Stern, Matlack, Elmore-Stratton Win Seats On Cherry Hill BOE

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The results are now official in the races for open seats on Cherry Hill Council and the Cherry Hill Public School District Board of Education.

Miriam Stern, Carol Matlack and Ineda “Corrien” Elmore-Stratton have won three open seats on the Board of Education.

Stern was the leading vote-getter with 23,017 votes, followed by Matlack with 21,284 and Elmore-Stratton with 18,240 votes. John Papeika finished with 17,043 votes, and Aslihan Cakmak had 13,597.

William Carter won a seat on Cherry Hill Council with 26,702 votes. The Democrat defeated Republican Nancy Feller O’Dowd, who had 15,423 votes.

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The count was finalized over the weekend, nearly three weeks after an election that was conducted primarily through vote-by-mail ballots.

Turnout in Camden County was 68.65 percent, meaning 273,555 of the county’s 398,475 registered voters made their voices heard in this year’s historic elections.

In Cherry Hill, turnout was 73.89 percent, meaning 45,078 of the township’s 61,005 registered voters cast their ballots.

Countywide, 2,105 votes were rejected, including 1,372 provisional ballots and 733 vote-by-mail ballots that were rejected. In Cherry Hill, 277 total ballots were rejected, including 165 provisional ballots and 112 vote-by-mail ballots.

Patch spoke with the candidates in the days leading up to the election.

"While improving our facilities is the long range focus, the current COVID-19 crisis is our immediate focus," said Matlack, who served on the board since 2010. "Remote learning and safely bringing our staff and students back into the buildings, along with the social and emotional well-being of our students and staff during this crisis, needs to be our focus."

Elmore-Stratton said the district has to be careful not to let the achievement gap grow during the pandemic.

"In addition, I believe that this awkward learning year has brought on heavy tension between the administration, the staff, and the families, and so I believe there will be a new issue of resetting the culture and tone of the district once we resume our traditional school year of study," Stratton said. "I plan to consistently raise awareness of the need for this negative tension to be addressed and shifted."

Mental health will be a key to getting through the pandemic, and Stern has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for 25 years.

"I am the only candidate who is an experienced mental health professional with a deep understanding of social-emotional learning and student mental health wellness program development," Stern said. "In 2004, I founded a group counseling practice in Cherry Hill, and now work as both a therapist and administrator of the practice that has grown to have 20 therapists with two locations."