By AUBRIE GEORGE
Randy Brown will serve a second, four-year term as mayor of Evesham while Councilwoman Deb Hackman and newcomer Steve Zeuli will serve terms on Council after all three won the township’s first-ever general election last Tuesday.
Brown defeated former councilman Mike Schmidt who was running for mayor as a Democrat. Brown walked away with 7,431 votes Tuesday, while Schmidt brought in 6,359 votes, according to unofficial results released by the county.
“Winning the first-ever November election in our township for mayor is a very humbling experience,” Brown said. “I just want to get the message out to thank the voters of our community who’ve entrusted me with another four-year term.”
Brown said his win is likely a testament that residents are pleased with the direction the township has been going in under the current Council’s leadership.
“To win by the margin I won by shows that our message of flat taxes, community projects, community involvement, such as the parade, and green energy projects — that message really resonated with our community, and we’re going to continue on the same path we’ve already created.”
He said he’ll go into his second term with a goal of creating more shared service projects, exploring green energy options, and improving recreational facilities. In addition, he said, he’ll also focus on bringing in new revenues.
Hackman received 7,409 votes and Zeuli received 7,573 votes. Democrat Mark Ornstein received 5,999 on Tuesday and his running mate Kathleen Santomero brought in 6,153.
Zeuli said he was proud of Evesham residents for producing a record turnout, about 14,000, at the polls this year.
He said his top priority on Council will be to reduce spending.
“I think that the easiest and quickest thing to explore is shared services. That’s going to be my focus, to see what we can offer to other towns and what other towns can offer to us,” Zeuli said.
Hackman, who has been serving the remainder of former councilman Chris Brown’s term, said her top priorities will be continuing to “tighten the belt” when it comes to the township’s finances.
“This next year, the budget is going to present a challenge again,” Hackman said. “I think we need to be as proactive as possible and look at ways, regardless of where it is in the budget, we need to look at ways we can do things better and save money for the township.”
She said she would also like to continue to grow the township’s youth advisory commission.
“I think we need to be more proactive in nurturing our young people so that when we’re long gone, there is a group of people able to step up to the plate and continue that leadership,” Hackman said.
As for the results of the election, Hackman said they didn’t surprise her.
“From my standpoint, over the last year-and-a-half, I said what I was going to do and I did that. I think the people of Evesham wanted us to continue to do just that,” she said.
Brown, Hackman and Zeuli will join Deputy Mayor Joe Howarth and Councilman Kurt Croft on Council.
Current Councilman John McKenna, whose term is expiring this year, did not seek reelection.
The three members will be sworn into their new terms during the township’s January reorganization meeting.
