Fulcomer Steps Down As Board Of Adjustment Chairman, Republican Club President

Berkeley Board of  Education Vice-President James Fulcomer has resigned as chairman of the Board of Adjustment and will step down as president of the Regular Republican Organization Club of Berkeley Township in February.

Fulcomer served two full terms and chaired the Board of Adjustment through a number of controversial applications, including the redevelopment of the Santo Marina site last summer. He cast the lone no vote on the application.

He has served as president of the Republican Club for four years. Fulcomer said he wants to devote all of his free time to the school board.

"The two positions together took up so much time that I was not able to spend as much time on Board of Education matters as I wanted to spend," he said. "Of the three positions, I think the Board of Eduction should be the number one priority."

Board members will most likely name a new school board president tonight, since current President Steven Pellechia said at last week's council meeting he was making his last public statement as board president.

The board reorganizes tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Berkeley Township Elementary School, 10 Emory Avenue, Bayville.

Fulcomer has often clashed with other board members during his time on the school board. He ran as a proponent of shared services during his successful 2010 campaign and was a strong supporter of the annual Stokes State Forest trip.

Fulcomer is a former Union County freeholder and former four-term Rahway councilman. He retired after 42 years as a high school history teacher several years ago. He received his master of arts degree in political science from New York University and his bachelor of education degree in history from Kean University.