Maureen Sullivan, Ruth McAllister and Theresa Minutillo are kicking off their campaign for Board of Education this Sunday from 2-5 p.m. at Maxwell's, 11th and Washington.
Everyone is invited and children are welcome. They’ll be teaming up under the “Kids First” banner for the school board election on Tuesday, April 21.
Maureen, Ruth and Theresa have joined together because they believe Hoboken needs and wants board members who will not only demand better schools, but will also serve as watchdogs of our hard-earned tax dollars. They ask all their friends and supporters to come and meet the whole team.
Maureen Sullivan is a passionate advocate for excellence in education and a tighter rein on spending and has been since she moved to Hoboken in 2001 and enrolled her two children, Timothy and Julia, in public school. Since then they've attended Brandt, Wallace and Connors. She is the president of the Connors School PTO and a member of the School Leadership Committee. Maureen has gained a following for her willingness to speak out fearlessly against the status quo, and last year ran a strong, independent campaign for a seat on the school board.
Maureen grew up in Union County and graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in American Government. In her 20-year career in journalism, including 12 years as a foreign correspondent, she was an award-winning columnist and covered the end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa as well as the handover of Hong Kong to China. Though she's three quarters Irish, her mother's father grew up in Pietrelcina, Italy, with his cousin who later was known as Padre Pio, and now St. Pio.
Ruth McAllister, known to her friends as Ruthy, is making her first run for the school board, though she has been an outspoken advocate for children's issues for many years. Ruthy grew up in Randolph, N.J., graduated from Lafayette College with a degree in Chemical Engineering, and has been living in Hoboken since 1985. She works for BNY Mellon Bank in Jersey City as a Business Systems Consultant and Product Manager and started her own small business.
Where others see challenges, Ruthy finds a calling. Too few places for kids to play? Ruthy founds Romparoo on Park Avenue and becomes an entrepreneur. Her son, Jesse, is diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis? She becomes a fervent advocate and fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation. Concerned about children’s education? She serves on the board of the Kaplan preschool at the United Synagogue of Hoboken, where she is an active member. And when Jesse goes to Wallace School and joins the Cub Scouts, she volunteers in the classroom and throws herself into Scouting.
Theresa Minutillo sent a jolt through the community in 2006 when she became the first reformer elected to the board in a decade. In her first year she was supported by an unanimous vote of the board on a resolution that led to a public, transparent process for filling open board seats. A year later, her fellow board members on both sides of the aisle united to elect her board president. Under her leadership, the board passed a much-needed nepotism policy and finally agreed to a plan to televise its meetings on Channel 77. Theresa and her Kids First allies on the school board, Carrie Gilliard and Rose Markle, ask the tough questions and fight week after week to end the culture of entitlement, and to put our resources where they belong - in the classroom benefiting the kids.
Theresa has lived in Hoboken since 1988 and is the mother of 2 1/2-year-old Gabriela Italia, who will enter the Abbott preschool program in September. A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Theresa is a businesswoman who owns her own Image Development and Corporate Branding business. She founded Senior Prep Day as a volunteer at Hoboken High in 2004. This program helps prepare juniors and seniors for the world of work by bringing dozens of community members into the high school each spring to provide tips on writing resumes, dressing for success and handling interviews. She’s proud that the district has incorporated the now Junior/Senior Prep Day as an official program.
I am a parent too, and it was with great pride that I agreed to serve as campaign manager for Ruthy, Theresa and Maureen in their quest to spend our money wisely and make our schools great. Please join us this Sunday at Maxwell's, and help me make our first event a smashing success.
Let’s put Kids First,
Liz Mulholland
Campaign Manager
