Unofficial results: Cherry Hill ACT team on top in Cherry Hill BOE election
With only late mail-in ballots and provisional ballots left to count, Sally Tong, Laurie Neary and David Rossi appear to be victorious in Tuesday’s election.
It appears three new faces will be a part of the Cherry Hill Board of Education in 2019 as a trio of newcomers come out on top in Tuesday’s election.
According to preliminary results from the Camden County Board of Elections, the team of Sally Tong, Laurie Neary and David Rossi, running under the slogan, “Accountability, Collaboration, Transparency,” won the three open seats on the board of education. They defeated eight opponents for the seats, including the three incumbents, J. Barry Dickinson, Ken Tomlinson Jr. and Kathy Judge. If confirmed as the winners, Tong, Neary and Rossi will begin their three-year terms in January.
The unofficial results have Tong in first place with 8,312 votes. Rossi finished in second place with 7,201 votes, and Neary took third place with 6,786 votes. Neary finished nearly 400 votes ahead of incumbent Kathy Judge, who took fourth place with 6,398 votes. The results did not include provisional ballots and remain unofficial until certified by the Camden County Board of Elections.
The day following the election, Tong, Neary and Rossi issued a statement thanking their fellow candidates and the voters.
“Sally Tong, Laurie Neary and David Rossi thank all of the candidates for a great race,” the statement read. “The collective passion expressed by the community at large gives us encouragement that Cherry Hill will indeed remain a great district. Many important issues were discussed publicly and now many long hours and decisions lay ahead regarding these topics.
“We are thankful to the voters for the opportunity and honor to serve on the Board of Education,” the statement continued. “As we campaigned, ACT for BOE is committed to fostering accountability, collaboration, transparency, a supportive school climate and improved facilities and security. We look forward to working with all stakeholders in our community on the many important issues ahead.”
This was the second straight year Tong ran for the board of education. Last year, she finished in fourth place, but felt she gathered a lot of support from the community and saw that support carry over into 2018.
“I ran last year, so (the community) was very supportive of me and working together,” Tong said.
After running as an individual last year, Tong said running on a slate with Neary and Rossi allowed her to team with two people who had the same goals and beliefs. Tong hopes the board can come together to make sure critical decisions are made with input from all stakeholders.
After having more than 7,000 people vote for him at the polls Tuesday, Rossi said he felt privileged to have so many voters choose him as a representative on the board.
“It’s important to me that people went to the polls and they voted for me — which is one of the most sacred things people have — and they put their trust in me with making decisions with what goes on in the school district,” he said.
Neary sensed her team had support from the community during the campaign process, saying they spent months reaching out to all stakeholders in the community to discuss issues in the district.
“I think the community was very excited,” Neary said. “They were very interested and engaged and wanted to be part of the process.”
Neary added she was surprised to see the results, saying you never know how the community truly feels until the votes are tallied. However, she feels she and her running mates had success because the community was ready to see a change on the board.
“I think timing is everything,” Neary said. “I think the community was just ready to look at things differently.”
Judge and her running mates, incumbents J. Barry Dickinson and Ken Tomlinson Jr., were unable to secure re-election. Tomlinson finished in fifth place with 5,141 votes and Dickinson finished in eighth place with 4,686 votes.
Judge, a BOE member since 2008, said seeing the results come in was very difficult.
“I’m really disappointed,” Judge said. “It’s been an honor to represent Cherry Hill for the last 10 years. I was looking forward to serving for three more.”
Dickinson lost re-election after serving two terms on the board and the last two years as board president. Tomlinson fell short after serving one term on the board.
“I’m disappointed I don’t get to serve my community for the next three years, but I am keeping my options open for the future,” Tomlinson said in an email.
“I feel honored to have served on the board for the last six years,” Dickinson said in an email. “I wish the new board members, the existing board members, and the district nothing but the best in the coming years.”
Challengers Rosy Arroyo and Ben Shore were the only candidates not running with a team this election. They both finished in the middle of the pack. Arroyo took sixth place with 4,949 votes and Shore finished in ninth with 4,520 votes.
Arroyo said she ran because she felt it was the right time to give back to the district as a resource and was excited to see the amount of support the community had toward her campaign.
“The best part of this experience was seeing the amount of support our neighbors and families had in wanting to make difference in the school district,” Arroyo said in an email. “Discussions were engaging, and I believe every candidate had the best interest of our children and youth in mind. Having had an opportunity to be a part of that is amazing.”
Arroyo said she plans to continue to support the youth and parents by being able to make them “true stakeholders” in the community and vowed to “always be a resource and support for our families.”
Shore also was happy with the way the election turned out, even though he came short of winning.
“If I didn’t win, I would have said, at the beginning of the race, I would have wanted Rossi (and his team) to win,” Shore said.
Shore believes even though he lost the election, he won by raising awareness about numerous issues in the school district.
Shore also said he would definitely consider running for the board again in the future, noting one of the winners, Tong, ran for BOE for this first time in 2017 and lost, but came back this year and finished in first place.
“Maybe I can be like Sally Tong and come in first place next time,” Shore said.
The “Kids Education First” team of Sanjay Sharma, Fredrick Dande and Brunia Pilet struggled to earn votes in Tuesday’s race. Sharma took seventh place with 4,816 votes, while Dande and Pilet were the two lowest finishers, with Dande earning 3,407 votes in 10th place and Pilet 2,754 votes in 11th place.
Dande said he was happy to see three new people elected to the board, stating the district was in need of change
“I am for change, for people looking at things differently,” Dande said. “It doesn’t have to be me.”
Dande added this election was different with candidates being able to run as teams and being placed on the same bracket on the ballot, saying it made it easier the candidates running against the incumbents to unite.
When asked what he’d like to see out of the board moving forward, Dande believes the board needs to do a better job at working with all of the stakeholders in the district.
“The board is there to work with the community,” he said.
Dande’s running mates, Sharma and Pilet, could not be reached for comment.
