Cherry Hill group wants public posts open to all

A Cherry Hill group wants to require appointments to public boards to be open and available to all residents.

Backed by more than 2,000 signatures, the Cherry Hill Political Reform Committee is petitioning to add to the the November ballot an ordinance that would mandate a public registry of all appointed municipal positions and the requirements for filling them.

Information about appointments is available online, and applicants are selected based on qualification, according to the Mayor's Office.

Mandating public registers of municipal appointments would change what Bob Shinn, the committee cochairman, said was a climate in which only "political insiders" known in the local Democratic Party receive appointments.

An aide to Mayor Bernie Platt said the township already solicits resumes from all interested residents and appoints them based on merit.

"The mayor takes offense to him labeling these people who sacrifice and volunteer their time on a regular basis to improve the town," aide Dan Keashen said. "To label them as political insiders is a travesty."

The more than 90 appointed positions, all unpaid, include members of the Green Party and Republicans, at least one of whom ran on an opposition ticket for council, he said.

"We have an open government here, and we invite anyone to participate," Keashen said."

Shinn, who serves on the local Republican committee, began the nonpartisan Cherry Hill Political Reform Committee two years ago. The group is affiliated with the statewide Citizens' Campaign, based in Metuchen, whose legal team drafted the Cherry Hill ordinance proposal.

Appointments made by 11 towns, Atlantic County, and the state of New Jersey are governed by laws "substantially similar" to the ordinance proposed for Cherry Hill, said Heather Taylor, Citizens' Campaign spokeswoman.

The mayor and council are evaluating the proposal but think the administrative cost could be prohibitive for a township already "running a lean operation" after layoffs and cuts in state aid, Keashen said.

Shinn argued that costs would be minimal, calling the argument a "red herring."

"The real reason is they don't want that process to be opened up," he said.

Cherry Hill lists committee positions and provides an application form online, and Keashen said the additional requirements outlined in the ordinance would be unlikely to attract more applicants to boards such as the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Planning Board, and the public library board of trustees.

"We don't believe this ordinance will help us produce any more response," he said. "We've had approximately slim to none in terms of resumes coming in through the past year."

Cherry Hill clerk Nancy Saffos has until Aug. 21 to determine whether the petition is valid. When the mayor and council are notified, they will have 20 days to schedule a public hearing, she said.