Announced candidates offer profiles

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, April 28, 2007

The Lewiston-Porter School District announced last week that five candidates – Keith Fox, Michael Gentile, James Sperduti, Ed Waller and Bob Weller – have submitted petitions to run for the three openings this year on the Lewiston-Porter Board of Education. Incumbents David Schaubert, Lou Palmeri and Lenny Palumbo are not seeking re-election.

With the district’s $38.821 million 2007-08 expenditure plan adopted this past Saturday, and the May board/budget elections approaching, District Clerk Debra Sherman reports that the annual Lew-Port budget hearing will be held Tuesday, May 1, in the Community Resource Center, beginning at 6:30 p.m., followed by the regular monthly district board meeting.

The following week there will be a Meet the Candidates Night, Tuesday, May 8, in the Lewiston-Porter High School Auditorium, beginning at 7 p.m. Co-sponsored by the 12th Grade Social Studies classes and the High School Partners in Education, questions for the forum, which typically lasts about two hours, will be accepted from the audience between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. that evening. The program is open to the public and district residents are encouraged to attend.

On Tuesday, May 15, the district board/budget election will occur from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., in the Community Resource Center. Open to district residents, Sherman notes that participation is limited to those registered with the Niagara County Board of Elections or the Lewiston-Porter School District. Voters will be asked to sign a poll book, as they typically do in a regular election.

Registration Ongoing

She adds that voter registration for the Lew-Port election, for those not already registered with the Niagara County Board of Elections, can be done from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, now through May 12 at the district’s Creek Road offices. For details contact Sherman at 286-7266 or by e-mail at shermand@lew-port.com.

On a related note, Sherman reports, “We are in need of more volunteers to help out with the May 15 budget vote election. Volunteers assist voters with use of the voting machines, and also help voters sign in.”

She notes that volunteers typically work for a period of three hours. The following time slots are currently open on May 15: 8 to 11 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 to 5 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. For further information, contact Sherman at the number and/or e-mail listed above.

What follows are the individual profiles, submitted to the Sentinel by the candidates.

Keith Fox

I have lived in Lewiston for 14 years, moving here after living in Niagara Falls, N.Y., for over 25 years. As one who has worked extensively in the community, I feel it is time for me to offer my experiences and perspectives for the school board. This is driven by my belief that people need to participate in the governing process of their community; right now the board needs help.

For many years, I have read, with some amazement, at the happenings at the school board meetings. I believed that, even with all its “warts,” the current board had started to come together, ending the constant negativity that we have seen for so long. Lately, that has not been the case.

The board is not functioning effectively; a healthy community needs strong leadership from a functional board. I believe that my background from both my occupational and volunteer lives will help the new board work together to provide effective leadership. I am a team worker and builder. I believe I can represent the taxpayers, working in creative ways to keep costs down while still improving the learning climate and morale of both students and teachers.

I have a long and varied work history. I’ve worked as an auto mechanic, carpenter, machinist, teacher, financial adviser, salesman, executive, contractor, and even a private detective. I graduated from Marshall University with a business degree, courtesy of the GI Bill for my service in the Korean War.

I started as a salesman for U.S. Gypsum, but in 1962 decided that work for the YMCA was closer to what I would be doing. Assignments in Dayton, Detroit and in Niagara Falls gave me vast experiences, ranging from being responsible for 19 street workers, supervising an informal school with 60 offerings, and managing a 220-bed residence – all within Detroit’s inner city; creating “The Backdoor” in LaSalle (a successful teen center); and marching with Dr. Martin Luther King in Detroit. I gained much from my YMCA years. I worked directly with the Niagara School Board to created “Project 60” (an alternative school).

In the ’70s, my wife and I decided the nomadic nature of the YMCA job was not good for our children, so I started fresh again – this time teaching. As getting and keeping, a teaching job was difficult in those days (too many teachers), I also worked in the booming insulation business, rising to vice president of a local company. I set up my own company in my hometown of Wheeling, but when a good opportunity presented itself, I returned to teaching until retiring from teaching in 1997. I became a financial consultant and a registered SunAmerica Securities representative. I retired again a couple of years later.

Now retired, I have engaged myself in volunteer work. I was finance chair at St. James United Methodist Church for almost 10 years. I have been a member of the town of Lewiston’s Environmental Commission for three terms; please check the record, I take my duties seriously. I started as a tax counselor, and then progressed to being an instructor, district coordinator and this year as a state coordinator, supervising 600 volunteers in 16 Western New York counties. The program this year has set new records for the number of returns processed at no cost to our taxpayers.

As a member of your school board:

•I will be willing to listen to, respond to, and be accountable to the community.

•I will work to foster a professional relationship with all other board members.

•I will ask the tough questions, and look for intelligent solutions.

•I will be independent, looking to do what is right. That includes working toward ways to reduce taxes while preserving the quality of our program; hiring a highly qualified superintendent; investigating possible ways to address drug testing, and building a working board that is known for its effectiveness, while accounting for diverse viewpoints.

Jim Sperduti

Jim Sperduti is a 43-year-old mechanical designer working for Praxair in Tonawanda. He has lived in Lew-Port district for the past 15 years. He and his wife Jeanine (Pack), a registered nurse and Lew-Port graduate, have two young daughters attending fourth and eighth grades at Lew-Port. His youngest daughter was involved in the recent arrest of a teacher at the school for using cocaine in the classroom.

“I have decided to run for the school board because of my frustration with the lack of action on addressing the drug issue and my worry that the district is spending all of the Power Project money without giving any back to the taxpayers.”

Sperduti, who was born in Niagara Falls, is a 1981 graduate of Trott Vocational High School, and a 1994 graduate of Niagara County Community College, with an A.A.S. in computer aided design.

“After reality slapped my family and I in the face when my 9-year-old daughter and her classmates were exposed to cocaine in their classroom, and it became clear that the current school board was going to do nothing to protect them except say, “thank you, kids, for doing our job for us,” I have decided to run for the school board myself.

“As a parent I am not satisfied with the “we can’t do anything” attitude about drug testing in this district, especially given the fact that other local districts have moved on this issue and districts in other states have implemented programs that have been ruled legal by the courts. There are many important problems facing this district in the coming years -- taxes, (Niagara) Power Project monies, teacher salaries, educational results, violence and drug use. No matter what side of any of these issues you sit, I believe the safety and well being of everyone that works or attends class in our district is job 1. Students cannot learn and teachers cannot teach in an environment they don’t feel safe in. I refuse to stick my head in the sand on this issue. Pick up any paper … drug use by teachers, violence against teachers, drug use by judges, all in Western New York. This can’t be tolerated and simply posting a “Drug-Free Zone” sign outside the school isn’t enough.

“On other issues, I support the capital improvement plan using the money from the Power Project settlement; the employees and students in the district deserve to have the best teaching and learning environment possible. I am concerned though about the money the district will receive for selling excess electricity it will receive as part of the NYPA settlement. I hope no backroom deals have already been made for spending this money; in my opinion all this money should go towards property tax reduction. With all this money coming in and being spent, “tax neutral” isn’t good enough, we need an actual tax reduction. I do not want to see our district make the same mistakes the county did with the tobacco settlement and spend every last cent foolishly and then hit up the taxpayers with a tax increase a year later.

“If elected to the board, I promise to work with all board members, parents and concerned citizens to make this district educationally sound and taxpayer friendly. I believe my independent and common sense approach to the problems facing this district can overcome the never-ending cycle of petty politics, inaction, special interest giveaways and tax increases that plague this district.

“My goals for our district are:

•Enact a drug and alcohol policy that is real and measurable, not just a slogan on a sign.

•Make the NYPA settlement money work for both the district and the taxpayers. The taxpayers have been overpaying for years; it’s time they got a rebate.

•Bring spending in line with other local districts whose costs per student are lower, yet results are higher.

•Improve the image of the Lew-Port district. We need to make Lew-Port a destination school for families with young children by lowering taxes, improving test scores and ensuring parents that their children with be safe and protected here.”

Bob Weller

My name is Bob Weller. I am retired from management at Praxair in Niagara Falls. I have lived in the town of Porter for 26 years.

My wife and I have four children and eight grandchildren who all live outside the area.

I am concerned with the lack of employment opportunities caused by continued escalation in school taxes and extravagant, wasteful spending of hard-earned taxpayer’s money. I also have concerns with the new Niagara Power Authority money. I have decided to stop watching the waste and run for the board. I offer my 34 years of management experience to improve the use of taxpayers’ money. I need the community support and votes to be elected and look forward to the opportunity to change the status quo of tax and spend.

A graduate of Penn State University, I am retired after 34 years in various management positions with Union Carbide at various locations within the United States. My experience and responsibility include: production; distribution; budgeting, union negotiations, employee relations etc.

Instead of complaining about continually rising taxes, I decided to get involved!

Every group has an advocate and/or union to represent them, except for the taxpayers, parents and students. If elected to the Board of Education, I intend to be an advocate and voice for the un-represented. I will work with any other member who consistently shows by their voting record, that they think and act with the same accord.

I am an experienced manager of both people and materials, with 34 years of corporate skills, in all areas of management. I will bring my experience and working knowledge of budget control, people motivation, and efficiency improvement and union negotiations to get better results for less cost to the school system. I have watched this school district for many years spend more and more money, while continuing to perform at a lower level than most surrounding schools. We have many fine teachers and students, yet our high cost per student and lower academic performance does not reflect this. While our educational performance has been slowly improving over the past few years, there is clearly much room for improvement in the overall costs. Now that I am retired, I believe I can help with the expertise and wisdom I have gained with maturity, to help alleviate this discrepancy.

I have started to give back to my community in other areas, and I know that I have the correct blend of experience required to help our administration and teachers to improve our schools’ academic performance and cost effectiveness. For the taxpayers, this will mean control of our taxes so we can continue to afford to live here. For the students, this means a better education for all students, so that they are prepared for a good job or college. For the community, lower taxes will encourage businesses to stay and new business to relocate to this area.

My three main goals:

•Save taxpayer dollars by carefully scrutinizing every dollar spent, to reduce waste. Fiscal responsibility is needed; tax and spend is the status quo. This frivolous use of tax money needs much better control.

•Ensure that the newfound Niagara Power Authority money is treated like tax money (which it is), instead of as a gift. Where possible, this money needs to be used for better programs or returned to taxpayers instead of being squandered away on a wish list of needless expensive projects. It must not be used for expensive raises in teacher salaries and benefits.

•Provide a safe campus for students and teachers by first promoting an active drug and alcohol testing policy. This may take time to implement, but a rapid start is clearly needed after our recent experience on campus and with the present board’s lack of positive action. I am willing to volunteer for drug/alcohol testing. If there is nothing to hide, a voluntary program for teacher testing could be a positive step towards solving this issue.

Michael Gentile

Michael Gentile of Youngstown has announced that he will be a candidate in the upcoming election for the Lewiston-Porter Board of Education. Gentile, an attorney by professional training, is currently an assistant professor of Sport Management at Niagara University. Prior to his current position, Gentile spent 11 years in college athletics administration at several universities including the University at Buffalo and the University of Texas at El Paso. Most recently he was commissioner of the Empire 8 Conference in New York.

Gentile was actively involved in the practice of law in Ohio for 10 years. Part of his practice focused on municipal law where he worked extensively with elected and appointed boards and committees. In his capacity as law director for Sandusky, Ohio, Gentile was responsible for negotiating and enforcing labor contracts on behalf of the city management as well as representing the city in grievance and personnel matters.

Gentile holds a law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, a master’s degree in Sport Administration from Kent State University and a bachelor of arts in history from John Carroll University. Gentile is dedicated to serving the community as he currently is vice president of the Niagara Chapter of the American Red Cross and sits on the board of directors of the Niagara Police Athletic League. With the PAL he has organized events to fund scholarships and sits on several scholarship selection committees. Gentile is also a member of the Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Board at Niagara County Community College.

He offers the following position statement:

•I will make a good member of the board because I will be open-minded, use professional discretion, make informed decisions and prepare myself on all issues. I am passionate about the role of education and a strong and fiscally responsible school district in the community. The highest priority is the safety and success of each child within the district.

•The biggest problem facing the district is our image. It affects everything we try to do. We are seen as out of control, unreasonable, divisive and, in some cases, above the law. Because of this, efficiency is reduced, focus is diverted and ultimately children suffer.

•Fiscal responsibility is exactly that; spending and accounting for funds responsibly. This not only refers to cost control but to revenue generation. The district needs to be fiscally conservative in spending each year, while meeting the needs of its students and government-mandated programs. This means exploring alternative sources of revenues, working with government agencies and sharing services if appropriate.

•Leadership will be important to the district. We need to find a superintendent who will be able to garner the trust and respect of all constituent groups immediately, have a strong sense of fiscal responsibility and be dedicated to student performance and safety. We also need leadership from the new board members. I have been attending board meetings and workshops for the past three years, including budget sessions. I have and continue to prepare myself in the workings of board operations.

Gentile will be found in ballot position No. 2 on May 15.