School board gets election race after all

Four candidates will vie for three spots April 15.

By: Lea Kahn
   Four township residents have signed on to run for three seats on the Lawrence Township Board of Education — the three incumbent school board members and a newcomer to elective office.
   The terms are for three years.
   The four residents — incumbents Michael Brindle, Michael Wilson and Michael Winka and newcomer Daniel Surtz — filed their petitions by the 4 p.m. deadline Monday. The school board election is April 15.
   Mr. Surtz, seeking his first term on the school board, lives on Devon Avenue. He is an attorney with the Princeton law firm of Maselli Warren P.C. He and his wife, Juliette, have an 8-month-old son. The couple are expecting another child soon.
   Mr. Surtz has lived in Lawrence most of his life. He is a 1990 graduate of Lawrence High School. He also graduated from Franklin and Marshall College and Villanova University School of Law. He returned to Lawrence last year, after working for a law firm in northern New Jersey.
   Serving on the school board is a way of giving back to the community, Mr. Surtz said. Also, now that he has children who will attend the public schools, he said, he has a vested interest in the school system. He added that his training as a lawyer would be helpful to the school board. Lawyers are trained to be problem solvers, he said.
   Mr. Brindle and Mr. Wilson had turned in their petitions earlier this month. As expected, Mr. Winka also filed prior to the deadline Monday. He had previously stated he would seek re-election.
   Mr. Winka, who lives on Rossa Avenue, is seeking his third term. He is the director of the clean energy program for the state Board of Public Utilities. He has three children — one in college, a sophomore at Lawrence High School and an 8th-grader at Lawrence Middle School.
   Mr. Brindle, seeking his fifth term, lives on Puritan Avenue. He is an instrumental music teacher in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. He has one grown daughter.
   Mr. Wilson lives on Carver Place. He is seeking his second term on the board. He is the supervisor of curriculum in the Washington Township School District. He has two grown children and a stepdaughter who is a Lawrence High School junior.