Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Voters oust veteran Easton Area School Board members in favor of newcomers.
After 12 years, Pat Vulcano Jr.'s time with the Easton Area School Board seems to be at an end. Voters on Tuesday chose two newcomers over Vulcano in the three-way race for two seats in the board's Region II. Unofficial results from Northampton County showed Michelle Price and Robert Obey ahead of Vulcano on both the Democratic and Republican tickets with a little over 91 percent of precints reporting. All three candidates come from Easton's South Side. The region is currently represented by Vulcano and board member Tim Reilly, who was not seeking re-election. Meanwhile, in the district's Region III, two other first-time candidates came in ahead of incumbent Robert Moskaitis on both ballots. Dominick Buscemi of Martins Creek and College …
Polls are still open for a few hours. Here's what you need to know before voting.
Tuesday, May 21 is primary election day in Pennsylvania. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you run into poll problems, you can contact the Northampton County voter registration office at 610-559-3055. This year's races in Easton include: There are also county-wide races: Here's a list of all the city's polling places, courtesy of Northampton County: If you're not sure where to vote, the Pennsylvania Department of State has you covered. Visit their website, which allows voters to find polling places by entering their county, city, street and house number into a search engine.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Also in the news: Easton's district judge race, and the return of the Nevin Park fountain.
The Easton Area School Board has approved the district's 2013-2014 budget, which was balanced by a 1.7 percent tax increase, $750,000 from the district fund balance and an undetermined number of job cuts. The Easton Area School District has chosen a retired school administrator to serve as its interim superintendent. John Reinhart, the former superintendent of the Bangor Area School District, will take over in Easton starting July 1. When the five people who want to take over Easton's downtown district court seat sat down Monday night at an NAACP candidate's forum at the Easton Teen Center, they mainly talked about their qualifications, experience, and whether you need to be a lawyer to do the job. Not surprisingly, the answer to that last…
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
School board approves 1.7 percent tax increase. Job cuts ahead for district employees.
The Easton Area School Board has approved the district's 2013-2014 budget, which was balanced by a 1.7 percent tax increase, $750,000 from the district fund balance and an undetermined number of job cuts. The board approved the budget Tuesday night after several unsuccessful attempts to decide on a tax rate and how much to take from the fund balance. The final vote was 6-3, with board members saying they had no good options for balancing the $134.3 million budget. “This is a terrible situation for all of us to be in," board member Janet Matthews said. “My father always told me in a compromise nobody’s happy, and I guess he’s right.” Under the budget, the average district property tax bill will go up $56 a year, Chief Operating Officer …
Incumbent Bob Moskaitis joined in the race by newcomers Matt Monahon and Dominick Buscemi in Region III race.
Region III of the Easton Area School District is made up of parts of Easton, Forks Township and Martins Creek, and next week's primary involves candidates from each of those communities. There are three candidates two open seats in the region this year. Incumbent Robert Moskaitis is joined in the race by newcomers Dominick Buscemi and Matt Monahon. The region is currently represented by Moskaitis and school board member Janet Matthews, who is not seeking reelection. We sent questions to the candidates and asked them to tell readers (and voters) about themselves and why they're running. Click on the candidate's names below to see what they had to say. Later in the week, we'll have a preview for Region II, which features three South Side …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Upgrades to Easton school buildings will cost nearly three times more than expected.
The first phase of security upgrades at Easton Area schools could cost $1.4 million, the school board learned Tuesday night. That figure—provided to the board by D'Huy Engineering—is nearly three times larger than the $500,000 district officials projected two months ago. D'Huy's proposal shows the construction for the security upgrades—assuming the board started looking for bids right away—happening between October 2013 and February 2014. But the board came to no consensus on the work Tuesday, with D'Huy planning to return in June with an updated proposal. "To me this is a good start," said district chief operating officer Michael Simonetta. "I don’t think this is something we should hurry into." In March, Simonetta proposed a five-point…
School board has three budget plans, all of which involve cutting Easton Area employees.
Next week, the Easton Area School Board is scheduled to vote on the school district's 2013-2014 budget. It's just not clear yet which of three tax plans the board will choose, although all of them involve some district employees losing their jobs: “None of the scenarios are going to improve the quality of education in the district," board member Robert Moskaitis said. His colleague, William Rider, said that if the district cuts jobs, he'd rather them not cut teachers. “If you go to zero and cut additional teachers, yes, you are cutting education," he said. "Teachers teach kids. Kids learn. That’s our business." The district cut hundreds of jobs in 2012 and 2010. Complicating matters is the money the board wants to take from district …
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Corrections officer wants to represent EASD's Region II.
Editor's note: In the weeks leading up to the May 21 primary, we asked Easton area candidates to fill out questionnaires about themselves. This is how Easton Area School Board hopeful Robert Obey responded. Robert Obey Age: 42 Family: Married to to Olivia Obey Daughter: Oriana Obey 2011 Easton Grad attending Northampton Community College Son: Robert Obey II Easton High 10th grade Political affiliation: Democrat Tell us about your educational background:1989 graduate of Burrell High School Lower Burrell PA; Attended classes for Criminal Justice at Hudson Valley Community College Albany NY Tell us about your professional/business background: NY State Corrections Officer at Sing Sing Correctional Facility Why are you running for the Easton …
Union leader turned driving examiner seeks seat on Easton school board.
Editor's note: In the weeks leading up to the May 21 primary, we asked Easton area candidates to fill out questionnaires about themselves. This is how Easton Area School Board hopeful Dominick Buscemi responded. Dominick Buscemi Age: 64 Family: Married 44 years to Toni (DeBonis) Buscemi. We have 3 grown children all educated in the Easton Area School District, and we have 2 grandchildren attending Easton Area Schools Political party affiliation: Democrat Tell us about your educational background: Graduate of Notre Dame High School and Allentown Business School (computer networking). Attended Cedar Crest College (paralegal studies) and Northampton Community College (Web Design) Tell us about your professional/business background: I …
Engineer/portfolio manager seeks seat on Easton Area School Board.
Editor's note: In the weeks leading up to the May 21 primary, we asked Easton area candidates to fill out questionnaires about themselves. This is how district judge hopeful responded. Matt Monahon Age: 34 Family: Married with two children, one in first grade, the other in second grade Political party affiliation: Democrat Tell us about your educational background: B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Carolina Master of Business Administration from Wesleyan College Tell us about your professional/business background: I have worked for the same company during my career. My previous roles have included engineering, manufacturing, quality management, sales, and marketing. My roles have typically been designed to …
Anonymous
7:29 am on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The problem had nothing to do with him being a teacher. That is like saying no more doctors on a medical board. We need board members who spend some time IN the schools. Perhaps if they were in Easton High School they would see how much money is spent on a pool that many many students refuse to dress to take swimming. He would sometimes only see a few in the pool and the rest all standing there … more ›