Author: sbambino

For Mayor Dave Fleisher, 2024 was a successful and productive inaugural year in office. In a recent interview with The Sun, he reflected on Cherry Hill’s biggest accomplishments over the past 12 months, as well as his primary goals for 2025. 

When asked about the township’s greatest achievement of last year, Fleisher didn’t hesitate to name the return of Independence Day fireworks on July 3.

“(It) was important because we needed to reinvigorate a sense of pride in the community,” he recalled. “It’s been over a decade since we had it, and the residents exceeded my expectations with their interest. There were over 6,000 people. It’s rare, if I’m out and about in the community, that I’m not stopped and people express gratitude and excitement for next year’s (fireworks). 

“The entire township team, police, recreation, public works – we started working on that my first day in office,” Fleisher added. “Everyone delivered professionally.”

Now, with the new year well underway, Fleisher has a number of initiatives planned. A primary focus will be the newly launched mayor’s wellness campaign, which kicked off Jan. 29 with a 1-mile indoor walk at Cherry Hill Mall led by Fleisher and his wife, Jen. 

More than 100 residents of all ages participated in the kickoff and took the mayor’s wellness campaign pledge, promising to exercise at least three times a week for 30 minutes; increase consumption of fruits and vegetables; drink more water and limit junk foods; and consult with a doctor to understand their weight, BMI, cholesterol and blood pressure. 

“This really is an opportunity to bring residents together to promote healthier lifestyles,” Fleisher noted. 

The walks will be held monthly, with Jefferson Health serving as the primary sponsor of the wellness campaign. 

Another major area of focus for Fleisher is public safety, which he’s working on with the township’s new Police Chief, John Ostermueller. 

“He has really hit the ground running, everything from addressing speeding in the neighborhoods through our Slow Down in Our Town initiative to assessments and increased investments in technology,” Fleisher said of Ostermueller. “Under his new leadership, I expect us to really move public safety forward in 2025.”

The Slow Down in Our Town initiative, launched last June, focuses on the three Es – enforcement, education and engineering – to holistically address the issue of speeding in the township. Since it began, there have been 7,124 motor vehicle stops; of those, 4,963 traffic citations were issued. The stops are opportunities for officers to educate drivers on the dangers of driving too fast. 

The initiative has also included various traffic calming measures, such as painting crosswalks to improve pedestrian safety, especially near neighborhood schools. More than 40 “slow 25” markers were painted on high-traffic streets to serve as a visible reminder for motorists to watch their speeds, with more locations coming soon. And Slow Down in Our Town mobilized temporary digital speed signs on neighborhood roads as further warnings for drivers.

Throughout 2025, Fleisher shared, 75 of the township’s 300 miles of municipal roads will be paved. ADA improvements are also on the schedule to increase access. 

Regarding open space, all 50 township parks will continue to receive regular maintenance. The final stages of planning are also underway for three major parks in the neighborhoods of Kingston, Surrey Place East and Brookfield. Residents in those areas got the chance to give feedback on the respective designs. As part of the commitment to “keeping Cherry Hill green,” a number of trees will be planted across the township. 

Also this year, Fleisher is bringing back Student Government Day, which hasn’t taken place since before 2020. Students from the two high schools will learn about local government and, at the end of the day, participate in a mock council meeting. 

“It’s often very enlightening because many times, there’s both issues and solutions that come out of that Student Government Day that we are able to implement in real life,” Fleisher reported.

So far, 2025 is shaping up to be a good one for Cherry Hill. Fleisher is excited about what’s to come, and he hopes that the residents are, too.

“Cherry Hill is on the move,” he emphasized. “We continue to have strong neighborhoods, outstanding community groups, everything from our houses of worship, our swim clubs, our youth rec programs. And Cherry Hill remains a place where people want to do business.

“It’s a matter of balancing all three to ensure that Cherry Hill remains a great place to live, work and raise a family,” Fleisher added. “That is my and council’s top priority every morning when we wake up.” 

The Cherry Hill board of education has unanimously approved its first governance committee.

Chaired by Kimberly Gallagher, the panel’s key goal is to ensure that all nine volunteer board members are on the same page about their duties. 

“It’s a committee that essentially monitors and manages the board,” Gallagher explained. “So training, roles, responsibilities, making sure evaluations are done on time, compliance and other things – but those are the bigger items.” 

The first order of business, she announced, will be to create official job descriptions – with guidance from the New Jersey School Boards Association – for the board, committee members, the vice president and president.

“If we don’t know what we do, we can’t really go forward, right?” Gallagher noted. “And everybody will have input (on drafting the descriptions),” she added, while acknowledging she didn’t understand the full scope of being a board member until she was elected.

Official job descriptions will help the public better understand what board members can and cannot do, Gallagher believes. 

“On occasion, friends will come to me and say, ‘Oh, I’m having this issue, can’t you do something?,’” she noted. “And I’m like, ‘No, I can’t.’ So it might be nice to have something where we can point people to.”

Members of the governance committee will rotate depending on a number of factors, including interest levels and expertise on the topics at hand. The first meeting is slated to be held this month on a day to be determined. 

“I’m glad that you’re doing this and I’m glad you’re enthusiastic about it because what you described, I think, is gonna be really useful,” observed board member Kurt Braddock.

“It’s a lot,” added Miriam Stern, another board member. “It’s a lot of organizing and tracking and ensuring compliance for nine volunteers who all have very different competing needs, but it will be incredibly beneficial to the board and to the success of the board. If the board is successful, it can only support the success of the district and, ultimately, the students who we’re here for.” 

In other news, Superintendent Dr. Kwame Morton briefly addressed how President Trump’s newly signed executive orders may impact the district, including “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” which would essentially eliminate DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) practices in the schools. 

That executive order calls on the federal departments of education, defense and Health and Human Services, in consultation with the attorney general, to recommend a strategy for “eliminating federal funding or support for illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.” 

“We have received many questions surrounding the executive orders recently signed by the president, and things are changing rapidly,” Morton pointed out. “At this time, we do not have complete information as a district. I’m monitoring developments and we’re following guidance that is provided by the New Jersey Department of Education.

“As information becomes available, we’ll continue to keep the community informed.” 

Some Smart Goals at the high schools this academic year include hiring and retaining staff for a diverse workforce that reflects and promotes DEI practices, and establishing an environment where every student feels safe; welcomed; and respected, and benefits from an inclusive culture.