Introduction/Letter to the Editor

Hello, my name is Ken Hansen, and I am a candidate for one of the two open seats on the Hopewell Valley Regional School District (HVRSD) School Board to represent Hopewell Township. The election is being held on April 17, 2007, not even five weeks from the publication date of this letter.

As you may remember, last year the $68.7 million dollar school budget proposed by the HVRSD School Board was not approved by the voters, being defeated by just over four hundred votes out of the 2,689 ballots cast (1,141 for the budget, 1,548 against the budget). The participation level of last year's election was just 18.2 percent of registered voters. After being defeated, the budget was passed to the elected officials in each of the municipalities to approve a revised budget - their response was to trim a record $2.14 million from the budget, and the HVRSD School Board accepted the recommended cuts and a new budget was approved.

It is my hope that we can not only increase the number of voters, but also increase the number of registered voters in our upcomng election. To this end, my campaign is currently focused on increasing participation in the next election by registering new voters and assisting currently registered voters to apply for absentee ballots if they can not make it to the polls on April 17th. Residents must register to vote 21 days before the election, and absentee ballots can be requested up to 7 days before the election by mail, or in person until 3:00 PM the day before the election. Newly registered voters may request absentee ballots, but they must wait until their registration is completed before they may request absentee ballots.

Forms to either register to vote or to request absentee ballots can be obtained either in your local municipal offices, on the web at either http://www.njelections.org (the web site of the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General) or http://www.lwvnj.org (the website for The League of Women Voters of New Jersey), or by calling 1-877-NJVOTER (1-877-658-6837). Or, if you like, feel free to leave me a message at (609) 537-1283 and I'll be happy to come by and drop off any copies of either form and/or discuss your concerns with the school board. As the campaign continues, I'll also be updating my blog, and I encourgage everyone to stop by and see where I stand on various issues as they arise over the course of the campaign. My blog is at: http://hansen2007.blogspot.com - you can leave comments on any statements I make, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

I can't tell you how I feel about the school budget this year, mainly because it is still a work in progress, but I encourage every interested resident, whether or not you have children in the school district, to attend any of the upcoming School Budget workshops being held by the HVRSD School Board and make sure your questions are answered. I would also encourage residents to either attempt to attend or watch the League of Women Voters School Board Candidate Debate planned for March 29th on the local cable channel. Once you have the answers to your questions, vote in the school board elections.

Ken Hansen
Hopewell Township