From The Press of Atlantic City — Control of the Township Committee in 2009 hinges on the lone race in November: Democratic incumbent William Kennedy against Republican Joseph Maultz.

The five-member committee includes two Democrats, Bernard Graebener and Michael St. Amour, and two Republicans, Kathy Chasey and Janet Forman, who are not up for election this year.

Kennedy is this year’s mayor, elected by his committee colleagues, not the voters. Though his party holds a majority, Kennedy has occasionally voted with Chasey and Forman against Graebener and St. Amour. Most recently, he and the Republicans approved the auction of land adjacent to property owned by Police Chief Joseph Barbera, over the other Democrats’ objections.

Nonetheless, Kennedy and Maultz disagree on the township’s usual hot-button issue: development.

“We’re going to be very diligent in exploring new ways of increasing ratables and increasing our tax base, something the Democrats have done very, very little,” said Maultz, who has owned a retail music business on the boundary of Hammonton and Mullica Township for 15 years. “These are trying times now, and in the next few years, by the writing on the wall, it’s apparent that things will be getting worse.”

“We have to try to keep it down to a certain point, to keep Mullica pretty much rural, which we’re mandated to do,” Kennedy said. “The Pinelands Commission mandates much of what we do. We want to grow, but we want to grow at a slow pace. We’ve seen the towns around us (Hamilton and Galloway townships) explode in growth, and they haven’t really gotten much out of it.”

William Kennedy
Age: 63
Democrat
Occupation: Retired truck driver
Number of years a resident: 37
Election experience: Three years on Township Committee, six years on the school board
Major issue: Controlling growth

Joseph Maultz
Age: 43
Republican
Occupation: Owns Hammonton Music Center on the White Horse Pike
Number of years a resident: One
Election experience: none
Major issue: Easing the tax burden on residents