At 9:30 last evening, when the first election results dribbled across the internet, Nancy Goldberg, the most celebrated contender for one of the two School Board seats, scarcely could move in her own home.
Smiling supporters crowded every cranny and nook, confident in anticipating a winning hand once the absentee ballots had been filed.
The tone was set at the first announcement, the order and the margins hardly moving thereafter.
Ms. Goldberg ….1,153 votes
Laura Chardiet….940
Scott Zeidman…..927
That was the way the race started and ended, Ms. Goldberg with a comfortable lead, Ms. Chardiet with an uncomfortable but immovable edge, and Mr. Zeidman, the only incumbent, looking at the chase from the ground up instead of the reverse.
Courtly and ladylike at each turn, Ms. Goldberg modestly was accepting congratulations, even if it felt a little premature.
A visitor told her that after assigning a B-minus to her last month, on this night she had merited an A-plus. “Oh, my goodness,” she exclaimed in mock surprise, “I got better.”
Absentee ballots often have been an accurate indicator of ultimate results. Even if that was so, Ms. Goldberg said, she didn’t want to call the race too fast.
“I am elated, though,” she said. “I don’t know whether this is the end of it, but it looks very promising.”
Do you feel confident or hopeful?
“Mostly hopeful,” she replied. “I don’t have any sense of security about it.
“If this works out, I hope I can live up to people’s expectations.”
On Victory Night, Ms. Goldberg did not waver from her core platform or her priorities.
“I want to make sure the community has a clear voice.
“I want to extend the influence of the community so the School Board will become more conscientious.
“I never thought it was anything fallacious on their part. But we need to make sure people’s needs are met. That is the idea behind being a School District, to take care of their children.
“If their needs are not being met, the parents tell us we need to change.”
Have you been surprised by the huge, emotional cross-community you have received since announcing your candidacy?
“I am very surprised and pleased. I never expected anything like that. And I certainly didn’t expect to take a lead.
“If I am elected, it means I have to keep studying, keep reviewing policies so that I can respond when questions are asked,” said Ms. Goldberg.
During the hundred-day campaign, she candidly admitted that the District’s budgeting process was a mystery only distantly known by her.
How well prepared would you judge yourself to be?
“I have been reading all of the columns that are on the (District’s) website. I have been doing all of my homework. But I do need to interact with the other Board members for clarification on issues because I can’t know it all. I will tend to ask questions, graciously.
Where would you like to make your strongest mark as a Board member?
“I want to see deferred maintenance recognized as an ongoing need. We need to improve the daily experience at the facilities. That includes pipe repair and water distribution and soap in the bathrooms. Those are my main items because they are essential for children when they are growing up.”
What if you are told, as others have been in the past, that funding is not available?
“I will go and beg.”
