Year in Review: Gloucester Twp. Government News

2011 was the year of political fighting in Gloucester Township. From the bruising election season—completed with “Mailergate”—to the pay-to-play debate to criticism heaped on the mayor over transparency, the year never got dull for Gloucester Township politicos.

Let’s start with the municipal election, which saw over a slate of Republicans and an independent candidate after by a wide margin. A Democratic-backed political group supporting the independent, Darren Gladden—who to either the Democrats or the Republicans for “Mailergate.”

Over at town hall, efforts to ban pay-to-play—hiring campaign contributors for government work—raged on almost all year. A watchdog group in May and held a , but advocates were frustrated by council’s . Nothing was resolved on pay-to-play in 2011. Do you think 2012 is the year or is the issue dead in the water?

Among the other political stories in 2011, Gloucester Township filed by the former public works director, an expensive recycling ad , a conservative group demanded the , the force over a countywide one, the came under fire for and even a Planning Board raised controversy.

After all this, is it really surprising that were installed for council meetings?

These are just a fraction of the 226 government stories Gloucester Township Patch brought you in 2011. Follow the news year-round at our government and elections topic pages.