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Federal Court Finds East Ramapo School Board Elections Violate Voting Rights Act

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NYCLU Banner

MAY 26, 2020 Press release from NYCLU (ACLU of New York)

EAST RAMAPO – A federal court today ruled that the East Ramapo Central School District’s at-large method for school board elections denies Black and Latinx residents an equal opportunity to elect their preferred candidates under the federal Voting Rights Act. Judge Cathy Seibel of the Southern District of New York ordered the implementation of a ward system and enjoined the district from holding further elections until this system is in place. [Read more…]

East Ramapo School Board Elections–June 9 Mail-in

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Candidates for ERCSD Board

Sherry McGill, Ana Maeda-Gonzalez, Kerry Victor, Carole Anderson

Election Update from Power of 10
1. Mail-in Ballots Only!
2. Meet Our Candidates
3. Library Vote

1) Mail-in Ballots Only!

The Governor has cancelled all in-person voting for school board elections. School districts have been ordered to conduct the election by mail-in ballot only. There will be a very short window of time from when you receive your ballot until you must mail it to be received on time. The ballots must be received by June 9, but there is a potential for slow mail delivery due to the pandemic.

For this reason, PLEASE WATCH YOUR MAIL, PLEASE FILL OUT AND RETURN THE BALLOT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! [Read more…]

Ramapo potentially clears deficit with $5M sale of Suffern Quarry to New Jersey developer

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Aerial photo courtesy Lee Ross at RossPilot.com

“Town Board members have approved the $5 million sale of the Suffern Quarry to a New Jersey developer, ridding taxpayers of a large hole in the ground and potentially erasing a multi-million-dollar general fund budget deficit.

The five officials gave their approval Wednesday night during a board meeting broadcast via Zoom. The coronavirus pandemic has prohibited public gatherings. [Read more…]

East Ramapo school board vacancy filled by longtime public school activist, but it’s just temporary

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“Carole Anderson, a longtime public education advocate in East Ramapo, has been appointed an interim member of the school board.

Anderson fills the seat of Bernard Charles, who resigned his position as part of a plea deal with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office. Charles pleaded guilty in February to misdemeanor petty larceny; he was accused of renting out town property to pocket the fee. [Read more…]

Christopher St. Lawrence, ex-Ramapo supervisor, to be released from prison Friday

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Picture of Front Page of the Journal News with Headline St. Lawrence From Bigshot to Convict

Front Page of the Journal News March 17, 2018

“Disgraced former Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence is due to be released from the federal prison system on Friday.

St. Lawrence, a Democrat who served as Ramapo’s supervisor from 2000 to May 2016, was convicted by a federal jury in May 2017 of 20 counts of securities and wire fraud, and conspiracy, in a scheme to finance the town baseball stadium. [Read more…]

Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht and his wife recovering from COVID-19

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Michael Specht Ramapo Supervisor

Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht Photo: Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News

“Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht is recovering from a two-week bout with the coronavirus that drove his temperature up to 102 degrees and left him fatigued and nauseous.

“I had what was probably in the moderate side of the disease but it was very debilitating and painful,” he said Friday morning in a phone interview.

“I urge everyone to stay home. … It’s not fun,” Specht said between lingering coughs. “I was very lucky. For people who are not so lucky, it can be very serious.” [Read more…]

East Ramapo schools board rejected settlement offer that could have saved millions, NYCLU says

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A letter raises questions about if district lawyers and board president Harry Grossman shared details of the settlement offer with the board’s two black members – Ashley Leveille and Charles-Pierre

“Black members of the East Ramapo school board were effectively shut out of settlement talks that could have headed off a month-long trial over a voting rights challenge by the NAACP and saved the cash-strapped district millions of dollars in legal fees, the New York Civil Liberties Union says.

NYCLU attorney Perry Grossman, in a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel, says the district turned down a settlement that would have waived the fees incurred by lawyers representing the NAACP during the two and a half years leading up to the trial.

The offer was rejected despite Seibel’s eleventh-hour attempt to get both sides to come to an agreement by inviting all the board’s members to a settlement conference on Feb. 10, the day the trial started in White Plains federal court. [Read more…]

Ramapo and former finance official and whistleblower Melissa Reimer settle lawsuit for $2.4M

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Photo of Melissa Reimer at one of the Ramapo hearings.

Melissa Reimer Photo: Joe Larese/ The Journal News

“Former town finance official Melissa Reimer — credited as a whistleblower in a federal investigation that brought down former Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence — and Ramapo have settled her lawsuit for retaliatory dismissal for more than $2.4 million.

The Town Board approved the agreement on Wednesday night, more than two years after three board members voted to fire Reimer on disciplinary charges after she had been suspended with pay from her $170,000 job in June 2013. [Read more…]

East Ramapo trial: Rabbi emerges from the shadows and then sprints from photographers

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Rabbi Oshry runs from reporters after leaving US District Court in Whirte Plains Photo: Tania Savayan LoHud

East Ramapo School District in Federal Court UPDATE. The Journal News February 29

“An Orthodox Jewish rabbi facing arrest for ignoring a judge’s order emerged from the shadows on Thursday to defend his behind-the-scenes role in choosing candidates for the East Ramapo school board.

And when Rabbi Yehuda Oshry’s testimony was over he sprinted from photographers waiting to take his picture outside the federal courthouse in White Plains.

That was after East Ramapo Central School District Superintendent Deborah Wortham tried to lead court spectators in a round of applause for coworkers but was shot down by the judge. [Read more…]

East Ramapo trial: Judge wants Rabbi Oshry arrested if he doesn’t show up to testify

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East Ramapo School District in Federal Court UPDATE. The Journal News February 24

“The federal judge presiding over a voting rights case involving the East Ramapo school board on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for a prominent Orthodox Jewish rabbi who has so far resisted efforts to get him to testify.

U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel gave Rabbi Yehuda Oshry until Thursday morning to appear in White Plains or face arrest.

“I don’t think he can hide in his house forever,” Seibel said Tuesday. “He’s just inviting incarceration if he doesn’t come today or tomorrow.” [Read more…]