According to documents obtained by Artvoice today, Buffalo Students First has spent $30,036 to advance the campaigns of Buffalo school board incumbents Catherine Collins, Chris Jacobs, and Florence Johnson, as of April 30.

Buffalo Students First is described by Buffalo Niagara Partnership Director of Government Relations Glenn Aronow as “a coaltion of businesses, community organizations and stakeholders, and school choice advocates that support progressive reforms and policies in educating Buffalo school children.”

Among the beneficiaries of BSF’s expenditures is Unity Coalition, Inc. The group received $4,000 from BSF between March 5 and April 3. According to records filed with the Erie County Clerk’s Office in 1995, Unity Coalition, Inc., was formed “to promote political action and awareness, and to do any other act or thing incidental to or connected with the foregoing purposes or in advancement thereof.”

The unity coalition incorporation documents were signed by Arthur  O. Eve, Jr., who is currently in line for the position of Democratic Deputy Commissioner of Elections.

In other important school board election news, the Erie County Board of Elections has indicated that any voters who have already submitted absentee ballots for disqualified candidate Fred Yellen may still cast a vote for another candidate by doing so at their designated polling place on the day of the election. We are awaiting word from elections officials on how else any such absentee voters can change their vote, now that their candidate is out of the running.

Yellen was scratched from the list of candidates last Saturday, April 25, after an objection to his signature petitions was filed by Herbert Bellamy, Jr—notarized by Aronow.

The Buffalo school board election is Tuesday, May 5—now just four days away.

The Coalition for Economic Justice has put together an informative piece of literature for city voters, in preparation for the May 5 Buffalo School Board Election, one week from today.

Seven of the original nine candidates responded to questions that were posed by moderator Allison Duwe at the candidates forum sponsored by CEJ at the True Bethel Baptist Church on April 21.

Incumbent Florence Johnson did not attend the event, so there are no responses from her. Challenger Fred Yellen did attend, and provided thoughtful answers—however, he was scratched from the ballot on Saturday, April 25, after a successful signature petition challenge from Herbert Bellamy Jr. and Buffalo-Niagara Partnership Director of Government Relations Glenn Aronow.

Visit the Coalition for Economic Justice Web site to download the School Board Voter’s Guide, or simply click here.

Get educated about the candidates, and get out and vote on Tuesday, May 5.

I went down to the Erie County board of elections today and bought $1.75 worth of public documents.

Click here and you can have the same information for free. You’ll learn that of the nine candidates running for the three at-large board seats, only the three incumbents—Catherine Collins, Chris Jacobs, and Florence Johnson—have not had objections filed regarding their nominating petitions.

Who filed the objections to the challengers’ paperwork? Herbert Bellamy Jr., Elaine Mootry, and Cassandra Cosby. Bellamy objects to the petitions submitted by Patricia E. Devis and Frank Yellen. Mootry objects to the petitions submitted by Rebekah A Williams and John B. Licata. Cosby objects to the petitions submitted by Rosalind J. Hampton and Bryon McIntyre.

Interestingly, all the paperwork was notarized by Glenn S Aronow, all on the same day: April 13.  Coincidence?

I could only find a phone number for Mootry, and when I called, someone told me she wasn’t home and didn’t know when she would be back. While trying to find contact information for Aronow, I came across his facebook page.

Granted, he’s just the Niagara county notary who witnessed the petitions, but isn’t it interesting that, according to his facebook page, he’s a fan of another facebook page called Chris Jacobs—Supporters for Buffalo Public School Board, and also a fan of the facebook page called Catherine Collins, Chris Jacobs & Florence Johnson for Buffalo School Board.

Petitioners have until Monday, April 20 to list reasons why they are petitioning the paperwork of every single candidate who is not an incumbent. And since these clarifications are valid if they are postmarked by April 20, we won’t know until the middle of next week what, if anything, they were suspicious of regarding the challengers’ petitions. By then, the actual election will be less than two weeks away.

The Buffalo School Board has fiscal oversight to the tune of over $1.5 billion yearly.

We’ll be following up in the coming weeks to let the less than 5% of registered voters who typically turn up for Buffalo school board elections get a feel for the challengers. In the meantime, here’s just one little reminder of the kind of leadership our current at-large school board representatives have given us.

Join us as we take a little walk down memory lane in the coming weeks, revisiting more of the work Collins, Jacobs, and Johnson have done “for the children.”

And remember, with this big a field and so few voters, anything can happen once educated citizens pull the curtain on the voting booth. They might even decide it’s time for a change.