are here for the children and our main goal is for that purpose. We are excited to have the opportunity to serve another term so we can work collectively with our fellow trustees, and the administration, to ensure our district continues to run effectively for the betterment of the district."

Last year, Melissa Howard was re-elected to her seat and newcomers Gerry Lyons (he is a true newcomer, as he only moved to Secaucus in the past two years) and Tatiana Geller were elected to the Board, as those were the three who secured a key endorsement from Mayor Mike Gonnelli.

Here are the final vote counts from the 2024 Secaucus school board election, when Howard, Lyons and Geller won the three seats:

• Gerry Lyons: 2,347
• Tatiana Geller: 2,306
• Melissa Howard: 2,171
• Valerie Giraldo: 1,512
• Audry Yule: 1,318
• Monica Berckes: 1,257
• Jamie Fisher: 1,064

Total votes cast in the 2024 Secaucus school board election: 12,133