TJN: Members of East Ramapo’s public school community took the podium last night to criticize the Board of Education’s recent decision to appoint a new district treasurer and to pay him for what had been an unpaid post. Earlier this month, the board voted 5-2 to appoint Israel Bier of Monsey � a longtime opponent of East Ramapo tax increases and a former school board member � as treasurer, replacing James Rose, the district’s business administrator who had for years also performed the treasurer’s duties.Last night was the first public board meeting since the panel’s decision to appoint Bier, who will receive a salary of $25,000.Some questioned why the board had created a new paid position, why others hadn’t been invited to apply for the treasurer’s post and why there had been so little public discussion by the board on the issue.

“You have an obligation to search for the best qualified person possible. This position should have been opened up to allow members of the public a chance to apply, and their qualifications reviewed by all members of the board,” said May Neils, a vice president of the East Ramapo PTA council.

“This appointment screams of patronage, which may not be illegal, but does demonstrate a level of impropriety by representatives of the school district,” said parent and former school board candidate Suzanne Young-Mercer of Spring Valley.

Kalman Weber of Monsey, head of the Southeast Ramapo Taxpayers Association, spoke in favor of the board’s decision. Bier, he said, has “an encyclopedic knowledge of education law” and worked for more than 20 years at an international bank.

Weber questioned whether criticism of the board’s appointment of Bier stemmed from “open discrimination.”

After the meeting, Weber, who described himself as an acquaintance of Bier, elaborated on his statement, saying that it seemed like some in East Ramapo � a district with a rapidly growing religious Jewish community and in which a majority of parents send their children to private Jewish schools � oppose Bier because his dress is that of a Hasidic Jew. Seven of the nine school board members are from the religious community.

Martha Lerner-Iglody, the president of the East Ramapo PTA council and a critic of Bier’s appointment, later dismissed Weber’s claim, calling it “way out of line.”

Parents are concerned about how Bier’s appointment will affect the school district, she said. “It has nothing to do with what he looks like,” she said.

Bier seemed unfazed by the debate.

“You always have some people who are against certain things” and they tend to be those who attend board meetings, he said.

Board member Richard Stone, speaking after the meeting, took issue with the assertion that the treasurer’s post had been unpaid before Bier’s appointment. Stone said that when Rose was hired, his salary was based on the understanding that he would be performing duties as the treasurer.