Christina Bruno (far left) made a motion to consider the removal of fellow Red Bank Borough Board of Education member E. Pamela McArthur from the board. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
E. Pamela McArthur at the May 26 Red Bank Borough Board of Education meeting. (Photo by Brian Donohue)“We are just proposing a vote at our next meeting,” she said. “I think it’s something that warrants discussion.”
In a subsequent email in response to questions from redbankgreen she said. “The only reason I motioned for a vote was for accountability. We have a board policy (0145) and a New Jersey statue (NJSA 18A:12-3) that permit the board to take action if another board member misses three consecutive meetings without good cause. I think this policy exists for good reason. Board members are elected to serve our kids, our schools, and our community. The baseline expectation is attendance – showing up to meetings where important discussions and decisions about our district are made. “
Six members of the eight-person board voted against the measure.
Board President Suzanne Viscomi and Vice President Ann Roseman both prefaced their “no” votes by saying they preferred to let voters have a say when McArthur comes up for re-election for a new three-year term in November.
“I feel like the board shouldn’t be creating a vacancy where there isn’t one, and I’d rather leave the choice to the voters,” Roseman said. She added that finding people to serve on the board has been a challenge, with many elections in recent years being uncontested.
McArthur lamented not telling about her medical issue because “I’m very private about that kind of thing.”
“I should have shared that up front, and I didn’t want to share that with anybody,” she said.
She said she had repeatedly checked in on board business during her stint last year living abroad, and no one on the board raised any concerns about her absences.
“So, they were under the impression I was just doing the same thing,” she said. “So notwithstanding that, no one gave a crap,” she said, referring to her 2025 absences. “Because I called in, I kept up with everything. It wasn’t a problem.”
She said she had heard through the rumor mill before the meeting that other board members were planning to “vote me off the island.”
Bruno’s proposal, however, got backing from only one other board member, Christy Sunquist, who was elected to her first term on the board in November.
“As a parent, as a member and as a taxpayer, I want butts in the seats and I want participation,” said Sunquist.
In prefacing his “no” vote on the measure, Board member Dominic Kalorin came to McArthur’s defense – and also raised the spectre of behind-the-scenes machinations at play.
Kalorin, who owns a landscaping business, said he and McArthur, who is also a member of the Red Bank Environmental Commission’s “Green Team” had had disagreements, including one time when “we got into it” over his use of gas-powered leaf blowers.
(The environmental commission has launched an effort to discourage the use of gas-powered blowers to reduce air and noise pollution.)
“This particular board member, she and I do not see eye to eye on a lot of stuff,” Kalorin said of McArthur. “That being said, she calls me constantly for updates and makes sure she’s in the loop.”
He said he was already leaning towards letting the public vote on whether McArthur warrants another term.
Kalorin then recounted a story about being approached while on a job by a member of the community:
“She goes on and on about how a board member is not showing up to board meetings and another member has a friend who might want to get on the board,” he said. “And I told her to stop talking.”
“I don’t like that stuff,” he said. “I don’t like back-handed.”
He continued, “So I will vote no on going forward with this. Let the voters have their say. If you want to run, fantastic, I’m all for it.”
Bruno said she knew nothing about an attempt to create a vacancy to clear the way for any board members’ friend to fill the spot.
“I’m not aware of any effort to open up a spot for a friend,” she wrote in her email response to redbankgreen. “I was never asked by another board member if this was my intention, and I was quite surprised to hear Mr. Kalorin use this as justification to vote no on a procedural motion to move forward with a conversation.”
The board currently has a policy of not allowing remote participation in its meetings.
McArthur was elected to the board in 2020 after receiving more write-in votes than any other candidates. She ran unopposed for a second term in 2023. She, Bruno and board member Jennifer Garcia are up for re-election in November. McArthur said she plans to run.
Efforts to remove a board member under the state law have had mixed results, and have occasionally resulted in litigation.
In 2018, the Roselle Board of Education removed a member for missing a meeting. The board member appealed to the New Jersey Department of Education arguing their removal was “arbitrary and capricious” but it was upheld by an administrative law judge.
In another case, a Piscatway Board of Education member removed for three absences was reinstated after a judge ruled in favor of his appeal. His lawyer had argued he had attended 85 percent of the board’s meetings and the removal of an elected official during a global pandemic was “anti democratic.”
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.
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