A contentious race for Gloucester Twp. mayor

Gloucester Township Mayor Cindy Rau-Hatton and her Democratic opponent, Dave Mayer, have been trading jabs and counterpunches all fall in one of the region's most expensive and contentious local races.

Mayer, a former assemblyman, is spending about $100,000 promoting a green energy and quality-of-life agenda, and criticizing Rau-Hatton's budgeting and handling of a proposed military base relocation.

"The cost of government is out of control," Mayer said. "We need to look for ways to reduce the burden placed on the taxpayer."

Rau-Hatton, the town's first Republican mayor in decades, stands by her three-year record, pointing to new development along Berlin-Cross Keys Road and proposals for solar energy at the long-closed GEMS landfill. She has been endorsed by the New Jersey Environmental Federation.

"You have to wonder why they're spending so much money for a $52,000-a-year job," said Rau-Hatton, who expects her campaign to cost about $50,000.

Just after Rau-Hatton was elected in 2006, the town switched from nonpartisan May voting to partisan November elections - a decision Rau-Hatton opposed.

"Locally, it's all issues that affect quality of life. A pothole isn't Republican or Democrat," she said.

Rau-Hatton said she had been at odds with the Democratic-dominated council her entire term, including with two of Mayer's running mates, Dan Hutchison and Frank Schmidt. Michelle Gentek, a former small-business owner, also is on Mayer's slate.

Rau-Hatton is running with Republican Councilwoman Shelley Lovett, former Councilwoman Maureen McLaughlin, and former school board member John Custodio.

"I propose a budget, but council votes on the budget, not me," Rau-Hatton said.

Mayer, 42, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.) and former County Clerk James Beach, served 10 months on the Town Council in 2002. He resigned to run for the state Assembly, winning his first term in 2003. He declined to seek reelection in 2007 to spend more time with his children, now ages 13 and 10.

Being mayor would be different, said Mayer, now a lobbyist for Comcast Corp. He would serve only one town, instead of 10 in the legislative district, and run for reelection less frequently. Plus, his decisions would directly affect his family, which has lived in Gloucester Township for 17 years.

"I would be here. It's local," he said.

Rau-Hatton, 52, taught music for 20 years before becoming mayor full-time. She has lived in town for 48 years.

The one issue both candidates agree on is that the 24-square-mile township needs to cement its identity. Sections such as Blackwood and Sicklerville confuse visitors and prospective businesses.

"We need to do a better job branding," Mayer said. "With 70,000 people now, Gloucester Township is a great business opportunity."

In the countywide races, three incumbent Democrats are running against GOP committee members for freeholder in a lackluster race.

GOP challengers Carl Canfield of Berlin, Anthony Casa of Cherry Hill, and Nick Kush of Runnemede have received little help from the Republican Party, said Kush, 64. They are mentioned on the party's county Web site but have no link of their own. They have raised almost no money and have done little campaigning.

Kush printed his own "Push for Kush" fliers and delivers them to area hoagie shops and fellow members of the Original Garden State Corvette Club.

"I work with my hands; I don't sit on them," he said. "I want to get out and talk to the people, put up a Web site, go to the County Store once a month. You never see these freeholders."

Casa and Canfield did not return calls for comment.

As a retiree now working as an elementary school janitor, Kush said he could relate to voters' economic challenges.

"I'm one of them. I thought maybe I could make a difference," he said. "I'm actually running against a guy I like: Jeff Nash."

Democrat Nash, 51, a lawyer with Cozen O'Connor in Cherry Hill, is seeking his seventh freeholder term. He also is vice chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority.

"More so than ever before in all my years, people are losing jobs, people are losing health care," he said.

With the economy looming large, he and running mate Rodney Greco, 59, who is seeking his second term, campaign on Camden County's flat property-tax rate, they said.

"We have done things that reduced spending, such as a large consolidation-of-services program," Nash said. "We urged school boards, municipalities, and fire districts to do the same."

Teachers viewed the freeholders' request for savings "as an attack on their contracts," sparking controversy last year, Nash said.

"Voters are talking about taxes, taxes, taxes," Greco said. "Even though taxes have gone up, they don't see that the portion of the tax bill that we're responsible for has gone down."

Greco is an administrator for Gloucester Township public schools. He previously served on the town's council and school board.

As the freeholder supervising public safety, Greco is grappling with the overcrowded county jail, the target of recent reports recommending expansion and privatization.

"How we approach that challenge in the future is the responsibility of the freeholder board," he said.

The third Democrat, Ian Leonard, 32, of Camden, pledged to continue the tradition of constituent service he learned while working for Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. for 10 years.

"A lot of people think government is corrupt," said Leonard, Roberts' chief of staff. "Joe's motto was: No one leaves [the district office] without their question answered. A lot of people saw the better side of government that way."

Leonard, who is running for his first full term, said he would push for more shared services and seek successful models of regionalization, as in Maryland.

In January, when Roberts retires from the Assembly, he will become the statewide political director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He also will continue to serve in the Air National Guard with the 177th Fighter Wing out of Pomona.

Leonard joined the board in June when Joseph Ripa resigned to become county clerk. Ripa, a retired transit union president, is running for a full term against Republican Scott A. Moran, a software engineer.