Building the budget
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
10/24/2009

The eight candidates vying for four Council seats took time to address a question regarding the yearly municipal budget.

Each candidate from each party was asked, “How would you assess the budget process right now? What would you change, if anything?”

Overall, the Republican candidates said the township could improve its budgetary process by making the process more transparent and easier for Cherry Hill residents to understand.

The Democrat candidates also supported more public community budget sessions, but said the majority of the difficulties for the budgetary process lie at the state level.

Republican candidate Dan Loveland, president of the Locustwood Civic Association, said opening the process up to interested residents would go a long way to finding additional savings and reducing taxes in Cherry Hill.

“Opening up the process to the citizens is extremely important. When you look at the township, the two greatest assets we have are the people and our location. We have a lot of bright, dedicated people in Cherry Hill, and I know there are folks that have wanted to be involved in the process,” he said. “People stand up in Council meetings and ask questions about the budget. I don’t see any reason to not have a citizen’s advisory committee for the budget. We have advisory committees for other things in town, why not the budget?”

Incumbent Democrat candidate David Fleisher said the budget process is broken at the state level, which is why the township budget is delayed each year.

Having an experienced candidate would help streamline the process, he said.

“Now, more than ever, we need local leaders with the backbone and professional experience to make the tough decisions,” Fleisher said. “This starts with listening closely to our community to ensure the budget reflects our town’s priorities.”

The process is much too long, fellow Democrat candidate Jacquelene Silver said, and having to wait for the state to determine funding makes little sense.

“If possible, I would change the overbearing burden Trenton puts on towns throughout the state, especially with the budget process. We have a regulated procedure that only allows the township to proceed when the state provides a green light. At the end of the day, I would remove Trenton from the overall process,” Silver said.

Nancy O’Dowd agreed with her fellow Republican candidates and said the township council should consider adopting a budget process like the Cherry Hill Board of Education. The former BOE member, from 2005 to 2008, said the township Council should discuss the township budget in a more open setting.

“Right now I’m not happy with anything in the budget process. That’s why I’m running for Council. Being on the school board, I was able to see behind the scenes how the budget works,” O’Dowd said. “The school board budget, at least, is discussed in public. There’s a lot of what goes on behind the scenes that I’m not happy with in the township. Nothing in the township budget is discussed in public.”

Jim Bannar, Democrat candidate and Cherry Hill firefighter, said the township should consider hosting several public tax sessions to garner information and suggestions from taxpayers in Cherry Hill.

These public sessions would help increase transparency in the process, Bannar said. “Additionally, I believe the township should host several tax talk sessions to garner suggestions from residents. One public hearing may not be enough time for a fair assessment of the budget document by the community,” he said. “Transparency is imperative to the process, and I believe we can create an open process that will be beneficial to the community.”

Another former BOE member from 2005-08 and Republican candidate Susan Badaracco agreed, calling for more discussion of the budget in a public setting and at township council meetings.

“I’d like to hear more budget discussions. The recent Council meetings I’ve been too have been alarmingly short with no discussion at all,” she said. “Millions of dollars have flown out the window with no discussion. It’s not their money, but our money.”

Phil Guerrieri, Republican candidate and past president of the Erlton-South Civic Association, said the township can also better predict what the state will be providing in funding each year. If the state actually gives more than the township’s initial estimate, Guerrieri said that can be flipped into a tax break for the residents.

“Stop spending what you think the state will give you. I cannot establish my spending for the year based on my projections for my business. I can only base my spending on what I know,” he said. “If you get more than what you’ve estimated, then you give a tax cut to the residents.”

Finally, Democrat candidate and community activist Susan Shin Angulo, said finding a way to modify the state statutes during the budget process should be one of the candidates to priorities.

“As a matter of procedure, the state mandates how the township introduces and votes on a budget. Nevertheless, the one thing I would do away with during the budget process is the state mandates that have been dictated down to towns throughout New Jersey by Trenton,” she said. “To improve the current process I would move to hold public sessions for the community and ask residents to provide direct feedback to the elected body. I would like to hear our community’s suggestions and critical comments opening up an important public dialogue that would be beneficial to all of Cherry Hill. The process is heavily regulated, but there is no question it can be improved.”

For more information on the Democrat candidates, please visit the party’s Web site at cherryhilldemocrats.com.

For more information on the Republican candidates, please visit their Web site at CherryHillFirst.com.