Bernard Charles' decision to accept the appointment to the Ramao Planning Board and then to resign
almost immediately from it – but only after voting for a hasidic development
whose specifics he admittedly had not even had time to study – caused
many people to think Charles made that vote in exchange for a haredi
bloc vote to get him and his two running mates elected to the school
board. And, shortly thereafter, that is exactly what happened.
Bernard Charles
The Journal News reports:
Taxpayers in East Ramapo Central School District on Tuesday defeated a budget for the third consecutive year and elected three board members that were backed by an Ultra Orthodox-supported anti-tax organization.
Bernard Charles, MaraLuz Corado and Pierre Germain each won three-year-terms on the nine-member board.
They defeated Eustache Clerveaux, Robert Forrest and Margaret Tuck, who ran with the support of the Save Our Schools Coalition, which advocates for public school students.
Corado, 43, is a Latina pastor in Spring Valley; Charles, 58, is a black Spring Valley parks employee who’s running for village mayor; and Germain, 43, is a Haitian contractor from Chestnut Ridge.…
Bernard Charles was recently appointed to the Ramapo Planning Board.
He went to his first meeting, voted in favor of a hasidic developer's controversial development plan, and then immediately resigned from the planning board because, Newsday reported, he said school board meetings are also held on Tuesday nights.
Charles had been appointed to the scandal-plagued school board in March by the board's Orthodox and haredi members after the only two members who were not Orthodox or haredi abruptly resigned after claiming they were being harassed by the Orthodox and haredi members who also allegedly made backroom deals and took secret votes, excluding the two non-Orthodox members.
The move to accept the appointment to the planning board and then to resign almost immediately from it– but only after voting for a hasidic development whose specifics he admittedly had not even had time to study – caused many people to think Charles made that vote in exchange for a haredi bloc vote to get him and his two running mates elected to the school board in the next election, which was only a few weeks away.
And last night that is exactly what happened.
[Hat Tip: Devorah.]