February - March 2002 Edition

Why Women Aren't Running   Few women appear to be interested in running for local office in Fair Lawn.  There is only one women on the nine member Board of Education and there are none on the five member Borough Council.     No women were interested in running this past year for the Council.   Both the local Democrats and Republicans are having trouble finding women to run.     Fair Lawn News tried to find out why.  We asked some people who have some insight into running for office, including current and former elected officials, the Chairmen of the two local political parties and two ideal candidates.    Jane Spindel (President of the League of Women Voters, Fair Lawn):  The fact that more women do not run or get appointed to public office is not surprising, and not new to Fair Lawn.  There are probably several reasons for this.  I have been asked by some women how to get involved, what it takes to get oneself onto local boards. They don't know who to contact, and if they will be taken seriously.  There is the privacy issue of one's personal life becoming open to public scrutiny, which was recently the case of one of our Councilwomen. It is almost mandatory to be affiliated with one of the two political parties for their support.  Being on a board is very time consuming, and often a thankless job, and many are not willing to spend so much time devoted to often more than one meeting a month. The League of Women Voters sponsors workshops annually for those interested in running for public office, and more women should take advantage of this opportunity.  If you look at the list of women who have held seats on Fair Lawn's various boards, commissions and council over the years, it is evident that many are or have been members of the League of Women Voters.   Sheri Adler (former Deputy Mayor):  Although it’s been nearly forty years since the so-called women's movement began we have made much progress as a nation, we still have individual perceptions to deal with.  Even women as assertive as I can be, still come from an upbringing of standing aside for the men.  Of course, as women we do have a great disadvantage in that we have no wives to take care of things so we can give public service.  Seriously, just as we need different philosophical and and political points of view, we need the differences that the genders bring.  I think the first step must be taken by the women: speak up and ask to be put on boards, run for office, take leadership roles in the local party structure, or create new party structures.   Bob Gordon (former Mayor):  I always thought women did better as candidates and I always tried to find women on the ticket.  Fair Lawn has had a long history of women in public life.  We had Flossie Dobrow for years.  We also had Mary Burdick and Judy Ziss.  It is difficult to find people to run for public office.  People don’t have time for community activities -- between commuting, juggling careers and family.   There are also the negative aspects, like the nastiness of public life.  It’s not surprising that it’s hard to find men or women.   Elyss Frenkel (Fair Lawn’s Only Elected Woman):  I’ve always been interested in the schools, how they work, and the process for improving them.  I am fortunate to have a supportive family that have helped watch my kids when I’ve  gone to meetings.    The Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) are mostly women, but many of the PTA leaders enjoy their leadership positions and don’t want to be just one of nine members of a Board.  There’s no pay or perks for Board members.  It just has to be something you enjoy.  Sometimes it is difficult to juggle family, work and the Board, but everybody has to juggle things.  Former Deputy Mayor Sheri Adler once said to me “If I ask a busy person to do something, she’ll always have time to do it.  But, if I ask a person who does nothing, she’ll come up with a 100 reasons why she can’t do it.”   I always tease people, I’d like another women on the Board of Education so I can have someone to go to the bathroom with.     Ed Trawinski (Chairman of Fair Lawn Republican Party): I don’t know why we don’t get more women candidates. I wish there were more involved in politics. It’s not that we have not reached out. There is a perception that politics (and the Republican party) are dominated by white males. But we are seeing a positive shift that minorities and women across the country are getting more political influence. For Assembly and County offices, women appear to be more involved. Several years ago, the majority of the Council members were women, and politics aside, they brought good insight into many problems and issues. Perhaps it’s a quirk to Fair Lawn. Maybe qualified women are not as willing to involve themselves in the political harshness that has come to dominate Fair Lawn politics.   Barry Winston (Chairman of Fair Lawn Democratic Party):  We welcome and encourage women to participate in our party.  While we haven’t been completely successful in recruiting women for elected office, we have made extremely studious efforts.  In the past few years, the Democratic Council appointed women as Municipal Judge, head of the Zoning Board, and head of the Environmental Commission.    Most women in Fair Lawn work outside the home, many of them have small children and they don’t have the time to squeeze in politics.  Those who do are jewels and I cherish them.    Nancy Wallace (Former School Board President):  You pose an interesting question. Perhaps it should be rephrased, "Why aren't more qualified people running for office in Fair Lawn?"  One reason might be that the two party system is broken. Both parties spend too much time planning out the demographics. More thought should be given to finding candidates who can come to understand all positions and then think for themselves to find solutions which benefit the whole community. I don't know when we came to the "precinct" mentality, wherein people could only be thought of in terms of the community within the community. We have come to expect that our politicians will only represent a certain constituency and not make decisions based on the whole picture.   When local elections were held in May, there was less partisan politicking. People ran for local office as friends and neighbors, not as Republicans or Democrats. Maybe this view is a bit naive,and there really was politicking, but I did not see it. Now that the local elections are held in November, along with state and national, people tend to vote along party lines. This may be due to the tendency for people not to take the time to become informed about the candidates; therefore, they will vote for people from the political party which espouses a general philosophy most closely representative of their own.   Another reason may be the inordinate amount of time some locally elected officials spend on minutiae. One of the tenets of being a Board of Education member for instance, is to make sure that the schools are well run, not to run the schools. There is no reason for any elected official to take upon him/herself the task of running any department/classroom/school/office. There is also no legal basis, at least that I know of, for any single elected official to run anything. An elected official only has authority when s/he acts in concert with other elected officials of the same board/council.  Anyone who wants to circumvent this process should not hold public office. It's no wonder that competent, reasonable people do not wish to become involved in the pettiness of politics.   Finally, there is the issue of privacy. When is it appropriate to reveal information about a public figure? Certainly it's a responsibility when there has been illegal activity. Is it okay to reveal the financial difficulties of a public person? The recent difficulties of a female council person come to mind. Why did this accuser not publish the names of every person who was behind on their property taxes?  Perhaps it was done to embarrass the public official? Is that in the best interests of the borough or does it come down to partisan political sleaze? Does this encourage good citizen participation? Or does it send good citizens out screaming into the night?   In my own experience, I have run five times for public office and been elected five times, never as the candidate of any political party. I have never been obligated to vote a certain way, only to vote for the best interests of all school children. Sometimes I disappointed some people because I could not support their particular trees, when the whole forest needed attention. I have received my share of hate mail and been called names.  It has been an enlightening experience that I would not trade for all the world. The pay is non-existent, but the benefits are amazing, if you look for them.     And Finally Fair Lawn News Found Two Ideal Candidates:   Ellyn Miller (A PTA leader and strong advocate for improving education):  ‘It does go through my mind, now and then.  But, I feel I have my own special interests and I wouldn’t be representing the whole community at this point in time.   I want the schools to function well, but I only want to commit my time and energy to education issues, not sports or administrative matters or facilities.   Also, I’m not interested in politicking.  I’m not interested in getting everybody to know me and to like me.  I would like to accomplish things, but wouldn’t want to deal with the bureaucratic stuff.   Michele Metz (Charismatic and popular Radburn resident):  Running for office is too time consuming.  As a full-time working mom, I want to spend all my free time with my kids when I get home from work.  If you want to run for office, you need to spend a lot of time developing allies and doing backroom politicking.  Plus, I hate the smell of cigars.”       What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.