Residents regroup to consider merger

The Merchantville-Cherry Hill Consolidation Commission regrouped last week at the Merchantville Community Center to begin the process of seeking out a consultant to study a possible municipal merge between the two neighboring communities.

The citizen-led commission informed the audience, which was only about 15 residents, that since the last meeting, Cherry Hill resident Pat McCargo took the place of Sandy Levenson, who stepped down.

Chairman Roger Dennis also announced that commissioner Anthony Perno, a Merchantville councilman, was also recently named as the official liaison to the council in an effort to keep the governing body in the know about the commission's plans to move forward. Perno was absent from the meeting, as was former Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt and Kathy Birmingham.

Dennis opened up the meeting discussing what progress had been made since the last meeting, which was held late last year. He and vice-chairman Rich James recently met with Cherry Hill's new mayor, Chuck Cahn, to get a sense of how the township could support a potential merger.

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No vote needed for school budget?

No vote may be needed to pass a school district budget again if the Cherry Hill School District decides it wants to move its election to November.

Last week, Gov. Christie signed legislation that would allow school board elections to be moved to November.

Christie initially proposed the Legislation in May 2010 and garnered bipartisan support in the legislature. His reasons for signing the bill were to encourage a higher voter turnout and to help school districts save money by combining school elections with the general election.

"This bipartisan tool kit bill finally gives real pathways for school boards or voters to move district elections in November, providing the bright prospect for both local government savings and increased voter participation in the process," Christie said. "With this legislation now law, I urge school board members and voters in every one of our districts to act as quickly as possible to take hold of these benefits."

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