A little over a year ago, I was elected to serve as mayor of this great township. I entered office as a businessman — not a politician — with a plan to use my 30-plus years of business experience to run Cherry Hill more effective and efficiently.
I vowed to work hard to make sure we continued to provide top-notch services in the most efficient and effective way possible. In my first year as mayor, we have made great progress.
For one, I have established a more open and accountable government. We launched a new township website that hosts bids, agendas, minutes, ordinances, resolutions and is able to track requests. We convened the Citizens Cabinet, whose members serve as township ambassadors. We improved resident services throughout all areas of town hall, and we expanded our outreach through Twitter and Facebook.
We have restored fiscal responsibility and saved taxpayer dollars. Last summer, we adopted a budget with zero municipal tax increase. We renegotiated employee health benefits, saving thousands of taxpayer dollars, and successfully negotiated a contract with our white-collar workers that eliminated longevity and sick-time payouts. We secured more than $1.4 million in federal, state and county grants.
And we did it all while operating with 30 fewer employees than in 2008.
We have carefully examined township debt, and worked intelligently to retire and reduce that debt, saving our residents almost $5 million in taxpayer dollars.
More than 70 percent of our debt will be paid off in 10 years; 90 percent will be paid off in 12 years.
That is running government like a business.
When I became mayor, there were too many empty stores, properties were vacant and our home values were decreasing.
We have worked hard to jump-start the economy, and have attracted dozens of new businesses, both large and small, to help reinvigorate some of our empty and underperforming properties. And I have established a Business Council, to help my administration keep its finger on the pulse of our local economy.
I have worked to make sure construction at the Garden State Park continues on a positive path to benefit all Cherry Hill taxpayers. And we restructured rent control so apartment owners could invest in their buildings and increase their property values and our seniors could benefit from improved living conditions.
Our economic development efforts, specifically at the mall, Garden State Park, and in our apartment buildings, have helped to restore fairness to our property-tax system. The recent revaluation process resulted in a tax decrease for the average homeowner — thanks, in part, to the success of those properties, which helped shift some of the tax burden off of residents.
As mayor, I can promise you that we will continue — with laser-like focus — to identify opportunities for our underutilized properties, to attract new businesses and to keep the businesses we currently have here. Our economic turnaround is just beginning.
We have adopted common-sense approaches to streamlining government, combining community development, construction, and zoning under one department director.
We created a database of recreation facilities so we know which ones need fixing when. And we developed extensive shared service agreements with the library, the schools and fire department to save taxpayer dollars while providing better services.
As we move further into 2013 and beyond, we will continue to reinvest in our economy and to use 21st century technology to help us achieve even greater efficiencies.
We have remained committed to sustainability. We are in the process of drafting a township-wide Sustainability Master Plan, as well as a bicycle and pedestrian master plan that includes the creation of new bike paths and sidewalks to increase accessibility for alternative modes of transportation.
We enhanced our recycling data collection process, which increased business participation in the program and ultimately allowed us to secure additional grant funding to reward those efforts.
Finally, we launched my Mayor’s Wellness Campaign, partnering with businesses, non-profits, schools, hospitals and health systems to improve the well being of our residents.
The campaign has connected residents and businesses, and given citizens access to free or low-cost nutritional advice, recreation opportunities, cooking classes, seminars, and senior activities. It led to the implementation of a smoke-free policy in all our public spaces, and the creation of our monthly “Walk with the Mayor” series at the Cherry Hill Mall.
We have accomplished a lot in just one year since I have been mayor, and I am confident that we are well positioned to continue our progress forward.
As always, I thank you for sharing my commitment to this great township.
My team and I are always available, by phone at (856) 488–7878, or by email at [email protected].
Together, we are making Cherry Hill an even better place to live, work and play.
Mayor Chuck Cahn
