BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - Thomas Foley was foiled again in his attempt to become president of the Board of Education.

At the April 24 reorganization meeting, board members turned down Foley's bid for office in a vote of 7-2.

Foley and board member Peter Kudrick voted in favor of the measure, but the majority of board members commented on why they thought Foley was unsuitable for the presidency.

Foley received 470 votes in the recent school board election, which was the highest vote tally among all six candidates who were vying for a seat on the board . He is now serving his 10th year on the board.

Though he has tried for the presidency on several previous occasions, he has never been voted into that position by fellow board members.

Those who voted against Foley this time cited their displeasure with an e-mail he circulated to his friends and supporters. The e-mail requested that people contact the board, and asked that board members give Foley the presidency.

The e-mail included the personal e-mail addresses of board members rather than their official board e-mail addresses, which upset several members.

"Please consider this very important request," Foley's e-mail stated. "Our children's educational future hangs in the balance."

It went on to state, "Over the past few months, my positions as well as my oppositions (that being other members of the Board of Education) have been well documented in the press. It's my opinion that Tuesday's vote sent a clear message to the entire Board of Education."

The e-mail alleged that the community "want[s] Tom Foley more than any anyone else to represent them on the [board]," and "agree[s] with [his] leadership positions."

"I would like to ask for your help," Foley further wrote, "to leverage this message and my previous nine years [of] experience on the [board] in seeking to serve you through the leadership position of the board's president."

After the e-mail listed the personal e-mail addresses of board members, it provided a sample e-mail that people could send to the board in support of Foley.

The example stated, "I supported Tom Foley to serve another three-year term

on the Board of Education because I believe he is the most knowledgeable on the issues and he provides the right leadership for Millstone Township Schools. I'm asking that you support him for president of the Board of Education on Monday evening, April 24.'"

Board member Gina Morrone said she found it "appalling" that Foley would distribute personal e-mail addresses.

"I feel [Foley] did it with selfish gain in mind," she said.

Morrone called the incident "the latest episode indicative of [Foley's] arrogance."

"[Foley] lacks the decorum and wisdom to be our leader," she said.

Former board President Kathy Winecoff, who has often sparred with Foley, said, "Tom Foley's quest to be board president has been going on for 10 years. To date, nine different boards have deemed him unworthy. Why is that?"

Winecoff said there are 6,500 registered voters in the district, only 900 of whom cast ballots in the April 18 election. The number of votes he received during the election, she said, therefore "did not constitute a mandate."

In response to Winecoff, Foley said he had not been trying for the presidency for 10 years, and that he had only tried for the position five or six times.

"Kathy Winecoff doesn't know how to count," he said.

Foley said he would not be a "rubber stamper" like some members of the board.

"In my opinion," he said, "leadership does not run on consensus, but on the majority."

Winecoff said that Foley's idea of working on problems "has been to storm out of executive session and call the Board of Education [members] names."

"I take offense to Tom Foley acting like a king and [treating] the rest of the board [like we] are pieces of dirt on the ground," she said.

Board member Laura Dreifus, who at 411 votes received the second highest number of votes in the election, said Foley seems to think he is above the rest of the board due to the election results.

"It is inappropriate to think he is the best person for the job simply because he says so," she said.

"If he can't be a team player," Dreifus added, "he can't be a team leader."

Board member Sami Qutub, who was later elected vice president, said that people who sit on the board know each other better as board members than members of the public who do not attend board meetings regularly.

"The board is the best qualified to make the choice of officers," he said. "I don't think it is fair to assume that the public was supporting [Foley] for an officer position."

Qutub said Foley distributed his personal and work e-mail, which he called "a failure of judgment" on Foley's part.

Board member Holly Deitz pointed out that Foley has never signed the board's management objectives, which in her view shows a lack of leadership qualities.

Foley said he did not sign the management objectives because he took an oath of office. He said the rest of the board signed the objectives for the purpose of signing but not following them.

Deitz said she took offense to that statement.

The board elected Mary Ann Friedman, who served as the board's vice president last year, to serve as president in a 6-3 vote.

Foley, Kudrick and newly elected board member Sergio Galindo voted against her taking the position.

The board chose Qutub as its vice president in a vote of 8-1, with only Foley voting against his taking the position.

The board also elected Qutub to continue serving as the school district's representative to the Upper Freehold Regional School Board. Millstone Township School District sends and receives students to and from that district because Millstone does not have its own high school.