Newcomers Clean House in Franklin Lakes BOE Race

In a contentious race for three seats on the Franklin Lakes K-8 Board of Education, borough voters decided to oust incumbents Margaret Bennett and Kathleen Schwartz and elect Shirley Hermansen O'Reilly, Jackie Veliky and David Michael Ben-David.

Ben-David earned 1,674 votes — the most of the bunch. 

He was followed by Veliky with 1,662 votes and O'Reilly with 1,382 votes.

"I'd like to say thank you to everyone who supported me," Veliky said Tuesday night. "I look forward to working with other board members and the administration to ensure that Franklin Lakes has a world class educational system while being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers."

O'Reilly's seat on the board isn't a certain thing, however, as she was only 66 votes ahead of incumbent Schwartz.

The unofficial numbers provided by Franklin Lakes Borough Hall do not include provisional and mail in ballots, which may be substantial in this election.

"The voices of the people of Franklin Lakes were heard today," O'Reilly said. "They chose Michael Ben-David, Jackie Velicky and myself and now I am ready for the next challenge which is serving the students, the teachers and the residents of Franklin Lakes."

Schwartz earned 1,316 votes and was trailed by Evros Vassiliou with 1,294; Margaret Bennett with 1,142; and Julie Kim with 336 votes.

The third seat that was up for grabs was vacated over the summer by board member Joseph Conti who abruptly resigned over the summer, months before his term was set to expire.

Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Joseph M. Gerace at Joseph.Gerace@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox every morning, sign up for our daily newsletter.