Budget Passes; Winograd and Spring Elected

Livingston voters turned out in large numbers on Tuesday and approved the 2010-2011 budget, according to unofficial results.  Challengers Leslie Winograd and Ron Spring defeated incumbents Sheri Goldberg and Stan Graboski for seats on the Board of Education.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," said Superintendent Dr. Brad Draeger to the crowd that gathered at the Board's administrative office Tuesday night to watch the results post. 

Voters approved the budget with 58.37 percent voting "yes" and 41.63 voting "no."

Across the state, in towns such as Madison and Basking Ridge, unofficial results indicate that voters have rejected school budgets.

There had been some concern prior to Tuesday that Livingston's proposed $96,819, 351 budget, which includes steeps cuts to reflect the loss of state aid following Gov. Chris Christie decision to freeze aid, could be rejected.  Although the 2010-2011 budget is 1.8 percent lower than the 2009-2010 budget, next year's budget reflects a tax increase. The average household in Livingston will see a $346 tax increase, according to estimates presented by LPS at the March 31 budget meeting.

"As happy as we are that it passed, it's still not a good budget and we've got to work hard to protect our children," said Dr. Draeger, noting that the Board will now work on fine tuning the budget without the time constraint that was placed on Board to draft the budget.

Outside of the budget, Livingston voters approved two new members to serve on the Board of Education. Leslie Winograd and Ron Spring will replace incumbents Sheri Goldberg and Stan Graboski on the Board, winning the two vacant seats for 3-year terms.

"It's fantastic, I'm very excited," said Leslie Winograd, the leader in votes.  She secured 29.53 percent of votes (or 2880 votes) while Ron Spring gained 26.66 percent of the vote (2600 votes).   Goldberg came in third with 25.32 percent of votes (2469 votes) and Graboski grabbed 18.49 percent of the vote (1803 votes).

"I'm just honored to have the chance to serve on the Board," said Spring.

Dr. Draeger publicly thanked both Goldberg and Graboski for their work.

"I want to offer my sincere thanks to Sheri Goldberg for her 9 years on the Board," said Dr. Draeger.

Goldberg said she was proud of her campaign and noted that she narrowly lost by 150 votes. "But I'm beyond pleased that the budget passed," said Goldberg, before she congratulated the winners.

"Excellent, well deserved," Goldberg said to Winograd, offering her a hug.

As the results trickled in Tuesday, both officials and residents kept commenting on the large voter turn-out, speculating that the night may be among the highest.

According to unofficial results, 30.96 percent of registered voters — or 6316 of the 20401 registered voters — participated in the school election.  For a complete breakdown of how residents voted (according to district and polling station), click here.