School Vote 2014

The school budget vote is quickly coming upon us (May 20th from 7:00am to 9:00pm). This year more than ever it is important to get out and make your voices heard, not only to vote on the budget, but more importantly for the two open seats on the Board. These are the folks that are going to be making critical decisions for the district in the next few years. It is so important to elect members that are qualified and are truly in it for the right reasons, simply saying ‘you’re doing it for the kids – isn’t good enough. I know many of you probably don’t even know who is running. The league of Woman Voters hosted a Candidate forum last Wednesday night. It was a terrific event that allowed the audience to get a feel for the candidates. If you missed this event you can see a re-broadcast on cable (check your local listings) or you can watch it on line (go to districts main page and on the left hand side under Quick Links click on BCSD-TV then choose the tab on the top that says Video on Demand – scroll down to Candidates Forum). I urge everyone to take a look at this program.

After watching the forum the two Candidates that stood out the most were Andrew Bracco and Edward Reder. Both of these men are current members of the Board (Ed Reder was most recently selected to fill a vacant seat). For me their back grounds in finance, budget planning, technology, NYS Assembly and working with the Department of Ed are invaluable when it comes to the monumental tasks that await the board in the next five years. I feel comfortable knowing that these candidates will be financially responsible, but will also keep in mind the quality and integrity of the current programs. Bracco and Reder seem to have the ability to see through the fog of state regulations and unfunded mandates and are able to get right to the main issues. Serving on the board is no easy task and requires a sense of commitment and expertise that I know Mr. Bracco and Mr. Reder embody.
Ok so now it is up to you – make sure you get out and VOTE – below is some voting information I copied from the districts website:
Eligible community residents must be registered to vote. To find out if you are registered to vote, you may contact the Westchester County Board of Elections at 995-5700 or Carole LaColla, District Clerk, at 241-6011. If you are registered to vote in local or national elections, you are automatically registered to vote in School District Elections. However, if you have not voted in the past four years, your voter registration would be marked inactive and you are required to re-register to vote.
Please note that the deadline to register in the schools is May 15 2014.
If you may be out of the area on May 20th, you may vote by absentee ballot. To vote by absentee ballot, please complete an application for absentee ballot, accessible from the link below, and return to:
Carole LaColla, District Clerk
Bedford Central School District
P.O. Box 180, Mount Kisco, NY 10549
http://www.bcsdny.org/documents.cfm?id=62
Please make note of the following mandated timeline information:
• Tuesday May 13, 2014 is the deadline for submitting an application for absentee ballot if the ballot is to be mailed to you.
• Monday May 19, 2014 is the deadline for submitting an application for absentee ballot if the ballot is to be hand delivered to you.
• Please note that a ballot may only be hand delivered to the registered voter for whom the application is being submitted. All other ballots must be mailed to the absentee voter.
• ALL COMPLETED BALLOTS MUST BE RECEIVED IN THE DISTRICT CLERK’S OFFICE BY 5:00 P.M. ON TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2014 in order to be counted in the vote tally.
If you have any questions, please call the District Clerk, Carole LaColla at 241-6011