Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

GOP sees good shot at Camden County board

Camden County Republicans are billing this election as their best chance in years to end their two-decade absence from the Board of Freeholders.

Camden County Republicans are billing this election as their best chance in years to end their two-decade absence from the Board of Freeholders.

They believe the game-changer is a combination of the poor economy and GOP candidate George Zallie, the owner of a chain of Philadelphia and South Jersey ShopRites. Zallie has put $50,000 into his campaign's war chest and is prepared to spend more.

Teamed with Scot DeCristofaro, Zallie is going up against Democratic incumbents Carmen Rodriguez and Ed McDonnell.

The election comes almost eight months after the freeholders voted to raise property taxes for the first time in four years. That 2.3 percent increase followed years of spending increases, even as the county reduced its workforce almost 25 percent over the last five years.

McDonnell and Rodriguez attributed the increase to cuts in state funding and the increasing cost of employee health care and benefits, which represents almost 20 percent of the county's $323.3 million budget.

"A lot of it's out of our control," Rodriguez said. "We try to bring people to the table to find new, creative ways to reduce spending, and not just at the county level but in the towns and school districts also."

During the campaign, Zallie and DeCristofaro have attacked the Democratic establishment and its long hold on county government.

"We have a system of government where contracts are not transparent and law firms are politically connected," Zallie said. "It's all very incestuous."

McDonnell defended the county's procurement system as honest and transparent, citing a report from the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government earlier this year that ranked Camden County second in the state for the ease of access to information on its website.

Professional-services firms that do business with Camden County are major donors to Rodriguez and McDonnell's campaign, as well as the county Democratic Party.

As of Oct. 4, when the last campaign-finance reports were due, their campaign had raised $178,479, compared with $73,821 for Zallie and DeCristofaro.

Rodriguez and McDonnell said that over the last five years, their board had put in place cost-saving measures that lessened the blow of the economic downturn.

"We're always looking at the bottom line," Rodriguez said.

The Democrats began running TV ads earlier this week, something the Republicans said they were still considering.

"Last election, we only spent about $10,000. This time, we're going to spend some money," McDonnell said. "The political climate is a little different this time."

DeCristofaro, 41, of Haddon Township, is a business consultant with clients including Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. This is his first run for office.

McDonnell, 66, of Pennsauken, is the vice president of economic development at Camden County College. He was elected to the Board of Freeholders in 1995.

Rodriguez, 39, of Merchantville, teaches physics and chemistry at the Medical Arts High School in Camden. She was elected to the Board of Freeholders in 2004.

Zallie, 58, of Cherry Hill, who owns the ShopRites, is making his first run for office.

With the campaign moving toward its final stage, Zallie and DeCristofaro reported that after months of knocking on doors, they had come to the conclusion that most county residents are oblivious to the freeholders board.

"To eight out of 10 people, it's a mystery what freeholders do," DeCristofaro said.