Voting Day: Consider the Role of the Nominating Committee

The School Board Nominating Committee has a guideline to explain a little more about how the Village's longstanding history of nonpartisanship works, and why there is a system in place that applies specially to the school board nomination process. 

There are some who contest the validity or use of the one-party system, but a broad number of folks in Scarsdale support, defend, and admire the history and efficacy of the one-party system.

While the seeming inconsequence of vote tallies may have led to the dwindling turnout among voters over the years, in a year like this one, when a candidate does choose to run against a selected nominee, it seems that the true importance of voting is obvious.

Please take a look at these guidelines – which, in full disclosure, are written by the School Board Nominating Committee, which undoubtedly has a stake in the game – and consider the value your vote will have tomorrow, on voting day.

This guideline, provided below courtesy of Friends of the 2010 Slate, was presented to the Scarsdale Neighborhood Association Presdents at ther last meeting, Monday, May 17, and was initially distributed it at the May 6 League of Women Voters debate at the Scarsdale Library.

[Editor's note: No resources of the School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC) were used in connection with the flyer.]

For 45 years, a nonpartisan committee, comprised of residents elected from the 5 school neighborhoods, has been responsible for nominating candidates to serve on the Scarsdale School Board.  Only one candidate is nominated for each position on the Board that will be vacant for the coming school year.

After a number of rancorous and contentious campaigns were waged by the Republican and Democratic parties in the 1920s, the parties got together and developed the nonpartisan system as an alternative way to select people to run for Village office.  The system was later adopted for School Board elections. The ultimate goal of the system is to select the most qualified candidate for office – on the basis of qualifications to serve, not on the basis of political party affiliation, identification, interests, or issues. What is most unique about this nonpartisan system is that only one candidate is selected to run for each open position.

We first need a nominating committee that selects the candidates.  This is the Scarsdale SCHOOL BOARD NOMINATING COMMITTEE, or SBNC.  There are 30 members on this committee, 6 members elected from each of the 5 school neighborhoods.

Each member is elected to serve on the SBNC. 

Every year, residents run for 2 open positions on the SBNC in each of the 5 school neighborhoods.  Residents who run have to file petitions to get on the ballot and must win their seat.  The election for SBNC members is held every January.

The SBNC, newly constituted each year, meets several times in January, February and March. 

The SBNC is charged with seeking qualified persons to run for the School Board, conducting due diligence on each person who decides to run, interviewing each candidate, and after extended and thorough discussions of all candidates, selecting the most qualified candidates (one person for each seat) – solely on the basis of their qualifications to serve – for nomination to the School Board.  For the 2010-2011 year, the SBNC selected four outstanding candidates:  Suzanne Seiden, Elizabeth Guggenheimer, Jill Spieler and Lewis Leone.

As the nominating committee, the SBNC files the nominating petition required by law for each candidate.  Generally, the law requires 25 signatures on each nominating petition.  Because there are 30 voting members of the SBNC and 4 non-voting members (these are the chair and vice chair and representatives of the TVCC (Town and Village Civic Club, now known as the Scarsdale Forum) and SNAP (Scarsdale Neighborhood Association Presidents)), historically, the 34 members of the SBNC sign the nominating petitions.  No other signatures are sought since the legal requirement has been met.

For more information on the nonpartisan system and the SBNC, go to www.scarsdalesbnc.com.