Last night was supposed to have been the SCA forum for the two candidates for Board of Education this November. But after Dominic Ferry notified the organizers late yesterday afternoon that he could not participate because he had been in close quarters with two people who had tested positive for COVID, the event was scrubbed. Candidate Mike Boone took questions from the audience for several minutes, but the League of Women Voters, which was to have moderated the forum, said that that could not be live-streamed because only one candidate was participating.
The Brookdale SCA offered Ferry the option of participating online via Zoom. He said today, in response to a text message from this reporter, that he declined because “I could barely speak, was running a low-grade fever, coughing and my head was pounding.” Ferry also said that he has taken two at-home COVID tests and, while both have come up negative, he would continue to test.
The school district used its Parent Square notification system to send out a cancellation notice just before 7 p.m., when the forum was supposed to have started. But Parent Square is only available to current school families. No cancellation notice was posted to the YouTube site that was to have been used for the live-stream.
Boone stayed at the Verona High School Learning Commons to answer questions from people who had come to see the forum in person. The video below was capture by Palma Quagliata, a member of the audience, who shared it with MyVeronaNJ.com. In his remarks, Boone talks about the education that his children received in Verona’s public schools, the BOE’s five-year strategic plan, and what he is hearing from voters who have children in school, as well as those who don’t, and other issues.
MyVeronaNJ.com interviewed both Ferry and Boone earlier this month, and you can read those interviews here. Ferry’s campaign website is still not live. He also has yet to file the D1 campaign disclosure form required by the New Jersey Election Law Commission (NJELEC) of all candidates, whether they pledge to self-fund–like Ferry–or not. He has repeatedly told MyVeronaNJ.com that he was waiting for the PIN to do so. But that PIN is provided almost instantly when a candidate begins the uploading process. The NJELEC system also does not have a D1 for Ferry when ran for BOE in 2014. Ferry told MyVeronaNJ.com today that his D1 for 2023 was complete. This reporter asked for a copy by email but has yet to receive it.
UPDATE: Ferry’s D1 has been submitted to NJELEC.
The Board of Education election is Tuesday, November 7.
