Important School District Vote Alongside General Election + Open Space Ballot Measure

In just a couple of days, Tuesday Nov 4th, your opportunity to have your VOICE heard arrives - yes it is election time and you get to choose worthy leadership.  Politics can be a maze to navigate but the single most important responsibility you have as a citizen is to VOTE - if you don't, you forfeit your right to complain, anguish and have expectations of YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS. Congressional Candidates

In addition to the NJ General Election where you will choose your state representatives, there are two Referendums / Ballot Measures you will be asked to weigh in on - 1) Dedicating State Funds for Open Space, Farmland, and Historic Preservation, which you will hopefully support, and 2) Allow a Court to Order Pretrial Detention

You can create a sample ballot for yourself and learn more about the candidates you will be presented with and the referendums you will be asked to vote on in the voting booth, by going to this website - http://vote-nj.org/  You can donate to their good work or simply visit the website and get informed.  If you don't know where in Jersey City you should go to vote, you can find out here - https://voter.njsvrs.com/elections/polling-lookup.html

Jersey City Board of Education (BOE)

In addition to the NJ General Election, we have a very IMPORTANT Local School Board of Education election taking place, in case you've missed the barrage of campaign snail mail, email and social media.  These candidates will also be presented to you to vote on; you can find out more information about them and the school district here - http://hudsoncountyview.com/2014-jersey-city-board-education-candidate-profiles-hudson-county-view/

While SJC is not endorsing specific candidates, there is an excellent explanation of some of the issues that have been bantered about in the media, which may help voters understand some of the more confusing aspects of what's happening in the district.  See the Civic Parent website here - http://civicparent.org/2014/11/vote-for-excellence-on-tuesday-november-4th/

Personal Note On Our School District

I must share how encouraged I was when I participated in a Facilities Tour this past month.  There has been great progress in aligning building & environmental fixes / upgrades, with innovative education interventions that are turning the school district around.  For those of you who don't usually tune in to school district news, check out these links below and periodically tune in to their new website, which is filled with pride - for good reason.

http://www.jcboe.org/boe2014/images/pdf/depts/business/facilityTour1.4.pdf

http://www.jcboe.org/boe2014/images/pdf/admin/boardelection/2014_School_Year_launch_8_28_updated.pdf

http://www.jcboe.org/boe2015/

And as the Sustainable Jersey For Schools statewide certification program launches, with our JC School District jumping in to participate (the current BOE supports this !!)  SJC looks forward to Jersey City becoming a more sustainable place to live and work AND go to school :-)