Commissioners Reschedule Meeting Conflict with BOE Candidate Debate

The Haddonfield Board of Commissioners on Wednesday announced it had rescheduled a special meeting on Oct. 21 to avoid a conflict with a school board candidates debate.

The meeting was rescheduled for Nov. 14. and will focus on a plan that would allow the municipality to pool energy usage of all its residents to obtain lower electricity rates than would be available on an individual basis for residents. Details of the plan will be discussed then.

The commissioners announced the special meeting last week. The only planned debate of at least five school board candidates had previously been scheduled for the same date. The debate will go forward at 7 p.m. next Monday at the Middle School auditorium on Lincoln Avenue.

Commissioner Jeff Kasko, the mayor, said this week that he was "very concerned" about the conflict. He and commissioners John Moscatelli and Neal Rochford agreed Tuesday to reschedule their special meeting.

The candidates invited to the debate are: Matthew Jeremy Bass, Carlton Chin, Mary Fagan, Amy Keys Shaw and Dave Siedell. Three seats on the nine-member board are open because incumbents Joe Ehrhardt, Cheryl Laney and Steve Weinstein decided not to run for reelection. 

The board's unsuccessful $12.5 million referendum to buy the Bancroft property adjacent to the high school was defeated by voters in January. The installation of artificial turf on the high school football stadium and an adjacent practice field also faced some public opposition, even though $600,000 of the just over $1 million cost for the project was provided through private donations from residents. These issues may have led to the crowed field of candidates this year. Eight announced candidacies in June before three dropped out.

By contrast, Maureen Eyles, Andrew Berlin and Dennis Kelleher ran unopposed last fall.

Bancroft and the turf-field issue may have also had an effect on the borough commissioners race in May. Six candidates vied for three seats in that contest resulting in two new members on the three-member Board of Commissioners.