Wednesday, April 14, 2010

It is time for change!

By Chris Aveta

I am running for a seat on the Middletown Board of Education because I believe that the incumbents have lost touch with the priorities of education. They are taking too many resources out of the classroom while making only minimal cuts to the overabundance of administration.

It is time for change!

We need to elect people who have the courage, vision and intelligence to make decisions based solely on what is in the best interest of our children. We must demand that our leaders realize that the status quo is no longer acceptable nor sustainable. We must elect leaders who will get us back to the basics of education and raise the level of professional accountability for the benefit of our children.

All wasteful and non-essential spending must be stopped immediately. At the same time, we need to be mindful of the potential repercussions regarding the decisions we make with respect to the taxpayers and parents.

As a former Board of Education member, I completely understand and would fully accept this responsibility. As a parent and taxpayer, I strongly believe that we should expect nor accept anything less for our children. Thank you for your consideration on Tuesday, April 20th.

If you agree with my position, I am asking that you help support our campaign by placing a sign one of our signs on your front lawn. Also, I'm asking that you reach out to your friends and neighbors and ask them to support me and my running mates Vinnie Brand and Mike Mascone. Let’s try to get three existing members replaced by three new faces with fresh ideas.



Chris Aveta:

Married to Cathy, 13 years. 2 Children ~ Rose (10) & Christopher (8) Attend Middletown Village School
Occupation- Litigation Coordinator ~ Platzer, Swergold et al. NY, NY since 1995
Member of the Carteret Board of Education (2003-2005)- Chairman of Finance Committee. MYAA Little League ~ Baseball Coach, Founding member of the Michael J. Valiant Foundation ~ dedicated to raising funds for adults and children with special needs with a primary focus on Autism Awareness ~ main benefactor Autism New Jersey


Please visit the Facebook group "BRAND AVETA MASCONE".


To see more details and confirm this group invitation, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1662009396&k=ZYC5Y55X3XTF6BD1QK5YXRVQT3IB42VD4WIQJ&oid=106150949407304

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

uve only lived in town for 1 year chris.

Anonymous said...

We have known Chris for the past 4 years at Village School. I have no idea what the first poster is talking about 1 year.

We agree it's time for change!

Anonymous said...

isn't that Catherine Aveta on the planning board ,your wife?

Boy,Fiore didn't waste any time importing the "Carteret crowd".

Know what,.. .would be glad to see all of you go back where you came from and take the mayor with you!!!

You all fit in better with the slick from the city.

stopthesocialists said...

Wow anon 11:00 p.m. you must be part of the motley crew of Middletown Democrats who have made lying an art form. Didn't Chris Aveta run for BOE last year? I hardly think he stepped off the moving van with signed petitions. I'd say anytime you see people lying about you, they are nervous that your chances are too good.

Anonymous said...

Given the fiasco this TC has made with our finances and that mess with the football fields, the last place I'd want them to have more influence in is our schools! These people are after one thing- POWER! They have no interest in making our school system better, that's obvious!

Vote for anyone except BAM!

Anonymous said...

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones STS, when you call anyone a liar !

Anonymous said...

I am so glad I don't live i middletown anymore

Anonymous said...

Hey Pat is that you? Have you responded yet to the questions from 2 years ago? Was it a loan or was it a gift? Did you ever prove you paid it back? Didn't you also endorse Diorio for another term?

Anonymous said...

I guess Fiore imported Vinny Brand into Middletown too? Ever come to think that people make their own decisions about running for positions?

According to his bio and his speech at the Middletown Republican candidate's night last year, Chris Aveta was a former Board of Education Member and the head of finance on the board. So what that it wasn't in Middletown. I've known him since our kids started going to school together at Village. I've also known Vinny Brand through soccer as he coached my daughter.

I agree that it's time for change. This board is out of control with it's priorities. Anyone hear of the Vice Principal of Physical education? It exists in Middletown.

Anonymous said...

Chris sounds like a walking cliche. I never vote for someone that says "it's time for a change."

Anonymous said...

The Aveta, Moscone are phonies, For Tony

Anonymous said...

If they were real, they would have said vote NO for the budget.

Our Governor is right. I am voting NO to the budget, the teacher's should have take a Freeze, it would have saved cuts to the classroom and protected our students programs.

What change are you talking about, Mr Aveta and running mates? when you all condone voting YES to this budget increase with children programs cuts and teacher cuts? It's all smoke and mirrors.

I want honesty on the Board of Education, not phonies as the posters here have said.

I will not vote for Aveta or Mosonce. I am still debating on Brand, he seems honest, and worth a shot.

Anonymous said...

The problem with voting No on the budget is it sends it to the Township Committee for review, and this groups has been, shall we say, less than stellar in their fiscal management.

Vote for the budget and let's keep our schools strong.

Anonymous said...

Hey anon 12:19 - you say the town council has been "less than stellar in their fiscal management." Yet, I found the following on the township website:

"operating the township in as efficient and fiscally responsible manner as possible. It is this philosophy that has resulted in the township being named one of the top 100 places to live in the nation by Money Magazine; a stellar AA bond rating by Standard and Poor and Moody’s Investor Services who cited the township’s, “strong economy and employment base, high wealth and income indicators, combined with a steadily increasing tax base, sound financial operations, and rapid debt amortization;” a budgeting process that is used as a model for the State to follow, according to The New Jersey League of Municipalities, which included it as must reading in its “Elected Officials Handbook;” an annual audit by the respected firm of Ernst and Young of Middletown’s budget which resulted in a flawless rating and one of the smallest workforces and budget per capita in the entire state."

Are you disputing that, and if so, please enlighten me as to what is inaccurate? Believe me, I want to jump on incompetency, but if that statement is true, I'd say you are wrong and if you are wrong about that, well, then what else are you wrong about?

Anonymous said...

just remember that when you catch these liberal democrats in a lie ask yourself - can you believe anything else they say?

Another question - can we afford Pat Walsh?

Answer the question, Pat.

Anonymous said...

12:19

The teacher's should have taken a freeze and the teacher's & Board should have insisted that Central administration layoff the Top Heavy office. They have comprimised the children's education. Vote NO

12:58
What township is going to put on their website that they are less than stellar. Top 100 was years ago I believe in 2005. Now it's among the TOP in taxes.

Anonymous said...

Even Democrats from other towns have to laugh at the Middletown Democrats. What a motley crew. Remember the guy who forged petitions? Or how about the guy who was arrested for stealing signs? How about the obscene e-mail Short sent to the woman on the council? These guys take lying to new heights. Remember the ad that ran last year when they said that the Republicans blackmailed their candidate into running? The list is endless.

Anonymous said...

Actually 5:31:00 PM, you are wrong - it was 2006 and 2008. And from what I gather, those were facts from the website, not opinion. All I asked was to point out where the factual inaccuracies were. No one has done it so I assume it is correct.

NO's the word said...

the only answer next week is for EVERYone, in EVERY town, to send a message and vote NO on all budgets,and on any stupid bonds for more expansion.. forget about the people for the Board,doesn't matter who wins, the budget'll go back to the councils, they'll lop off a few grand, nobody'll get hurt, but perhaps some of the superfluous nonsense will START to be slowed, if they all get that, now,we are all watching, every year!!

Anonymous said...

5:51
Don't assume anything.

Vote No

Unknown said...

does anyone know some details about what's going on in the Howell BOE race?

Anonymous said...

The incumbents and their supporters want to continue the same spend and tax shell game; the money is going into the wallets and purses of the teachers and overpaid administrators, not the children.

Wasn't Einstein's definition of insanity "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"?

No to incumbents, No to the budget!

Anonymous said...

You are correct about dumping the incumbent BOE members.

One of the incumbents has run as a Democrat candidate for Assembly (and lost) and then recently (2008) for the Middletown Township Committee (and lost when it was revealed she had pocketed $100,000 for personal expenses - see More Monmouth Musings October 15 and October 16, 2008)

That $100,000 might help save a teacher or two now.

Anonymous said...

Hey Art - where can I find the October 15 and 16, 2008 articles the previous blogger mentioned?

Art Gallagher said...

Hey Art - where can I find the October 15 and 16, 2008 articles the previous blogger mentioned?

The archives can be accessed from the side bar. Towards the bottom, below the news links and above the Amazon ad.

Anonymous said...

views:

Yikes! People like this scare me!

I did a little checking into this group/person. The word around town is that the 3 guys running are fairly well tied to some of the people on the Middletown Town Council. I don't have a big problem with that, except I hear that the Town Council is looking to have more say over the Board of Ed. I don't think people should be voting in less qualified people just so it will make life easier for the Town Council. I think we should be voting on the best qualified person for the job. I guess using the word "job" is not right considering it is not a paid position.

This person/group who wrote this seems to think that the Middletown Board of Ed should be breaking the union. This is a very big fight, and it would need to be addressed at the state level. When the contract with the teachers was negotiated it was considered to be fair and comparable with other local teacher's union contract. The BOE did request that the teachers consider taking a pay freeze, the the local union leadership did not allow the teachers to take that vote. The union does have the right to work out their contract as written. I do think you will see some changes in the upcoming contract negotiations.

The idea that "you don't like how life is, so let's bring in all new people" is just crazy. The fact that our Real Estate taxes are tied to the quality of the education that our children receive is another broken system. This is not something that the BOE or the Town Council can fix. It must be dealt with in Trenton. We need people who are smart and dedicated, and they must have the children's needs at heart. I think the people on the BOE work very hard to do that. I question the dedication of some of the gentleman this person is recommending. Mascone did not show to the 1st Candidate Forum, nor did he even have the courtesy to respond that he would not be attending. Brand also did not attend the forum, but he sent a very long statement that did not really say much. Hard to know what you are really getting with them.

They also seem very concerned with the number of Administrators that the district has. They do plan to cut 7 (15%) with the proposed budget! These people have big job descriptions including curriculum, state testing, staff oversight & evaluations, student discipline, security, oversight of sports & clubs, etc. I am sure years ago you expected 1 vice principle to handle all the discipline for 1,500 students, and security was not a big issue. Times have changed. In a corporation of 1,500 employees, 10,000 daily guests/students and 17 buildings how many managers and Vice-Presidents would you expect to have?

One of the only things I do agree with them on is nobody wants their taxes going up. Unfortunately, New Jersey is in a fiscal crisis, and Governor Christie has forced large cuts everywhere. He decreased state aid to our school alone by 34%, and some schools lost all state funding. We all pay a lot of income tax to the State of NJ, so I personally have a hard time understanding how this is fair. Considering these drastic cuts the Board of Ed did their best to come up with the proposed budget.

Voting down the school budget on April 20th will still mean Middletown will lose 72.5 teachers positions, 7 Administrators, 20 Para professionals, etc.

If this budget fails, these cuts will still happen and even more will be cut. That means more teacher cuts and larger class sizes. Most likely all Middle School sports and clubs will be eliminated. Maybe the Freshman teams will be lost too. To stay on a sport you cannot miss too many days of school & you must keep your grades up. Not all kids are the perfect academic student by nature. We need ways to keep them interested in going to school and learning.

APRIL 20th VOTE YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 PM - 9 PM

Anonymous said...

If BAM wants to break the union, as anon 8:46 states, then they are just what we need on the BOE. Also, maybe it would be good if the BOE and the town council worked closer for the betterment of the taxpayers. Someone once told me that the ever-loony Pat Walsh, a sitting BOE member, videotapes different members of the town council and then puts it up on her website with derogatory commentary. Does anyone think that fosters the kind of cooperation we need between the BOE, the biggest user of taxpayer dollars and the town council? Frankly, I'd rather have the BOE work closer with the town council than the NJEA. You've convinced me anon 8:46 - BAM it is!

Anonymous said...

BAM has no chance of breaking the union just as the current BOE has no chance. That's just a ridiculous comment to make.
See if the Governor can break the union and work his magic. He's done a great job so far.

Anonymous said...

Just a little update: I am a happy to say that all the candidates have now been attending forums and PTA meetings around town. I think this is especially important for those candidates who are new to the BOE campaign. People need to get to know everyone before they can make an educated decision.

I am thrilled to announce that all candidates have said they support the budget.

Please vote yes for our kids and our schools - VOTE YES April 20th!!

April 16, 2010

Anonymous said...

WE STILL DO NOT HAVE A BUDGET IN MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP !!!

This TC can't manage the finances for the town and yet they want to interfere with the BOE... Give this town a break...

VOTE YES FOR THE SCHOOL BUDGET!!!!

and tell Gerry to" take his marbles and go home "in November!!! ( maybe Tony can do that in June!)

Concerned Resident said...

It was a couple of years ago when Middletown made the Money Magazine list of Top 100 places to live. Do any of these posters know why?? To inform you all,it was because of the quality of the schools here and because of the availability of the "arts" facilities.

Now do you think Scharfey & Co and the rotten politics in this town contributed to that ?? I don't think so and I don't think these three political hacks are going to contribute anything to restoring this town to the list either. You can be sure the republican majority will not, They are too busy fiddling with taking care of all the cronies and trough swillers to conduct effective government.

This township was without a CFO for over a year,we still do not have a budget in place and we are already into almost half the year and we have a staggering deficit in the millions. Guess it is time for change... big time..... .carry change into November and "DUMP SCHARFEY also!!!!!!!

The TC should concentrate on running a fiscally responsible government in this township that represents every citizen that lives here. That has not been done in decades!!