School Vote In Doubt

Two candidates who opposed each other for an Amagansett School Board seat last week have appealed to the State Commissioner of Education in Albany for a ruling on the election, after two disqualified absentee ballots were found to have been mishandled, possibly affecting the outcome.

The full School Board has joined Lucy Muhlfeld Kazickas and Rick Slater in asking Commissioner Rich ard Mills to determine whether the results of the election are valid, and, if not, to propose a course of action.

Meanwhile, the seat remains in limbo. Mr. Slater had been declared the winner, with 225 votes to Ms. Kazickas's 222.

Absentee Ballots

Two hundred votes were cast in the voting booths for Ms. Kazickas in the May 20 race, and 201 for Mr. Slater. Election inspectors tallied an additional 48 absentee ballots. Two of those, however, were deemed unacceptable, as they were not returned in the official envelopes bearing names and addresses able to be matched up with the voter registration roll.

Patrick Bistrian Jr., the acting head of the School Board, told an emergency meeting of the board the following night that the two disqualified ballots had inadvertently been mingled with the 46 valid ones. It is not known whom they were for.

When election inspectors discovered the mistake, they randomly withdrew two ballots from the absentee pile. Both of those ballots were votes for Ms. Kazickas.

Mathematical Scenarios

Cheryl Bloecker, clerk of the School District, said questions were raised when she and Superintendent George Aman discussed the results later that evening. Dr. Aman, whose area of expertise is mathematics, reviewed the possible scenarios and realized that one could have resulted in a victory for Ms. Kazickas.

If the two original invalid ballots that were voided were for Ms. Kazickas, the results would remain as announced.

If one of them had been for Ms. Kazickas and one for Mr. Slater, Mr. Slater would remain the winner, though by a margin of only one vote, not three.

But if the two disqualified votes were Mr. Slater's, the election would have ended with Ms. Kazickas the victor, with 224 votes over Mr. Slater's 223.

Mr. Bistrian said last week that by referring to the absentee voter registry and by process of elimination, the identity of the two voters could be determined, and it could be deduced that both votes were probably for Mr. Slater, meaning Ms. Kazickas would have won.

The Last Five-Year Term

The election inspectors were said to have based their action on Education Law No. 2018A, which states that if there are more absentee ballots than envelopes (on which voters sign a declaration of their eligibility to vote), ballots should be randomly withdrawn until the numbers correspond.

According to Mary Ellen Clark of the New York State Office of Educational Management Services, the inspectors "did everything that was logical" after discovering the mistake.

When the "certified vote count" was announced, Mr. Slater was said to have won the last five-year term on the School Board. A resolution decreasing future terms from five years to three was overwhelmingly endorsed by voters, 334-56.

Ms. Kazickas was notified of thesituation the same night. A meeting was held the next morning among John Courtney, the School District's attorney, Mr. Bistrian, and Mr. Slater; Ms. Kazickas was invited but did not attend.

Mr. Courtney said he could find "no precedents" for the situation.

The remainder of the board and the public learned of the problem at the emergency meeting that evening. Mr. Bistrian, who is Mr. Slater's father-in-law, said, "I feel uncomfortable with the outcome as to how the absentees were handled."

"I don't feel that the board is empowered to make the decision one way or the other," Mr. Bistrian continued. He called for an investiga tion by Commissioner Mills, who is the final authority in school board election disputes. The board un animously agreed.

If the board and the candidates present Mr. Mills with an "agreed statement of facts," a decision might be rendered more quickly than in the case of an "adversarial challenge," counseled Mr. Courtney.

Even so, said Mr. Courtney, the Commissioner might require that Ms. Kazickas, considered the "aggrieved party," challenge the election to trigger an investigation.

With 30 days to file a petition but desiring to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, the board reviewed a draft of a letter to Mr. Mills detailing the events at another meeting last Thursday night, and asked for both candidates' approval of it.

"She's calling the shots," said Mr. Slater of Ms. Kazickas. "She's the one in a position to challenge. . . . I agree, let the man decide."

Just The Facts, Please

After some discussion, a paragraph telling the Commissioner that "we believe we can accurately identify the two voters whose ballots were originally voided . . . ." and that "it is possible both votes were for Mr. Slater" was deleted from the letter.

"We should just announce the facts, without speculation as to where the votes came from," said Mr. Bistrian. "If we lay it all out, we're helping in the decision-making."

"Keep in mind that we're going to have to follow to the letter of the law [the Commissioner's] instructions," he cautioned.

"Isn't that what the law is about. . . isn't that what we're about?" said Joan Plachy, a board member.

The letter was faxed to the Education Commissioner in Albany on Friday.

Appointment

In fact, both candidates stand a chance of sitting on the board, which must appoint someone to fill out the remaining year of George Eichhorn's term. Mr. Eichhorn, the former board president, resigned last month.

"We heard from the community last night," said Mr. Bistrian, suggesting that the board may not need to conduct interviews for the appointment, as had been expected, but could instead simply appoint the losing candidate.

"Maybe we can resolve this in-house," Mr. Bistrian suggested.

Turning to Ms. Kazickas, he asked, "Do you want to start from scratch, or are you willing to take the appointment term?"

"My feeling is it should go to the Commissioner," Ms. Kazickas re plied.

Interviews Postponed

Aside from losing out on a five-year seat, the appointee would have to run for re-election next year.

"Are we talking about a moral victory here or are we talking about whose ego's going to be damaged?" asked Dan Gualtieri, another board member. "I'd like to go to the Commissioner, but I'd like to know that we're in agreement that we're going to appoint the, quote, 'loser.' "

"With that kind of support for both candidates," said the board member Jack Emptage, "somebody would have to walk across the ocean for me to choose them."

Though the board can choose "any reasonable process" to fill the slot, according to Mr. Courtney, it agreed last Thursday to interview, after all, potential candidates who have already submitted their names.

The process, however, must wait until Mr. Mills makes his decision, meaning it could take months before the interviews start.

Three-Member Board?

With no newly elected member and with the appointment process on hold, the board's number will dwindle to three upon Mr. Bistrian's scheduled retirement July 1.

A short-term appointment could be made to avoid that, or Mr. Bistrian could stay on until new members are in place. Mr. Bistrian was asked last week if he would consider extending his 30 years of service. "If I have to," he said.

Compounding the never-a-dull-moment mode, the board met with its attorney last week in executive session to discuss "litigation related to a board member" and "matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal, or removal of a particular person or corporation" - two subjects that may legitimately be discussed in closed session under the State Open Meetings Law.