This year’s candidates for Mayor of Evesham and Evesham Township Council explain why they are running.
Editor’s Note: The Marlton Sun requested the following submissions from this year’s candidates for Mayor of Evesham and Evesham Township Council. The candidates’ responses for each race are listed in alphabetical order.
Evesham Township Mayoral Election Candidates
Name: Jaclyn “Jackie” Veasy
Age: 41
Occupation: Senior Claims Adjuster
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Clubs/Organizations: American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Marlton, St. Joan of Arc (Lector, Eucharist Minister, Children’s Liturgy coordinator, and annual carnival organizer/volunteer), Co-Chair of GEICO Cares, Alpha Phi Omega, Rutgers University Alumni Association and Special Needs Adult Program.
Why are you running for Mayor of Evesham?
I am running for Mayor of Evesham Township for several reasons: I personally have a strong commitment to the community that has given so much back to me all of my life; I feel that it is my civic duty to provide voters with a choice and opportunity for new leadership; and I believe that, along with my running mates, I can help bring progress to our entire town while preserving the best aspects of our town’s identity and history.
I know so many good people all over Evesham and what attracts families to Evesham and keeps them living here most or all of their lives. And I want to improve those qualities and our town’s attractiveness by making Evesham more accessible and affordable to all residents. My style of leadership and personality and lack of connections to special interests means I have more opportunities that I can explore, relationships that I can build, and improvements that I can find without worrying about political ambitions or partisan politics.
There are a few standout reasons that inspired me to run for office. One is to improve the working relationship between the municipal government and school district. Anybody who has been to council and school board meetings or seen headlines for the past couple of years knows that that relationship is strained. The school district and municipality need a reset of their relationship in order to find common ground, compromise, and deliver savings to the residents, safety to our children, and more opportunities for all residents.
Another reason for running is to foster a stronger community spirit and end divisiveness based on politics and partisanship. My running mates and I have maintained a positive message on the campaign trail, only focusing on the official record and what we want to do to improve our community. We believe that our community is better than what is sometimes represented in the media or at council meetings and we want to bring back civility, respect, and pride in our community for all of our residents.
There’s also the more obvious and pressing reasons for running: to improve our environment, stabilize property taxes and get creative on tax-saving solutions, and ensure that every resident, child, and adult alike, feel safe and secure in our town.
Name: Steve Zeuli
Age: 56
Occupation: Executive at RD Zeuli
Political Affiliation: Republican
Clubs/Organizations: Evesham Township Councilman, Lenape Regional High School District Long Range Planning Committee and Chairman of the K. Kiki Konstantinos Scholarship Foundation.
Why are you running for Mayor of Evesham?
I’m running for mayor to continue the progress we have made over the last eight years.
When I am out around town, the one issue I hear about is taxes. High property taxes are a burden on all of us that pay them.
I’m very proud of the work my council mates and I have done to hold the line on municipal taxes where ever and whenever possible.
What sets Evesham apart from other towns, and what makes this a great place to live, is while controlling costs, we deliver excellent services.
The greatest challenge I see for the next four years is navigating the increased need for public safety and other improvements around town while also keeping taxes under control.
Public Safety, especially school safety, is also a top issue.
While on council, I pushed for the initial funding to put police officers in our schools. We will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that we keep our children safe.
Finally, Evesham continues to be a destination for new and interesting business and retail to locate.
As someone who runs a small business, I will continue to work with businesses of all kinds that want to relocate to Evesham so our community continues to be South Jersey’s number one town.
Evesham Township Council Election Candidates
Name: Heather Cooper
Age: 47
Occupation: Nonprofit Resource and Development Director
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Clubs/Organizations: Van Zant Elementary PTO Member, DeMasi Middle School PTA Member, The Meadows Homeowner Association Member & Board Secretary, Hope United Methodist Church of Voorhees Board Member, Senator Troy Singleton’s (7th Legislative District) Citizen Advisory Board, New Jersey Municipal Management Association, New Jersey League of Municipalities, The Women’s Political Caucus of New Jersey, The Collaborative for Citizen Directed Supports — New Jersey.
Why are you running for Evesham Township Council?
I am running as one of two Evesham Township Council candidates this year because my whole life has been about giving back to individuals who need a voice, and to the community as a whole. My education and career have given me an opportunity to give back every day I go to work on behalf of people who experience disabilities. Now I want to take my spirit of giving to the town my husband and I chose to settle and raise our family in.
I am a consistent and committed volunteer and leader, from my children’s parent-teacher organization, my neighborhood homeowners association, the board of my church, to serving on State Senator Troy Singleton’s Citizen Advisory Board and the many other organizations listed above.
Like many working parents, I balance my time at work and volunteering with my family and two young children. I understand the challenges that people experience raising and supporting a family in this day and age. I think it’s incredibly important that the voices of working families are properly represented on our township council and I want to take on that challenge and responsibility.
I also want to be an advocate for the values I believe every level of government should embrace: maximizing accountability and transparency; promoting values that contribute to community spirit and engagement, and proper investment in infrastructure and economic development. The decisions that our township government makes should maximize benefits for each and every resident.
As a resident and parent, I am always concerned about public safety and ensuring that my children are safe wherever they are. Schools and neighborhoods, places of worship, and civic activities need to be protected so that our most precious resources, our children, can grow, learn and achieve.
Lastly, I am running to ensure that our government is in financial order and no taxpayer dollars are wasted. As a recent executive masters in public administration graduate from Rutgers University, I will scrutinize every budget and penny spent; promote financial transparency and creative solutions for saving taxpayer dollars; I will work on partnering with our schools and other community organizations to empower our children; and bring the leadership skills I have learned in my career, education and volunteer experiences to enact a beneficial agenda for all residents.
Name: Deb Hackman
Age: 59
Occupation: Educator
Political Affiliation: Republican
Clubs/Organizations: Evesham Township Councilwoman, Evesham Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) Founder and Evesham Municipal Alliance.
Why are you running for Evesham Township Council?
Everywhere I go, property taxes continues to be the top issue that I hear about when I speak with township residents.
While Evesham residents have provided a positive response to everything we are doing in the township, they ask us to continue to work to keep property taxes low. One of the biggest challenges we will face over the next four years is ensuring that we continue our commitment to public safety and other important township programs while also keeping our municipal taxes under control.
School safety continues to be a top issue for our residents.
I am proud that I was part of the team that pushed for the initial funding to put police officers in our schools.
We will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that we keep our children safe.
Finally, Evesham continues to be a destination for new and interesting business and retail to locate.
I am also proud of our efforts to bring a diverse business community to Evesham, which helps our community continue to be South Jersey’s number one town.
Name: Patricia “Pat” Hansen
Age: 63
Occupation: Retired Human Resources Assignment Specialist
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Clubs/Organizations: Transportation volunteer for Al’s chorAl of Cherry Hill, Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey artist and member.
Why are you running for Evesham Township Council?
I am running for one of two seats on the Evesham Township Council because I believe that our town needs a new voice and ear for the people in our government. As a nearly 30-year resident and after working in human resources for Amtrak for 20 of my 41-year career for the agency, I know what it means to effectively listen and communicate with a diverse group of people with many different needs.
I want to bring my skills to the Evesham Township Council because for years I have spoken up about issues in my own neighborhood, particularly about streets, potholes, and water drainage problems. For years, the only response I have gotten was runarounds, red tape, and sometimes no response at all.
Those experiences have been compounded with my personal experience and observations at council. I have watched residents be ignored or disrespected and I cannot tolerate that attitude from public officials. It’s important to me to change the culture of our township council and improve communication with the residents in order to better deliver services, address neighborhood needs, and solve problems in our town.
I want to bring my experience as a human resource specialist and member of a large, complex organization to our township council. I have spent a large portion of my life dealing with detailed contracts, management, budgets, and labor affairs, all issues that our local government deals with regularly. I think that a fresh set of ears and eyes on the council will serve the residents well and help bring a new level of service and progress to our entire community.
I, along with my running mates, are very concerned that our township has not done enough to stabilize taxes and control our municipal debt. I want to be creative and open to all options for reducing costs, finding efficiencies, and improving services for all residents. I am troubled by the large increase in municipal debt over the past few years and the effect that debt service payments will have on future budgets and services. I want to address these issues now and not pass them on to our future residents and taxpayers.
Name: Jay Levenson
Age: 74
Occupation: Business Executive
Political Affiliation: Republican
Clubs/Organizations: Marlton Business Association, South Jersey POPS Board, Relay for Life and Team Evesham.
Why are you running for Evesham Township Council?
Taxes is the number one issue that hear about when speaking with residents I talk to about township issues.
While our municipal governing body has done a great job in keeping municipal taxes low, we cannot become complacent, so I want to look for opportunities to further lower taxes and reduce our resident tax burden.
While the municipality is only one of the three taxing entities in Evesham, I want the municipal government to continue to find ways to do our part to lower taxes.
Public safety is also a prime issue for many residents and I will do my part to make sure that our police have everything they need to keep our township and schools safe.
While the township government has also done a great job with attracting quality business, we need to ensure, over the next four years, that we continue that trend.
