Haddonfield Elections: Bezich, Troy, Roche Win

HADDONFIELD, NJ — One incumbent has been re-elected and two new members will join the Haddonfield Board of Commissioners, according to unofficial results posted by the borough clerk in Tuesday's non-partisan elections.

Colleen Bianco Bezich has been re-elected with 2,009 votes, according to the borough clerk's office. Frank Troy was second with 1,810 votes, followed by Kevin Roche with 1,795. There were three open seats on the borough's Board of Commissioners.

Jeff Kasko also ran for re-election, but he came in fifth with 990 votes. Adam Puff collected 1,436 votes to finish fourth. Mayor Neal Rochford opted not to run for re-election. Read more here: Haddonfield Mayor Neal Rochford Will Not Seek Re-election

Mark Rusc finished sixth in the eight-person field, with 920 votes. Daniel Zhang was next with 557, and Kathryn Raiczyk finished with 296 votes.

There were 39 mail-in ballots that have not yet been counted, but they will not impact the outcome of the election, Haddonfield Borough Clerk Deanna Bennett said. Of the 10,741 registered voters in Haddonfield, 6,980 cast ballots in Tuesday's election, according to borough and county officials.

Bezich was elected to the board in 2019 to fill an unexpired term. During her campaign, she said engaging professionals to best represent the people of Haddonfield was the most pressing issue facing the borough.

"In my first 17 months, I have already held firm in my commitment to employing a fair and open process for professional appointments, and I will maintain this position going forward," she said in her Patch profile. "I will continue to advocate for hiring experts in accordance with the Local Public Contracts Law, and holding them accountable once contracted. I believe we should develop an annual cycle for appointments (in some cases there may be lawful multi-year appointments) and continuously review performance by requiring regular reporting by these professionals in open public meetings, so as to further address and commit to transparency."

Troy, a member of the Zoning Board, told Patch a lack of resolution to the Bancroft property is costing Haddonfield taxpayers $500,000 a year and is standing in the way of the borough's progress on Open Space.

"I would work with my peers to set goals for completion, set timelines, and make results measurable. The resolution would require immediate negotiations with HERD, other Commissioners, and 2 Hopkins Lane (O'Neill) to finalize development," Troy said in his profile. "If this cannot be resolved, I would pursue other properties in the Borough for development that would meet the original intent of Bancroft."

Roche also said he would make solving the Bancroft situation a priority.

"My idea is to build age-restricted apartments on this location with a portion dedicated to Affordable Housing," Roche said in his profile. "These apartments will be rentals and not sales. The Borough will act as a co-investor and exchange the land for a stake in the overall project. Haddonfield will still receive revenue from the taxes, but being an investor, it will receive a portion of the rental income for the long term. This action resolves Bancroft, works towards our affordable housing requirement and provides additional revenue to the Borough to help address other issues around the community."

Click on the names to read Patch's profile for each candidate:

• Frank Troy
• Kathryn Raiczyk
• Colleen Bianco Bezich
• Jeff Kasko
• Kevin Roche
• Adam Puff
• Daniel Zhang
• Mark Rusc

Voting in spring elections took place in-person after it was held primarily by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Haddonfield's voters will return to the polls in November to vote in local school board elections, as well as the governor's race, statehouse races and county races. Primary Day for partisan elections is June 8, and the general partisan and school board elections will take place on Nov. 2.