Meet Patricia Ames, BOE 2012 Candidate

On  Lindenhurst residents will not only cast their votes for or against a   and   the Board of Education  on , but they'll also in the board  running for re-election that day.

There are three candidates - all of whom are incumbents - and they're running unopposed.

Trustees  and Patricia (Patty) Ames met the public at the  portion of the  meeting and  by Superintendent Richard Nathan on .

Current BOE was unable to attend due to a personal matter, according to Nathan.

However, in an effort to keep voters informed, Lindenhurst Patch is presenting profiles of each incumbent - in no particular order, using the same topics - in the days leading up to BOE Election and Budget Vote next .

Today's BOE Candidate Profile focuses on Patricia Ames.

Qualifications/Experience: "I’ve held this seat for one term, and gained knowledge and insight I didn’t have as a member of the audience. My five children were all educated here, and I was very involved as a class parent, then on various PTA committees. I was president of the E.W. Bower PTA, and was involved on the [PTA] Council level, as well."

Reason for Running: "I believe in this school district. I believe we, as a board, have a very good working relationship, and I believe we can and will do more for our schools and our community."

If Re-Elected to Another Three-Year Term, Then I'd Like to: "The most important issue is the tax cap. This puts many restrictions on our budget, and requires careful consideration in the area of programs and whether or not to cut. We always want to retain programs and keep the tax levy as low as possible….I’d like to see all the children in this district get the same enriching education that my own children received."

Key Accomplishment(s): "I’m proud of this Board of Education for all the difficult decisions we’ve made. We’re here to keep the educational system a quality system, and I believe we work hard to keep everything intact."

How will you continue to balance preserving program, jobs and reserves with the reality of the tax cap?
"The tax cap is our toughest issue right now. We tried to creatively reinvent the and the program so as not to them altogether. We’ll save programs as much as we can without further burden to the taxpayers. Our community members need to be educated about the tax cap. This year we were allowed to raise taxes to 3.55 percent because this was our tax cap set at by the state, but we chose to keep it lower."

What's the one thing you'd like the community to know about this year's and and your role in that as a board member?
"I completely support . At it’s fiscally responsible and has kept most programs intact. I was initially in favor of using more reserves to bring the tax levy below two percent, but realized that using more reserves was not a fiscally sound idea."

What's the one thing the community needs to know about continuing contract negotiations, particularly with TAL, and your role in that as a board member?
"It’s important to settle these contracts in a timely manner. I have the utmost respect for the teachers in this district. My children received an outstanding education because of the many fine teachers they had while attending school here. No one wants the teachers to go without raises, but the reality is there’s no money!

“I believe this Board of Education has been very generous to our teachers in prior years and truly wants them to understand the tough financial situation we are under here. We remain hopeful that TAL will negotiate a contract that includes some givebacks in order for us to afford to continue to deliver the quality programs we’re all so proud of."

Editor's Note: Don't forget to share your thoughts and concerns about this year's budget process for the with Lindenhurst Patch on the site in the comments section of articles about the topic, on Facebook and Twitter, by taking these polls and , and by e-mailing barbara.loehr@patch.com with an opinion piece.