The South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education election takes place on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Three of nine seats are up for election. Three candidates filed to run by the July deadline and appear on the ballot: Shayna Sackett-Gable, Liz Callahan and Will Meyer. Two candidates, Jeff Bennett and Anthony Mazzocchi, announced a write-in campaign on October 7. Village Green is posting letters of support for all candidates: Deadline for submission is October 31 at 5 p.m. Read our guidelines here. Read all our election coverage here.
I write in strong support of Tony Mazzocchi for Board of Education. We as a community are fortunate that Tony has volunteered to serve on the Board. Tony will bring with him a wealth of experience and an effective leadership style.
I have lived in Maplewood since 2004, and my two children have attended SOMSD schools since kindergarten. I currently have a 11th grader and 9th grader at CHS. I have been an avid Board of Education observer for over a decade. I recall when Tony served on the Board, 2018-2020. He collaborated with his colleagues and was a steady and disciplined member of the Board. Tony will bring democratic ideals to the Board — insisting on transparency; exercising civility and collegiality; encouraging inclusion of stakeholders including teachers in major policy development; and pushing for strong communication with constituents. Tony has the right temperament to bring a steady voice and hand to a crucial moment in our District.
Tony attended SOMSD schools; he is a graduate of Tuscan, MMS, and CHS. He served as the District Fine Arts Supervisor from 2010-2013. Tony is raising his children in Maplewood, and his children have followed their father’s path also attending Tuscan, MMS, and CHS. He is home grown and intimately familiar with our schools from the inside from different perspectives.
Our District has a number of exciting important initiatives to carry out including continuation of the implementation of the Intentional Integration Initiative; improving our transportation plan to ensure that students arrive at school safely and in a timely manner; implementation of the Fergus recommendations; and supervision of the Long-Range Facilities Plan including managing the LRFP budget. All of this work requires a strong and effective administrator and leader. Tony is the right person to join the Board to supervise this work. He is an administrator himself, Director of the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, and knows the questions to ask and suggestions to make to assist a Superintendent to be successful.
Tony’s running mate, Jeff Bennett, will bring his sharp analytical skills and proven data-driven approach to problem solving to the Board. You can read more about Jeff here and here. Please join me to vote and WRITE IN “Tony Mazzocchi” and “Jeff Bennett” for your choice for Board of Education.
Maplewood
