Slater Mulls BOE Candidacy

The field of potential Board of Education candidates has grown to five as a local resident has announced that he is exploring a campaign for a board seat.

Mitch Slater, a wealth manager who lives in the Washington School neighborhood, said that he has picked up petitions to seek a school board seat and will be making a final decision later this week about a campaign for a seat on the board. Petitions for the three seats up in the April 20 school election are due at 4 p.m. on March 1 to the board secretary's office.

"I have gotten a number of phone calls over the last few weeks about this," Slater said of his potential candidacy for the school board.

Slater said the calls have centered in on people suggesting that his background in business would be a asset to the Board of Education given the current budget situation. The Board of Education is expected to be dealing with another tough fiscal year during the current budget planning process, with the expectation of a second year with little to no reserves.

Slater is a senior vice president with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, serving as a financial planner and wealth manager in a Florham Park office. He holds a bachelor's degree in political communication and early in his career was the on-air producer on Larry King's national radio show.

Slater said he is still in the process of researching the budget and academic issues facing the Board of Education and he is not prepared to unveil a platform at this time. While declining to discuss specifics on education issues, Slater noted that he was against the board's decision to rezone Washington School last year. He also said that while he is still studying issues surrounding state education funding, he is against Gov. Chris Christie's recent decision to take away in state education for Westfield.

"I am never in favor of education cuts," Slater said. "I wonder what can be cut before that. I am always weary of that happening. I will need to know more specifics. The most important thing our tax dollars can go for is education."

Slater said that if he decides to file the petition for the school board race, he intends to conduct a town wide listening tour to learn more about education issues in the various neighborhoods. Noting that he has lived on both the south side and the north side, he said he wants to be in touch with residents around town if elected to the board.

A Springfield native who has lived in Westfield for almost two decades, Slater has been involved in the annual Washington School Show for close to a decade. He has written a past show, along with directing and acting. For the past several years he has served as the show's musical director. He has been a coach in various town leagues, including boys basketball, baseball, softball and girls basketball. Slater also volunteers for Laid Off Camp New Jersey, a statewide boot camp program for those who have recently become unemployed. Slater has appeared on various television programs discussing finance and employment related issues. He and his wife, Leslie Dickstein, have two children who attend Westfield High School and Roosevelt Intermediate School. He said he has been considering a school board race for a couple of years.

"I have truly been considering doing something like this for a few years, either with the Board of Education or local politics," said Slater, who noted he is most passionate about education.

Four other candidates have picked up petitions to run in April's annual school election. Board President Ginny Leiz, board Vice President Julia Walker and board member Richard Solomon have all picked up petitions, along with pharmaceutical executive Daniel Bloomfield. None have officially announced their candidacies. Petitions are available at the board secretary's office. Leiz and Solomon are completing their third terms and Walker is competing her second full term, having served an unexpired term before her first full term.