Rye and Blind Brook Approve School Budgets, Zarkower Wins Blind Brook Election

Rye and Blind Brook residents overwhelmingly voted in favor of their school budgets Tuesday, while Blind Brook Board of Education incumbent Sheri Zarkower won a landslide victory against two opponents.

The Rye City School District's $69.7 million budget passed with 942 yes votes and 663 no votes, with nearly 58.7 percent of voters approving the budget. In Blind Brook, the district's $39.3 million budget passed with 1006 yes votes and 388 no votes, with 72.3 percent approving the budget. Current Board of Education vice president Sheri Zarkower won with 776 votes, compared to 416 votes for Wendy Adler and 367 votes for Dick Hubert.

All three candidates gathered at Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School Tuesday night to hear the results. After the votes were read, Zarkower said she mostly was pleased that the budget passed.

"The most important thing in all of this is the kids and to have a budget pass by those large numbers is telling," she said.

Zarkower, who had a large margin of victory, said Tuesday's decisive results for the budget vote and the Board of Education election showed that residents are satisfied with her performance on the board.

"I think that's also an indication that people believe in me and have confidence in the job I've done the last three years," she said.

Dick Hubert, who ran a campaign focused on lowering the tax burden for residents and the $25,000 per student cost to taxpayers, said he was proud of his campaign.

"We took the high road. My supporters took the high road. There was absolutely nothing we have said or printed or distributed that I'm not proud of," he said.

Hubert said during the campaign he met members of the community who were struggling because of the recession, some of whom were facing foreclosure or were considering allowing the assessor to seize their home because the taxes were too high.

"The issues and information that have come to me during the election have been very distressing, not from the candidates, but from the voters," Hubert said. "It's just worrisome. They're a lot of people out there who are hurting in one way or another."

Adler, who came in second place, did not comment and left right after Assistant Superintendent Jonathan Ross read the election results.

Low Voter Turnout in Rye, Second Highest Turnout in Blind Brook

Voter turnout in Blind Brook was the second highest in 20 years, according to Assistant Superintendent Ross. More than 1500 voters cast their ballots, about one-third of the district's 4,578 eligible voters. This year's turnout was significantly less than the 1,879 voters who participated in the 2009 school elections when a controversial bus referendum was on the ballot.

In Rye, a total of 1621 voters cast ballots, a turnout of about 16.7 percent of the district's 9700 eligible voters. In last year's contested school board election, where seven candidates were on the ballot, 2,506 voters participated. This year's school board race was uncontested, with Kendall Egan winning another term to the school board with 1227 votes and Katy Keohane Glassberg winning her first term with 1187 votes.

Mixed Feelings in Rye about Budget

During election day, several Rye and Blind Brook voters said they had varying reasons for choosing certain candidates or voting yes or no on the budget.

The Rye City School District's budget drew more disapproval from some residents, as evidenced by the 652 people who voted against it.

An anti-budget faction headed by Rye resident Bertrand de Frondeville – called CREED, Citizens for Responsible Excellence in Education –indicated that it would vote against the budget because they believed that there was still $8 to $10 million that could be trimmed and that the 1.68 percent tax levy increase wasn't conservative enough in this economy.

Several voters, including Joe Niger, a parent with children in Rye Middle and High School, agreed with that viewpoint.

"I voted against it. I'm trying to send a message that we're spending too much," Niger said.

Walter Roobe thought the budget was "so-so."

"I'm doubtful about the taxes. They are too high for senior citizens who don't have kids at home," he said.

One voter, who declined to give his name, made this colorful statement: "I've got taxes coming out my kazoo. I think they could get rid of half of the assistants to the principal," he said.

However, several parents in the district voted for the budget.

Debbie Nye, who has children in elementary, middle and high school, said the budget was "perfect for today's time" and wasn't too high.

"It's absolutely on target for the economy," she said.

Kate Tiedemann, another district parent, agreed.

"This year's a good one [budget] and a good spread of the funds to everywhere."

She said the tax increase was modest compared to other districts.

"It's one of the lowest in the area. It can always be lower. The way things are in Albany right now, something has to go to the schools," she said.

Blind Brook Voters Strongly Supported Budget

In Blind Brook, many voters brought their children to the polling place at BMP Ridge Street School, an indication that the budget would have no problem passing.

"I think it's an appropriate budget. They did the best they could with it," said Robert Applebaum, who has two children in elementary school and one in middle school.

Rosemary Matthews, another district parent, also voted for the budget.

"I think one of the most important votes we have as a citizen in the community is to vote for the support of our children," she said. " I do think that this school board was very responsible in bringing the budget to the people. They looked at every view, they heard the community and they really scrutinized every line."

Larry Ashley was one of the 388 people who voted no to Blind Brook's $39.3 million budget.

Ashley called the 0.93 percent tax levy increase "nonsense," though some voters have argued that figure is conservative.

"I voted against the budget," he said. "I think it's way to high in terms of its excess and administrative costs and I don't really think they've done enough to cut back." 

Patch reporter Lisa DiCarlucci contributed reporting to this story.