Voters in Princeton oust school board vice president
Voters in Princeton Tuesday elected three school board members, ousting incumbent Gregory Stankiewicz, who currently serves as the vice president of the board and had the backing of the school board majority.
During a public candidate forum last month, Stankiewicz said that New Jersey’s two percent tax cap should be lifted. His comments about growing wealth in Princeton and the need for more school funding from the state and taxpayers upset some voters, who say many middle class families are barely hangling on in Princeton, and are unable to afford their current property taxes. The school board oversees a $100 million budget. The two-percent tax cap has been a popular measure with citizens.
Newcomer Susan Kanter was the top vote getter in the school board election with 3,157 votes. Former school board member Dafna Kendal, who served one term on the school board from 2016 to 2018, came in second place with 2,948 votes. Deb Bronfeld came in third place with 2,795 votes and will serve her second consecutive term on the board. Stankiewicz received 2,682 votes.
The tallies include absentee ballots but not provisional ballots.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
By voting Stankiewicz out, Princeton voters just had a referedum on the BoE. If he was supported by the majority of existing BoE members, the existing BoE are on the opposite side of Princeton voters.
Is Julia out too?
Agree. All other reasons aside, the bloated original 2018 referendum proposal overplayed the hand of the educational establishment. There’s a reason voters skipped over Stankiewicz‘s name on the ballot.
Interesting that the candidates finished in reverse order of whether they were incumbents and their responsibility. Last year’s anti-incumbency results carried over to this year.
Certainly the VP of the board coming in 4th out of 4 is a vote of no-confidence for the current board, but it’s also about him. His comments about wealth in Princeton show how detached he is from the normal voter. Layer that with his anti-charter wife (while sending their kid to PCS), the guy had no business on the board. Well meaning, but not fit for service…
Replacing tax-and-spend liberals with other tax-and-spend liberals is hardly change. This town never seems to figure that out.
Please spare me the “tax and spend liberals” comments. If there are conservatives who want to run for school board, they should do so. There haven’t in years. I’ve wondered why.
Greg was the mayor’s choice for school board. She signed his ad. This should cause some self- reflection for that group- their politics of meanness and inability to see outside their own group is no longer working. Princetonians are paying attention and taking back our town from these mean and inept “leaders”. Greg and Julia were the architects of the bloated referendum. Tone deaf then and now with wanting to raise taxes through the stratosphere. Thanks for serving.
We are Princeton residents. I’m so glad to see Greg is gone. But still we are planning to leave this place. Property tax here is absurd.
This is what happens to arrogant and self-centered politicians.
The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.
— Margaret Thatcher
Come on Babe, vote them out.