Saturday, December 31, 2005

COURIER-POST WRITES ABOUT MAYOR METZNER

Courier-Post newspaper publishes a human interest story about Mayor Metzner.

...She has gained popularity in the community, a status reflected in the turnout of nearly 200 people in August at a bipartisan dinner honoring her.

"She is one of the most remarkable people I have ever met," said dinner organizer Gordon Sunkett, Winslow's recreation director. " "Honorable' is the best word to describe her."

Sunkett, a Democrat and former president of the Camden school board, added: "No one will outwork her. Her compassion and her respect transcends all parties . . . and I'm living proof."

Women carried the day for GOP


Saturday, December 31, 2005

By ERIK SCHWARTZ
Courier-Post Staff

WINSLOW
They didn't set out to be mayors and they didn't become Republicans until politics demanded that these previously unaffiliated women choose a party.

Today, Winslow Mayor Sue Ann Metzner, 58, and her counterpart in Waterford, Lorie Toussaint, 55, stand as an improbable pair.

Both are the elected leaders of their Lower Camden County communities, where registered Democrats collectively outnumber Republicans, 2-1. They won by relying on smarts, populist themes and voters willing to buck the powerful Camden County Democratic Party.

"I seem to always choose the more difficult road, rather than the easier road," Metzner said, reflecting on her choice to become a Republican in 1985. "It was . . . just choosing to side with the underdog at that point."

Neither mayor was running in last month's elections. But voters endorsed the approach of Metzner and her three GOP colleagues on the Winslow Township Committee by ousting an incumbent Democrat, Barry M. Wright. With a 5-4 majority the Republicans will take control Jan. 6.

Voters re-elected two GOP incumbents to the Waterford Township Committee, although they reduced the Republicans' 5-0 margin by one seat. While Metzner is popularly elected, Toussaint, who was first elected to Waterford's governing body in 2001, was chosen by her colleagues as mayor in 2003 when the GOP took control. Toussaint was re-elected mayor in 2004 and 2005. Her tenure is expected to end at reorganization Jan. 7 when she plans to support Republican Committeeman Tony Clark, a former mayor, for the post.

The GOP's successes have come despite the Democrats' record of winning elections nearly everywhere in the county. Beating the dominant party may be challenging, but it does happen at the local level in New Jersey, said political science professor David Rebovich. Character counts

"When people look at local government, they're not looking at party affiliation or ideology. They're looking at the character of their local officials and the quality of services they receive," said Rebovich, managing director of the Rider University Institute for New Jersey Politics. "I guess we could throw in tax rates as a third factor. And if it happens to be that Republican office-holders are satisfying local voters, then so be it. People will cross party lines."

Toussaint spent most of her childhood in South Philadelphia before her dad bought what became the New Atco Diner in 1965 and moved his family to Waterford. She graduated from Edgewood Regional High School, now Winslow Township High School, and eventually took over the family restaurant, which would become her base of operations in future political battles.

Toussaint didn't have electoral aspirations until 1997, when she learned about the township's move to mandate connections to a planned expansion of the public water system. The next year she registered as a Republican and ran for office.

"The people saw that she really, really cared about what happenend, that nobody could afford it on (a) fixed income," said her friend Lorraine Evans. "Those whose properties did not warrant hooking up and had perfectly good wells . . . shouldn't be forced to do something they couldn't afford."

Evans, a Berlin Borough resident and registered independent, owns The Barn Door on the White Horse Pike. The custom-shed business was threatened by the township's Pinehurst plan to take the property and others by eminent domain to spur commercial development. Crazy woman

Fighting the water ordinance, the repeal of which she led in 2002, and successfully fighting the eminent-domain plan, raised her profile. But it still took Toussaint four tries to get elected and another year to unseat the Democratic majority.

"The Democrats used to portray me as this crazy woman, out of control," she said. "I was persistent. I never gave up. I believe we were on the right side of the people."

"Lorie is unique as a mayor, as a politician, as a person. The thing about her success, if you could say any one thing, would be that she cares. She really, truly cares," Evans said.

While Democrats have long held a registration edge in Winslow, township voters have a history of electing Republicans, including 19 consecutive years of GOP mayors.

Metzner, who grew up in rural New York state, began attending township meetings in the early 1980s to inquire about development problems in the new subdivision where she lived, which was still under construction.

After her only sibling, Michael, died, in 1985 at age 34, "I really had a whole void that I needed to fill in my life." She attempted to get immersed "in something outside of myself." Growth years

Metzner registered with the GOP, in part because her husband, Edwin, had always been a staunch Republican. She lost a race for township committee in 1987 before winning in 1988. She first won the mayor's office in 1995 after retiring as an executive in a financial consulting firm.

"We were growing . . . and I kind of felt that we needed to have, and deserved to have, a mayor who was really committed to our town and to our residents and willing to put in the time. Because those growth years, just like (with) your children, are the most important years," she said.

Metzner, who is legally blind because of macular degeneration, was re-elected to four-year terms in 1999 and 2003. She has gained popularity in the community, a status reflected in the turnout of nearly 200 people in August at a bipartisan dinner honoring her.

"She is one of the most remarkable people I have ever met," said dinner organizer Gordon Sunkett, Winslow's recreation director. " "Honorable' is the best word to describe her."

Sunkett, a Democrat and former president of the Camden school board, added: "No one will outwork her. Her compassion and her respect transcends all parties . . . and I'm living proof."

Staff writer Alan Guenther contributed to this article. Reach Erik Schwartz at (856) 486-2904 or eschwartz@courierpostonline.com


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