Princeton merger yields tax decrease

WHYY report on the results of the Princeton Merger:

Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial: A town is forever a town, no matter how small

An Editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer today makes crystal clear how the resistance of politicians in Cherry Hill and Merchantville to a Consolidation Study represents everything that is wrong with the State of New Jersey

Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial: A town is forever a town, no matter how small

Let your Mayors know you want to see the results of a Study. Tell them to stop blocking this.

Inquirer Article summarizes status of Study Commission

Kevin Riordan writing for the Inquirer has made a thorough summary of the status of the Study Commission:

Kevin Riordan: Cherry Hill, Merchantville merger called off

The title is actually an element of criticism, in that Riordan expresses that the Merger has been called off by those who have no place calling it off. Circumstances have put opponents of a merger in a position to block the progress of a Study, preventing us from even discovering whether or not a merger would be beneficial. A terrible violation of public trust. Riordan describes it as:

Whether to proceed with something as momentous as a municipal merger is a decision best made by the voters of both communities.

Not merely, with all due respect, by one mayor. Or two.

July 17th meeting is ON

The commission has indicated that the meeting for the 17th of July is on, 7:30pm at the Community Center.

June 5th Commission Meeting canceled

The Commission has announced that the May 1st Meeting has been canceled while the letting of the RFP continues to be worked on.

Apparently what is happening is the new Cherry Hill administration has refused to be the fiscal agent for the RFP and consultant contract claiming concerns about liability. To our knowledge the liability surrounding this RFP is no greater than the other numerous contracts let by either township, so we must conclude that this is an excuse to block the Consoidation Study by political interests. This is a clear thwart of the legal Consolidation Study process which is underway, and reflects poorly on all the politicians involved.

Stay tuned for developments.

May 1st Commission Meeting canceled

The Commission has announced that the May 1st Meeting has been canceled while the letting of the RFP continues to be worked on.

Chad Goerner, mayor of Princeton Township writes about the Consolidation of the Princetons

In the NJ Star Ledger Chad Goerner, mayor of Princeton Township, writes about the Consolidation of the Princetons:

Princeton Township Mayor: Municipal consolidation will pay off

Video of March 6th, 2012 Commission Meeting

The video of the Commission meeting is broken into 10minute segments. This Link gives you an index of all of the videos from this meeting, and will play them for you in sequence:

Meeting videos

This meeting was short and there are only two segments. Here is the first one:

March 2012 Commission Meeting Reminder

The Merchantville / Cherry Hill Consolidation Study Commission will hold a public meeting on March 6, 2012. The Meeting will be held in the Merchantville Community Center located at the intersection of Somerset Avenue and Greenleigh Court, Merchantville New Jersey. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Video of January 17th, 2012 Commission Meeting

The video of the Commission meeting is broken into 10minute segments. Follow the link to the Merchantville Voices YouTube Channel and they will be listed in sequence, and numbered in the title.

South Jersey Sun provides detailed report of Jan 2012 Commission Meeting

The Merchantville-Cherry Hill Consolidation Commission regrouped last week at the Merchantville Community Center to begin the process of seeking out a consultant to study a possible municipal merge between the two neighboring communities...

read more:
Residents regroup, discuss merger

NJ Today news program covers Merchantville Study

The reporting on the Merchantville & Cherry Hill Consolidation Study begins at 16:30. You can move the progress slider to that time register if you don't wish to watch the entire program.

January 2012 Commission Meeting Reminder

Message posted by the Commission:

The Merchantville / Cherry Hill Consolidation Study Commission will hold a public meeting on January 17, 2012. The Meeting will be held in the Merchantville Community Center located at the intersection of Somerset Avenue and Greenleigh Court, Merchantville New Jersey. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Study Consultant Proposals due 20Dec11

information from Courier Post Article here:

Ad for merge consultant gets just three responses

Fact Checking:
The RFP was first advertised on 18Nov, with a due date of 20Dec. The article published on 1Dec characterizes the 3 responses 2 weeks into the proposal period as "light", while 3 weeks remain for responses.

Inquirer reports on 6Dec11 Commission Meeting

Kevin Riordan: In Merchantville, mixed emotions about a merger

Fact Checking:
The reporter has misidentified the Merchantville Borough website in the article. He states:

Consider the borough website, where consolidation news appears under a graphic that splices the two towns' logos in a way that seems to suggest mash-up, rather than merger.

He is referring to a town news website owned and operated by the former Mayor Brennan's wife, a site which has consistently voiced opposition to the merger and misreported facts. Because of the vested interest that the owners of that site have in the town merger failing, information posted to the site is unreliable.

The Merchantville Borough web site is Merchantville.gov.

Video of December 6th, 2011 Commission Meeting

The video of the Commission meeting is broken into 10minute segments. Follow the link to the Merchantville Voices YouTube Channel and they will be listed in sequence, and numbered in the title.

Commission Meeting brief

The first meeting of the Commission took place on 6 December 2011. This meeting was primarily an organizational meeting and included the swearing in of Commissioners, election of chair and vice chair, establishment of sub-committees, and a proposed schedule.

Preliminary Commission Meeting Schedule Proposed:
17 Jan 12
7 Feb 12
6 Mar 12
3 Apr 12
1 May 12
5 Jun 12
17 Jul 12
7 Aug 12

There was a brief period of Public questions with people from both Cherry Hill and Merchantville speaking. A video of the meeting of the Commission on 6 December 2011 was made, and will be posted. We'll put a link up when its known.

Meeting Notes:

Neither the Merchantville Mayor nor any of the outspoken Councilmen attended the meeting.

Courier Post Editorial: Merchantville and Cherry Hill shouldn't be alone in exploring consolidation

For taxpayers, study mergers

WHERE WE STAND:Merchantville and Cherry Hill shouldn't be alone in exploring consolidation.

New Jersey has too much government, and consolidation of some of the hundreds of separate municipal governments, school districts, fire districts and other taxing bodies is logical.

After all, New Jerseyans pay the highest property taxes in the nation because of our overabundance of local government.

So it is good that there are towns willing to study what a merger with a neighbor might look like financially. Yesterday was the first scheduled meeting of a panel of Merchantville and Cherry Hill residents tasked with weighing how much savings, if any, there could be from combining the small borough and the large township next door.

Read the entire article

Budgetary struggles force consideration of municipality and service consolidations

Could consolidation among some of New Jersey’s 566 municipalities bring taxpayer relief? Budgetary struggles statewide are leading citizens and elected officials to wonder.

Read the entire article at NJ.com

First Study Commission meeting set for 18 Oct. - rescheduled to 6 Dec.

The first Study Commission meeting has been set for December 6th at 7:30pm at the Merchantville Community Center. The Commission meeting is an organization meeting.