Smith Announces Candidacy for Pelham School Board

Madeline Smith has announced that she is running for the Pelham school board.

Smith is the third candidates to announce their candidacy for the position. and have also said that they are running for the position.

Smith has lived in Pelham with her husband, Bill Elbery, for nine years. They have a son, Eric, who is a first-grader at Colonial Elementary School, and daughter, Emily, who graduated from Pelham schools and now attends college.

 "I would like to see my 7-year-old son have as many wonderful opportunities as my daughter did when she went through the Pelham school system,” Smith said in a statement. “She received an excellent education and was well-prepared for the rigors of college."

There are two seats up for grabs on the school board. Board member Robert Eicher, who holds one of the seats,. The other seat belongs to Doug Hearle. Prospective school board candidates have until April 16 to get their nominating petitions to the clerk of Pelham schools.

The school board election takes place on May 15, the same day the community votes on the budget.

Smith received her MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business and graduated with a BA in International Affairs from Lafayette College. She has worked for Bear Stearns on the Government Bond Finance Desk, and was also a founding partner of Meigher Communications LP, a start-up magazine publisher that she helped grow to a $30 million company of four award-winning, special interest magazines and newsletters.

She serves as a member of the Colonial Elementary School PTA and the Pelham PACT Coalition. She is also a Sunday school teacher at Huguenot Memorial Church.

Smith believes her experiences at Meigher Communications can help her contribute to the school board on legal matters, budget cuts, staffing issues and union negotiations.  

“I developed our annual corporate budget, managed our capital expenditures budget and was in charge of human resources, information technology, legal, real estate and facilities management,” she said.

Smith said one of her goals as a school board member would be to bridge the gap between the administration and the school board.

“I'd like to improve the channels of communication, provide even greater access to public information, and strengthen our commitment to working together to overcome the challenges facing our district, including those that have resulted from the 2% tax cap recently enacted in Albany," she said.

More information about Smith can be found at wwww.vote4madelinesmith.com. She can be e-mailed at Madelinese@gmail.com.