The Ayes Have It!

By Sheila McCreven-Helfenbein, Correspondent

With the largest voter turnout for an Amity referendum in recent history, $2.2 mn in additional funding was approved by a majority of voters in each of the tri-towns on Tuesday, avoiding any potential for drastic cuts to the Amity school budget.

Residents of Orange and Woodbridge voted two to one in favor of the measure, while an incredibly slim victory was squeaked out in Bethany – just three votes separated the yes from the no vote there. 

The overall total, district-wide, is the determining factor in Amity referendums. A total of 5,972 yes votes were recorded in the three towns, as opposed to 3,436 no votes, for a total margin of victory of 2,536 votes. 

Not since the three towns experienced a voter turnout of 6,119 in June of 1989 to approve the bonding for reconstruction at Amity Senior High School, have so many people come to the polls to voice their opinion on an Amity matter. But Tuesday's vote saw a total of 9,408 votes cast – 3,289 votes more than that previous record turnout.

In Orange the referendum passed by 1,591 votes out of a total 4,457 cast there (3,024 in favor, 1,433 against). Woodbridge passed the measure by 942 votes out of a total of 3,112 (2,027 in favor, 1,085 against). While in Bethany, with 1,839 residents voting, the referendum passed by just 3 votes (921 in favor, 918 against).

Those eligible to vote included not just registered voters in the three towns, but also any resident who was both a US citizen and on the tax rolls with a minimum of $1,000 in taxable property. Therefore, it was not clear at press time what percentage of eligible voters turned out to vote, but by all accounts the Town Clerks were impressed with the numbers. 

Some foreshadowing of the large turnout was revealed when absentee votes began pouring into the towns. In Woodbridge, where ten absentee ballots are typically received, the Town Clerk's office reported 87 arriving for this referendum, many from college students and recent graduates of Amity High School.

Of these absentee ballots in Woodbridge, 54 yes votes and 33 no votes were included in the total as it was read to a small group of anxious residents gathered at the Center Gym to hear the final tally.

When word drifted in by cell phone from onlookers at the White Plains Community Center in Orange that the referendum had passed by more than 1,500 votes there, an audible sigh of relief was heard. Then it was just a matter of receiving the call from Bethany. The crowd gathered around as it was announced that Bethany's vote, though tight, had also passed. A cheer erupted then and many expressions of relief and gratitude were heard.

Reached for comment after the vote tally was announced, outgoing Superintendent Rolfe Wenner said, "I'm very pleased it passed. Hopefully Amity can move on now. I feel positive, in spite of my personal decision at this point {to resign}, that something positive comes out of it. I'm looking forward to the audit now – that will be the last piece for me. " 

Wenner also said "I would like to publicly thank all the volunteers who worked so hard behind the scenes – they deserve a lot of credit."

Boxed story on page one:

Petition to Censure ABOE taps

An undercurrent of anger

By Bridget Albert, Editor

At press time it was reported that 2,503 signatures were collected on a petition circulated by volunteers at poll sites in Bethany, Orange and Woodbridge on referendum day. 

The petition was offered by Amity Community for Education Political Action Committee (ACEPAC) as a way for voters to express "strong disapproval of the Amity Board of Education for their actions to date regarding the budget crisis" without voting down the money that the schools would need to continue operation.

The petition read "Support quality public education." And also "Send a message of no confidence to current Board members for failure to provide proper oversight of the nearly $30 million budget entrusted to them."

Standing 75 feet from the entrance to polling places for most of the day and evening, supporters of the petition urged residents to vote to approve the referendum and also, if they felt it necessary, send a separate message to the ABOE by signing the petition. 

While the clear majority of signers were declaring an intention to vote yes on the referendum, many took the opportunity to vent their frustrations at the Board, as they took up clipboards to sign the petition. However, some voters, expressing much stronger anger at the Board, signed the petition and declared their intention to also vote no to the additional dollars once inside the booth.

ACEPAC plans to continue collecting signatures until December 31^st and then to formally present the petition to the ABOE at the Board's January meeting.