Goucester Township Mayor-Elect, Dave Mayer, talks with a campaign supporter during his victory celebration on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday night at 9:45 pm inside a dimly lit packed ballroom located inside the Valleybrook Country Club in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, supporters eagerly awaited the arrival of the newly elected Mayor of Gloucester Township. A cover band named Retro Junk loudly played a cover of the Cars My Best Friend’s Girl in the corner of the ballroom while energized campaign helpers celebrated the achievements of the campaign. Just moments ago, campaign staff announced the victory of Democratic mayoral candidate and former assemblyman, David R. Mayer, over Republican incumbent, Cindy Rau-Hatton. Mr. Mayer arrived at 10:00 pm to a crowd of cheering applause to make his acceptance speech. The Cross Keys Scene interviewed Mayor-Elect, Mayer, following his victory on Tuesday night about his plans for the Cross Keys Road corridor.
Q. Part of what you ran on during your campaign dealt with economic development. How much of your plan is tied to the Cross Keys Road corridor?
A. Well certainly the southern part of our town is really the hub of economic development. It’s the fastest growing part of our community, because it has the most available land. If you look at the Nike Base ,which is owned by the town now. We purchased that in 2003. That is key to economic development. Once the economy starts coming back I think we will have many folks that are interested in developing that land for commercial purposes. Moving forward, Cross Keys Road is not only a growing section population wise, but also in terms of potential as far as available land.
Commercial Property
Solar Energy
Q. What are some of the specific things you would you like to see be done with Cross Keys Road?
A. I think that we should build commercial properties along the corridor. You have a lot of rooftops not only in our town but also in Winslow Township that would feed into commercial property there.
A. I would envision commercial property or development along Cross Keys Road along with a combination of solar energy. By that I mean the back portion of the Nike Base that is next to the Lilly Elementary School. I think that we should take the back half of the Nike Base and look at developing a solar panel field that would work in concert with some of the other areas in our town.
Q. Another issue that you ran on during your campaign dealt with the Army training facility on Cross Keys and Kearsley roads. What is your position on that?
A. I am against that facility going on Cross Keys Road at the location that they chose. We have Camden County College, Lakeland, and the County Vocational School in our town, and we welcome them. However, they do not pay taxes. To have the federal government come in and take another parcel of property along Cross Keys Road that is a non rateable is not the best economic plan for our community, especially when there is available land at Lakeland and the Vocational School.
Q. When do you think that the Army will come to a decision on the location of the facility?
A. My opinion is that they have already made a decision. The manner in which the Army conducted its analysis was flawed. Under the Base Closure and Relocation Law, the Army is required to do an alternative analysis on two sites. The Army chose Gloucester and Winslow Townships. However, the Army’s analysis was flawed because they did not realize that Winslow Township has a sewer moratorium in place. To me, this is not a viable location because Winslow does not have sewer capacity for that parcel of land. This is another example of government tripping over itself to make another mistake. I will do my best to stop it, but I think that the Army has already made a decision.
Shared Services
Better Communication
Q. Considering that Gloucester Township shares opposite sides of the street with Winslow Township, how do you plan to work with Winslow on economic development?
A. Part of the problem with government is that we tend to only look as far as our boundaries are concerned. That does not foster good planning. Because of a lack of water or sewer, Winslow will not be able to develop land along the corridor for at least two or three years. What we have to do is tear down the geographic barriers and communicate better planning between the two townships’ planning boards and government bodies.
A. We should also be talking to Winslow about shared services. Whether it is sharing our resources for public works, sharing courts, or sharing purchasing, I think that is a real direction forward.
Q. Finally, how do you plan on fixing the police shortage of manpower as the corridor grows?
A. Part of the problem with police is that they are expensive for the taxpayers because of the benefits and their salaries. It’s part of their job and it’s a very difficult job. What we can not do is keep going back to the taxpayers and asking them to pay more. Our position has been during the campaign and will be is that we will use the revenue generated from what we call the “red-light cameras.” The State of New Jersey already approved “red-light cameras,” similarly to what they have in Philadelphia. The cameras would take pictures of people going through red lights. We already have sixteen cameras approved for traffic lights on Blackwood-Clementon Road. We would use the revenue generated by the cameras solely for hiring additional police officers. This would take the burden off of the taxpayers to hire more police officers.
Thank you so much for your time Mr. Mayer, considering how busy you are and congratulations on your victory.
Thank you. I appreciate it very much.
In this video from Dave Mayer’s official Youtube campaign web page, Mr. Mayer talks about his background and campaign.
[...] and Winslow Townships, New Jersey. One of the highlights from this site included a Nov. 7 interview with Gloucester Township Mayor-Elect, Dave Mayer. Mayer explained his plans for furthering [...]