John Lamela
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John Lamela was an at-large representative on the Brick Township Board of Education in New Jersey. The general election was held on November 3, 2015.[1] John Lamela won the general election on November 3, 2015.
Elections
2015
Opposition
The Brick Township Board of Education consists of seven nonpartisan members who are elected at large to three-year terms. Four seats on the Brick Township Public Schools advisory board were up for general election on November 3, 2015. The at-large seats of incumbents Michael Conti, Frank Pannucci Jr. and Susan Suter were on the ballot for three-year terms. A fourth one-year term was on the ballot due to a resignation on the board.[1]
Newcomers Victoria Pakala, Stephanie Wohlrab and John Lamela won election to three-year terms, while George White defeated former board member John Talty for a one-year term.
None of the three incumbents filed to run for re-election, though Talty, the member who resigned from the board in April 2015, ran for his former seat. He left the board to recover from heart surgery and he faced challenger White in his bid to return. The race for the three three-year term seats attracted a total of 10 candidates: Walter Campbell, Madeline Colagiovanni-Iannarone, Leonard Figula, Victor Finamore, David Fischer, Lamela, Pakala, Lawrence Reid, Lois Turner and Wohlrab.[2][3] Campbell, Reid, Turner and Talty were running as part of a slate called Progress Not Politics.[4]
Results
| Brick Township Board of Education, At-large (3-year term), General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Victoria Pakala |
16.6% | 4,006 |
| Stephanie Wohlrab |
15.9% | 3,831 |
| John Lamela |
14.5% | 3,491 |
| Lois Turner | 10.1% | 2,427 |
| Madeline Colagiovanni-Iannarone | 9.7% | 2,338 |
| Walter Campbell | 9.1% | 2,194 |
| Lawrence Reid | 7.3% | 1,771 |
| David Fischer | 6.6% | 1,591 |
| Leonard Figula | 5.8% | 1,388 |
| Victor Finamore | 4.1% | 993 |
| Write-in votes | 0.33% | 79 |
| Total Votes | 24,109 | |
| Source: Ocean County, "2015 General Election November 3, 2015, Official Results," accessed November 20, 2015 | ||
Funding
Lamela reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission as of October 27, 2015.[5]
Endorsements
Lamela did not receive any official endorsements in this election.
Campaign themes
2015
Lamela answered the following questions from Brick Shorebeat about issues in the district:
| “ |
Do you currently receive any public salary compensation? If so, from what public agency? I am currently a public school administrator and receive a salary from that district. Have you ever previously held an elected office in Brick or elsewhere? N/A As it presently stands, the administration of the Brick school district remains in flux. What should the academic priorities of our administrators be over the next three years? The academic priorities over the next three years should start with an academic inventory that includes all stakeholders involved in the educational process. The priorities must address the needs of all of our students that perform at all levels to ensure that they are getting the instruction and follow through that prepares them to move on to life after high school. At its core, a public school district will always be judged based on the achievement of its students. Though Brick’s performance has improved in some areas in recent years based on state data, that same data has repeatedly shown that the Brick district lags in the category of college and career readiness. In a competitive state like New Jersey, what specific initiatives should be put into place to ensure that Brick students will be able to compete in both college and the marketplace with their peers who reside in the state’s highest-performing districts? Specific initiatives that relate to state data need to be carefully evaluated. I do believe that any initiatives that are put in place should attempt to align our curriculum and instruction with all areas of readiness for career and college as well as assess those areas that need improvement. Most Board of Education meetings are extremely lightly attended. On some occasions, concern has been expressed that not enough parents are engaged in the academic aspects of the school experience. What specific ways can the district better engage parents and members of the community with the aim of bringing them into discussions on academic achievement? There needs to be “parent buy-in”, by this I mean creating opportunities for parents to actively participate in the academic interests and outcomes of their sons and daughters. A Parent University that would offer opportunities to target specific areas of academics to create a greater understanding for parents so they can relate to their students and become actively involved in their education. In recent years, some long-sought facilities improvements have been completed in various school buildings. With the condition and age of the district’s facilities continuing to be a chief concern among Brick residents, which improvements and/or upgrades would you prioritize, and which funding mechanism would you favor to finance those projects? One of the first things cut in any budget or when money is needed is facilities and capital improvements. I believe we need to see what strategies or strategic action plans have been put in place where previous plans may have been cut and how we can move forward to improve our facilities based on need and cost. More importantly have an open and transparent dialogue about funds in our current budget and how we can move forward to bring our facilities up to date. |
” |
| —John Lamela (2015), [7] | ||
See also
- Brick Township Public Schools, New Jersey
- Brick Township Public Schools elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 App.com, "Embattled Brick BOE faces flurry of candidates," July 29, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedapp - ↑ Ocean County Clerk's Office, "2015 School Board Candidate List November 3rd General Election," accessed August 4, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Progress Not Politics," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "View a Candidate or Election Related Committee Report," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Brick Shorebeat, "Brick BOE Candidate Profile: John Lamela," October 27, 2015
| 2015 Brick Township Public Schools Elections | |
| Ocean County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large three-year terms: • Walter Campbell • Madeline Colagiovanni-Iannarone • Leonard Figula • Victor Finamore • David Fischer • John Lamela • Victoria Pakala • Lawrence Reid • Lois Turner • Stephanie Wohlrab At-large one-year term: • John Talty • George White |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
