The hats are in the ring
By JENNIFER KELLEY
Cherry Hill Sun
5/31/2007

Candidates gear up for mayor/Council election

The Cherry Hill Republican Organization recently announced its candidates for the November municipal election, joining a crowded field of candidates vying for four Council seats, including the mayoral slot, in the Nov. 7 General Election.

Long-time community activist Philip Guerrieri, who serves as president of the Erlton South Civic Association, will head the GOP ticket as candidate for mayor. He will oppose Mayor Bernie Platt, a Democrat, who announced in April that he is running for his second full term.

Joining Guerrieri on the Republican ticket are Nancy Ryan, Joseph Achacoso and Christopher Hammerquist, who are all running for the three Council seats that will open up this year.

According to the township clerk’s office, their Democratic opponents are current Council vice president John Amato, Councilman Dennis Garbowski – whose seats expire in November – and Sara Lipsett, a township Zoning Board member who is seeking her first term on Council.

Councilwoman Marlyn Kalitan, whose term is also up this year, will not be seeking re-election, officials said.

Cherry Hill’s primary is scheduled for June 5, though both tickets are unopposed, according to the Camden County Board of Elections.

Platt, who has served as mayor since winning a special election in 2002, said that serving as mayor has given him the opportunity “to help our town grow into a shining example to all of South Jersey, but there is much more I want to do to keep Cherry Hill the family oriented and business friendly home we expect.”

Amato, the longest serving councilman in the township’s history, is a Eucharistic minister and lector at the Queen of Heaven Roman Catholic Church and serves on the board of the Young Adolescent Learning Environment School for children with special needs.

Garbowski, who has been a member of the Carpenters Local Union No. 393 for more than 20 years, lives in the township’s Hinchman neighborhood.

Before being elected to Council in 2006, he served on the township’s Planning Board.

Lipsett lives in the Downs Farms neighborhood and sits on the executive board of Horace Mann Elementary School’s Parent-Teacher Association.

She has served on the township’s Zoning Board since 2005 and is a member of the Cherry Hill Historical Commission.

Guerrieri said he threw his hat in the ring because “there was a time when Cherry Hill’s government was responsive and connected to its constituents. That time has passed. My running mates and I pledge to make our municipal government more open to residents and taxpayers, and to control skyrocketing property taxes that make living in Cherry Hill more difficult.”

In addition to leading the Erlton South Civic Association, Guerrieri also recently served as one of 14 members hand-picked by Platt for Cherry Hill’s Route 70 Task Force. He has been active in community issues for more than two decades.

Ryan is an educator and member of the New Jersey Education Association, who is active in the Erlton Civic Association as well, in addition to her involvement in numerous environmental causes.

Achacoso is an Army veteran and major in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is a self-employed businessman and unsuccessfully ran for a spot on Council in 2006.

Hammerquist, a regional sales executive for a national health-care company, has been active in numerous municipal youth athletic organizations and previously served as president of the Downs Farm Swim Club.