Gloucester Township mayor fends off grassroots challenger in race marked by feud over sewer system

Overshadowed by the election of a new governor, the race for mayor of Gloucester Township didn’t garner bold headlines across New Jersey this week.

But the win Tuesday by 15-year incumbent Democratic Mayor David Mayer over independent Keith Gibbons in the Camden County municipality put an end to a noteworthy and often acrimonious battle that began over local sewers last year.

After a grassroots mayoral campaign that appeared to have gained widespread support, Gibbons said in an interview Wednesday that the loss was “hard to understand.”

In 2024, Gibbons, who has served on the Gloucester Township school board for three years, spearheaded a campaign that defeated a ballot issue that would have sold Gloucester Township’s sewer system to New Jersey American Water, a private company that he believed would raise residents’ water bills.

Part of his strategy was to point out that Mayer, who is employed by the company, faced a conflict of interest in having the company run the sewer system. Mayer has said that it was untrue, and that he recused himself from any township business concerning the sewer sale.

During the referendum battle, New Jersey American Water launched an $800,000 campaign to acquire the sewer system.

Gibbons helmed a small but effective offensive that included a podcast and door-to-door canvassing with activists.

Buoyed by his David-besting-Goliath victory, Gibbons, a self-employed business owner and former Christmas tree farmer who once worked for Live Nation in Philadelphia, decided to run for mayor this election cycle in a race that frequently degenerated into insults and accusations.

On Tuesday, Mayer won the election overwhelmingly with 60% of the vote.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the trust the residents of Gloucester Township have placed in me and my administration through this reelection,” he said in a statement released Wednesday. “I remain dedicated to leading with ... an unwavering focus on enhancing the quality of life in every neighborhood of our township.”

On Wednesday, Gibbons was still coming to terms with a loss that he said surprised him.

“It’s the day after and I’m not in the finest spirits,” he said, adding the result left him somewhat confused: ”People in the township voted against selling the sewer system last year by 80%. But now they voted back into office all the people who wanted to sell it."

During the combat of the campaign, Mayer’s backers called Gibbons a “con artist” and said without evidence that Gibbons was supported by extremists who want to defund the police. Gibbons, who had once voted to have extra police protection in local schools, denied the accusation.

Gibbons, meanwhile, criticized Mayer for being part of the “South Jersey Democratic political machine that runs this town.” The Camden County Democratic Committee did not respond to a request for comment.

The conflict between Gibbons and the township began in 2023 when the local utility authority dissolved itself, giving control over the sewer system to the township council.

That concerned many of the township’s 66,000 people, who worried that their water bills would increase.

During sworn testimony during a teleconference before the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Local Finance Board in May 2023, Mayer and an attorney representing the township were asked whether the utility would be sold within the following five years, according to a transcript of the meeting.

“There is no current expectation to sell either portion [water or sewer] of the system,” the attorney said. Mayer agreed.

But within a year, the township was putting out bids to sell the sewer system, said Peggy Gallos, executive director of the Association of Environmental Authorities, a New Jersey trade association of governmental entities in charge of sewage, water, and solid waste.

In July 2024, New Jersey American Water and a company named Aqua bid, and New Jersey American Water won, only to see the referendum go down with Gibbons’ leadership.

Last month, Aqua’s parent company Essential Utilities, Inc. and New Jersey American Water’s parent company American Water announced a merger agreement, according to a statement from American Water.

Kate Delany, head of the South Jersey Progressive Democrats, which aided Gibbons’ campaign, said Wednesday that Gibbons was not helped by having his name listed in “Siberia” on the ballot — in a spot to the right of Mayer’s name, and not easily noticed.

She added that although Gibbons appeared to some people to have been an unlikely mayoral candidate, that wasn’t the case.

“This was not simply symbolic,” she said, “There was real hope that he could win. He just didn’t get there.”