Year in Review: Cherry Hill ACT team victorious in Cherry Hill BOE election
The Sun’s recap of the 2018 Cherry Hill Board of Education election was the third most read story of 2018.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a countdown of the top 10 most read stories on www.cherryhillsun.com in 2018. This story was the third most read.
As summer turned to fall and Election Day approached, discussion about the Cherry Hill Board of Education Election gradually heated up. Each Cherry Hill Sun story on the election gradually drew more and more readers.
The Sun’s final story on the election, the results recap, topped them all. Thousands of residents checked out to see who won and what the reaction was from the candidates. The Sun’s recap of the election would end up being the third most read story of 2018.
The winners of the 2018 election was the Cherry Hill ACT team of Sally Tong, Laurie Neary and David Rossi. The trio defeated eight other opponents, including the three incumbents, J. Barry Dickinson, Ken Tomlinson Jr. and Kathy Judge.
“It’s important to me that people went to the polls and they voted for me — which is one of the most sacred things people have — and they put their trust in me with making decisions with what goes on in the school district,” Rossi said the day after the election.
“I think timing is everything,” Neary said. “I think the community was just ready to look at things differently.”
Many of the eight candidates who fell short in the election also commented either over the phone or through email with The Sun’s Mike Monostra the day following the election.
“I’m really disappointed,” Judge said in November. “It’s been an honor to represent Cherry Hill for the last 10 years. I was looking forward to serving for three more.”
Some candidates, such as Rosy Arroyo and Ben Shore, ran for the board for the first time and came away grateful for the experience they had.
“The best part of this experience was seeing the amount of support our neighbors and families had in wanting to make difference in the school district,” challenger Rosy Arroyo said in an email. “Discussions were engaging, and I believe every candidate had the best interest of our children and youth in mind. Having had an opportunity to be a part of that is amazing.”
Other candidates, such as Fredrick Dande, who ran on a team with Sanjay Sharma and Brunia Pilet, were happy with the outcome despite falling short.
“I am for change, for people looking at things differently,” Dande said. “It doesn’t have to be me.”
Tong, Neary and Rossi will begin their three-year terms on the board on Jan. 3 when they will be sworn in at the Cherry Hill Board of Education reorganization meeting.
To read the story, visit https://cherryhillsun.com/unofficial-results-cherry-hill-act-team-victorious-cherry-hill-boe-election-a9b791ccdc96.
