Elections for the Cazenovia Central School District Board of Education will be held May 17. Voting for the positions, as well as the budget, will be held in the high school auditorium from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Four candidates are hoping to fill the three vacant positions on the seven-member board. The openings were created by current members John Weisbrod and Cindy Bell Tobey’s terms of office ending and the resignation of Ed Roickle earlier in the year.

The two candidates receiving the highest votes will be appointed to the board for three-year terms, beginning July 2011 and ending June 2014. The candidate receiving the third highest vote count will be appointed to the board for the one-year remaining term of office due to Roickle’s exit.

The Cazenovia League of Women Voters held a Candidate Forum the evening of May 9 in the high school library, giving residents the opportunity to meet the prospective board members and listen to their election platforms.

Leigh Baldwin

Baldwin has lived in Cazenovia for the past 25 years, residing within the district with his wife, Susan, a soccer coach at the school, and their three children. He graduated from Colgate University in 1983 with a concentration in economics.

Baldwin is the owner of a Cazenovia-based brokerage firm that employs 120 financial advisors throughout Central New York, New Jersey and Northeast Pennsylvania. He is a minority owner of the Syracuse Crunch hockey team and is a member of the board for the Syracuse Opera.

Baldwin’s financial background may prove useful as the Cazenovia Board of Education looks ahead to another difficult year, with potential property tax caps and further cuts in state funding.

Cindy Bell Tobey

Tobey is a current board member looking to be re-elected for another term. A Central New York native, she grew up nearby in Baldwinsville. She and her husband, Jim Tobey, have been Cazenovia residents since 1996 and have two daughters who are current students within the district.

Tobey received her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Syracuse University, and earned another bachelor’s degree for construction management and wood products engineering from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She is currently employed as a project manager in Syracuse for the New York State Department of Transportation. She has been a member of the Pompey Historical Society since 1996, served as treasurer for four years and is currently on the Board of Trustees.

Having served on the Cazenovia Board of Education for the past three years, Tobey believes she offers valuable experience, along with good communication skills and strong sense community involvement.

“Our achievements in academics, sports and the arts in the Cazenovia school district are something out entire community should be proud of. Whether it is our school’s high academic standing, success of our sports teams or the various arts, Cazenovia schools are thriving,” said Tobey. “A community’s school district should provide both a great value and a great return.”

Jerry Romagnoli

Romagnoli is a long time resident of Central New York, having grown up in Canastota and moved to Cazenovia in 1990 with his wife, Ellen, and four children. Romagnoli graduated from Bucknell University in 1979 with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering. He went on to serve five years in the United States Navy as an officer in the Civil Engineer Corps.

Romagnoli was integral in the creation of Abscope Environmental, Inc. and CCI Companies, Inc. with the help of two business partners. In 1998 he and his associates acquired Costello Paving Company of Herkimer, and began CFR Paving, Inc. He is a current member of Construction Financial Management Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, National Rifle Association, Society of Military Engineers and American Legion of New York State.

Romagnoli wishes to assist the board of education with keeping the tax levy low, while creating policies that focus recourses and efforts to improve education for students. Romagnoli was involved with publicizing the recent contract negotiation process between the district and teacher’s union, by starting cazcontract.com, an online petition for taxpayers.

Jan Held Woodworth

Woodworth has lived within the Cazenovia School District for the past 19 years with her husband, Mark, an alumnus of Cazenovia High School, and their three children. Woodworth graduated from Cornell University in 1983, earned her master’s degree in 1985 and returned to earn her doctorate in 1995. Her primary areas of study have been agriculture and vocational education, having minored in curriculum.

Woodworth is employed as a technical writer and analyst for Cazenovia’s CDH Energy Corporation and as an adjunct professor of vocational teacher education at SUNY Oswego. She owns a small horse farm with her family and has taught agriculture education on both high school and college levels.

Woodworth wishes to win a seat on the Cazenovia Board of Education in order to become more closely involved with the district that has served her own family well. Having assumed a number of educational roles, she believes she can offer a fair and knowledgeable viewpoint.

“The board must create a budget that allows the district to operate and continue our tradition of educational excellence for our students, while being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers,” said Woodworth. “Open communication, positive interactions and effective listening are all important as we face the challenges put before us.”