I wasn’t nearly as successful as I hoped with this site. I only have myself to blame as I didn’t get to devote nearly as much time to it as the cause deserves. I’ll probably be taking a few months away from it now but I will do a better job of advertising, reaching out to the candidates, and exploring the issues leading up to the fire district election next year.
Finally check out the Cherry Hill Sun’s final article on the Town Council Canidates:
After a mediocre first two weeks, week three of the Cherry Hill Sun’s Meet the candidates series provided some good info, check it out .
A major part of this website will be interviews with elected officials. While I will also cover the actions of the government, that only tells you how the incumbents are doing and doesn’t provide a contrast of what the opposition would do if in office. I hope this website gives candidates a forum to offers concrete proposals to improve our town. Please suggest additional questions below if there’s time for the next round of interviews. Otherwise I’ll be sure to keep them in mind for next election, I’m in this for the long term! Here are the first round of questions that were sent to all the council candidates: Continue reading “Interviews”
The purpose of this site is to allow you make an informed choice on Election Day! I follow national politics fairly closely especially during election season and there is lots written about the candidates and the issues. I was disappointed when I went to research the candidates for Cherry Hill elections I couldn’t find anything more than a biography and perhaps a few bullets on what the candidates represented. So for starters when are the next elections and who is running? Continue reading “Elections”
An important and often under appreciated part of any government is the bureaucracy. This is the structure and people who carry out the work of the government and understanding who they are, what they do, and how well they are funded provides a lot of insight into the priorities and goals of the government. Cherry Hill’s bureaucracy is made up of nine departments. These are specified in the charter as the Department of Administration, Law, Public Works, Engineering, Police, Recreation, Health and Welfare, Community Development, and Construction Code Enforcement. As far as I can tell though the Department of Health and Welfare doesn’t exists as there is no mention of it on the town’s website or in the budget.
Continue reading “Township Government 201: Budget / Departments”
In the last post I gave an overview of the structure of Cherry Hill’s government. This explained the legal structure of the government but doesn’t really explain how the government currently functions. In recent history (and maybe always?) the Mayor and the Council have all been member of the Democratic Party. This has contributed to very little public discussion of politics. At the 4/24/17 Council meeting Rena Margulis stated “she has attended or watched on live stream every meeting of council since May 23, 2016…” and that “she has never seen deliberation by this governing body.” From what I can find published this is absolutely true. This is not to say debate doesn’t occur however it is clear that it happens outside the public eye. To the public the Council and Mayor present a unified front. So what is going on?
Ok this may be a bit dry but I think it’s important to understand the rules of the game:
Cherry Hill has a Mayor-Council as defined by the Faulkner Act. The Faulkner Act is a state law that outlines the structure of local governments. You can read the complete text here. The specifics of Cherry Hill’s government are defined by the charter which is ordinance 81-41. The charter was adopted in 1981.
