A Double Dose of Machine Politics in Cherry Hill
Turn over any local government stone in South Jersey and you’re bound to find George Norcross wriggling underneath. This was once again the experience of SJPD’s Rena Margulis, who used her 2019 county clerk candidacy to shine a light on ballot manipulation & intentional voter confusion and has served as a government watchdog both before and after that race. Rena made two newsworthy discoveries earlier this week. Posting on the forum she moderates, Cherry Hill United, Rena called residents’ attention to an important project not on the Cherry Hill town council agenda. She also provided information about a name on the November ballot for an office likely to be overlooked, a name with clear Norcross connections.
Cherry Hill Environmental Loss: NFI Trumps TOD
Transit oriented development (TOD) encourages the use of public transportation over car dependency by planning retail spaces and high density housing in close proximity to train stations and other forms of public transit. This can help grow the local economy and encourage people to get around car-free. TOD can help build community and reduce climate change.
The Camden County Dems, including Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Shin Angulo, are fond of touting environmental advances in the county but there’s an inherent tension between eco-centered land use and standard political machine operations. In 2018, the Cherry Hill Planning Board passed a redevelopment plan that envisioned transit oriented development in the space diagonally across from the Woodcrest PATCO station, land formerly owned by Victory Refrigeration. But as of this week, that has all changed.
Instead of the shops and offices originally planned for this space, the land will become a warehouse and distribution center owned by NFI Real Estate, a subsidiary of NFI Industries. Quoting Rena: “Naturally, because we live in Camden County, my first step was a Google search for a connection between the warehouse company identified by [reporter Jim Walsh], NFI, and South Jersey Democratic Boss George Norcross. *Bingo.* The first hit for [NFI George Norcross] shows that NFI and Norcross’s company, Conner Strong, are partners in the Triad building on the Camden Waterfront, and also partners in a nearby apartment building likewise supported by state funds. Norcross and his allies received tax breaks covering the entire cost of the new Triad building, which did not have to create any new jobs.”
NJ ELEC records as well as FEC reports show a long history of campaign donations between NFI CEO Sidney Brown and George Norcross’ brother, Donald Norcross, as well as the county party George Norcross runs, the Camden County Democratic Committee. Once again because Camden County is stuck in the past, in the bossism of the early twentieth century, innovation is often hamstrung by graft and pay to play politics. Cherry Hill residents will have another chance to be heard on this issue and are encouraged to reach out to town council before they pass an ordinance to revise the redevelopment plan.
The Norcross Nephew on the Cherry Hill Ballot
There are only a handful of fire commissioner elections happening on November 2 and one of them is in Cherry Hill. Under state law, municipalities can designate a fire district in their municipality and elect individuals to sit on the board of that fire district. In Cherry Hill, the compensation is about the same for a town council member and a fire district commissioner. Like town council members, fire commissioners oversee a budget and make decisions about funding for facilities, equipment, staff and professionals. The 2021 Cherry Hill Fire Commissioners Budget submitted to the NJ Department of Community Affairs’ Division of Local Government Services included $27 million in tax dollar appropriations.
Ryan Doran is one of the candidates running for Cherry Hill Fire Commissioner on November 2. Doran is a member of the Norcross family, the nephew of Donald Norcross. One of the concerns Rena Margulis has raised about Doran’s candidacy is his residency status. Doran is seemingly a newcomer to Cherry Hill, renting an apartment in town. He owned property elsewhere under very recently.
In addition to being a member of the extended Norcross family, Doran is a member of IBEW, one of the top donors to George Norcross’s closest ally, Steve Sweeney. Doran, at age 31, also holds multiple board positions countywide, on the Camden County Planning Board and Workforce Development Board. Consolidating decision making in the hands of as few people as possible is necessary for political machine operations. Filling decision making spaces with machine loyalists also undermines transparency, fair representation and the sort of innovation that can only occur where new voices, including the voices of question askers, are given space.
This election for a relatively obscure local office is most certainly below eye level for most. In 2014, the State Comptroller performed an audit on the fiscal and operating practices of NJ Fire Districts. Cherry Hill’s Fire District was included in that report. The report notes the incredibly low turnout in past elections, specifically that in 2012 “Cherry Hill…had a 1.6 percent voter turnout for an approximate $25 million budget.” I have written in the past that these under scrutinized repositories of tax dollars are places where the party boss works to insinuate himself, assured that mostly no one’s looking.
Camden County Essentials: Government Watchdogs & Citizen Journalists
But for all of this, the public can take some comfort in the fact that some people are in fact looking at how the machine operates on the ground level. Again, these discoveries have come to light via the vigilant watchdog work of Rena Margulis. Living in a political machine controlled county has made many good government advocates into detectives, hunting down how dollars are spent and how individuals end up in seats of power. SJ Advance is committed to being a space that gives voices to the work of those good government advocates who dig in where they live to try and make change.
