Voting & Judging

School budgets fared much better in Ocean County this year than last although once again some of the larger districts saw their spending plans voted down during Wednesday’s School Elections. Voters in 20 of the 28 districts approved their budgets which was a marked improvement over 2010 when only 11 got the thumbs-up from voters. At least to me one of the bigger surprises was the budget passing in the Toms River Regional School District. It was the first election since the resignation of longtime superintendent Michael J. Ritacco and many expected the backlash of that controversy to be reflected in the voting booth but by a margin of less than 500 votes the budget was approved. At the same time Toms River voters elected Ben Giovine, Loreen Torrone and Alex Pavliv to the Board of Education…the trio ran under the “Clean Slate” banner in an election which saw three longtime incumbents not to seek re-election.

Among other districts to pass their budgets were Southern Regional, Lacey, Pinelands Regional, Barnegat and Point Pleasant. The eight districts that saw voters reject their spending plans were Berkeley, Brick, Central Regional, Jackson, Lakewood, Manchester, Plumstead and Seaside Park. 21% of registered voters cast ballots Wednesday, which is a bit less than last year but still more than would usually vote during the school elections. Part of the interest might be due to special elections to exceed municipal caps in Brick and Jackson which had mixed results with Brick voters approving the waiver and those in Jackson soundly rejecting the plan.

Switching gears I had the distinct honor of serving as a judge once again for the finals of The Crab’s Claw Inn’s Karaoke Contest which featured four winners of previous weekly competitions. This was the third year that the Lavallette restaurant and bar held the contest and I’ve judged all three although my contract will have to be re-negotiated in the future. Anyway all four of the finalists had their own “fan clubs” and it made picking a winner based on vocal ability, stage presence and crowd support a difficult task. The winner was a popular choice as Judy Mekles of Lavallette wowed the crowd with a stirring rendition of Cher’s “Believe.” Mekles, who is the nurse at Island Heights Elementary School finished third in the 2009 contest and had already decided this would be her final attempt at the top prize of $1000 and it proved to be successful.