Haddonfield Business District Coordinator Stepping Down

Lisa Hurd, the part-time retail coordinator of the borough business district, the Partnership for Haddonfield, announced her resignation Wednesday.

Hurd has accepted a similar, full-time, position at Peddler's Village, a 70-store business development in Bucks County, PA.

Hurd has been the public face of the PfH for the past eight years as the retail coordinator. She is one of three part-time employees of the PfH and draws the highest salary of nearly $45,000 yearly.

Her job was to recruit businesses to Haddonfield, mostly on the main business corridors of Kings Highway and Haddon Avenue. She drew praise and scorn during her nearly decade-long run.

Mayor Tish Colombi praised Hurd Wednesday, choking back emotion as she stood at a lecturn during the 8:30 a.m. monthly PfH meeting at the Municipal Hall.

"Lisa was born and raised here, went to school here," Colombi said. "There could not have been a more perfect person for this job."

But not everyone agreed.

Hurd came under fire in July from Steve Duross, co-owner of a soap and home products shop on Kings Highway. Duross leveled Hurd with withering criticism.

“Looking at our attempt to welcome the LGBT community as only a 'shopping and dining' event is a particularly craven way of viewing our motives,” Duross wrote in a Haddonfield Patch comment box on July 20. “Shame on you Lisa. This is why so many of us merchants are deeply troubled by the Partnership for Haddonfield and their approach to our businesses.”

Duross closed his store on Christmas Eve, less than a year after it opened. Privately, several other merchants on Kings Highway said Duross voiced similar concerns they had about the PfH and Hurd. The complaints centered around what they were getting for the business tax imposed on them to fund the PfH and how much foot traffic is generated by business-district promotions.

Hurd, on Wednesday, defended her record.

"I'm very proud of my accomplishments the last eight years," she said. "We have a 95-percent occupancy rate in one of the worst economies since the great depression."

Hurd's last day with the PfH will be in mid-January.