“If ever the time should come, when vain & aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”—Samuel Adams
I consider myself an American conservative. These days, labels of other delineation serve to divide us, not unite us in good governance. We have far too many divisions. For such a time as this, I searched only for advocates for freedom.
I spent my summer traveling to meetings in Parsippany-Troy Hills, Bernards, Howell, Jackson, Millville and Monroe, only to find the perfect candidates waiting for me in my own back yard.
Haven’t heard of Cherry Hill? Then you haven’t been to South Jersey. The unofficial capital of SJ, it’s my family’s home base, and its politics and culture truly reflect the pulse of the area.
The town is bustling with business, dining and social networking. Traffic reflects its popularity as a shopping and business mecca.
So why should we break stride and change its leadership? Why change government hands when business and education appear to be humming along? There’s something about the principle of momentum in science. Objects in motion, yada yada.
But have you seen the property taxes in Cherry Hill? Maybe I’m biased as a Medford (Burlington County) resident, but as the wife of a realtor, you couldn’t pay me to buy into Cherry Hill taxes and its flailing education system.
I’ve been contacted by a number of Cherry Hill parents. I’ve seen the dirty insides of the plans of its overpaid, overrated Superintendent. Virtue-signaling in a bow-tie, with triple the taxes of a neighboring town is how I found the town’s Board of Education agenda to be this summer. “Doctor” Meloche arrogantly distributed surgical masks to guests of his first in-person meeting, supported by a police intimidation escort. Had I not known otherwise, I could have mistaken him for AG Garland, on the prowl for domestic terrorists.
Something must change. Cherry Hill has been owned by one-party rule for 44 years. It’s stagnant. It’s corrupt. It’s time for change.
Who would have the courage to fight for change in this ostensibly successful town?
I found the team willing to fight.
Kristen’s pick: Nance, Lodge, Parsons and Carr for Township Council
Meet the Team:
Meet Nicole Nance…
Kristen: Who are you?
Nicole: My name is Nicole Nance. I have resided in Cherry 🍒 Hill for about 14 months. I am running with 3 other amazing people for Cherry Hill Town Council.
I am a mother of two young adults and grandmother to one jubilant 4 year old granddaughter. I’m a minister, administrator and advocate.
Kristen: Why are you running?
Nicole: I’m running because I truly believe in the proverbial honor of public service to people. I’m a boots on the ground girl. I like to be in the trenches. I like to be with the people, hands on, helping and serving. I’ve had the privilege of running for County Commissioner (formerly freeholder) 3 times in the past. When
I moved to Cherry 🍒 Hill, after much prayer and counsel, the council seat is the best fit.
Kristen: What is your stance on parental choice for medical freedom in schools?
Nicole: Unmask our kids. Parental Choice. Medical Freedom. Period.
Kristen: What is your favorite amendment?
Nicole: The 1st Amendment. It speaks to our existence as a country. It is the first amendment that speaks to our rights as citizens. It speaks to the community in which we live, freedom to worship and freedom of speech. In 2021, too many Cherry 🍒 Hill citizens are afraid to exercise this right for fear of repercussions to their livelihood within the town they live and that just ought not be.
Whether it’s freedom of speech as a resident, as a business owner or simply, freely, sharing your view on any social media platform. Freedom over fear will always stand the test of time when residents use it and use it often!
Kristen: Give me your best pitch on why and how we can support your campaign?
Nicole: Supporting the Nance, Lodge, Parsons & Carr campaign brings a needed balance local government. Forty Four years of one-party does not resonate check and balance with the residents! When we win this election, we get to represent the voice of the residents. I’ve often found in my 30+ years of advocacy that the community residents, most times have the best ideas, answers and solutions. Just give them the opportunity to share it and then implement it. Government is simple. Too often, we complicate it and create problems. Supporting our campaign gets the residents voice to the table and brings the residents ideas into action. Simple governance. Period.
Meet David Lodge
Kristen: Who are you?
David: I am a concerned patriot serving this community for the greater good.
Kristen: Why are you running?
David: It’s my patriotic and civic duty. I am running in part because of community governance under four- decades of one-party rule resulting in multiple tax-related issues, the Council’s failure to provide tax relief during the pandemic, an ailing school infrastructure, the Council’s lack of rejecting the notion of defunding our police, as well as various other issues. But also in part because there is no push-back on the Biden and Murphy “party line” of undermining parental authority regarding: mandatory masking; COVID vaccination policies; compulsory Critical Race Theory; and more recently a 1st Amendment issue where those who speak out at School Board meetings will be “punished” by being labeled “domestic terrorists” pursuant to President Biden’s directive to the FBI. Our constitutional rights are being eroded from the local level all the way up to the President’s office on those aforementioned issues and several more. “Saving Cherry Hill” will compliment saving this country from Defunding Police, exclusive Red Flag Gun Laws aimed at seizing firearms from veterans, partisan firing of conservative-friendly trustees of military institutions such as Annapolis, face masking and related vaxxing issues, the state and federal governmental obstruction of medical freedoms in schools, and so on.
Kristen: What is your stance on parental choice for medical freedom in schools?
David: Medical freedom by parental choice should be a primary consideration for compulsory curriculums and for medical issues such as compulsory face masking, vaccinations, and especially as it relates to “special needs” children. As an example, relating to CRT, school superintendent Dr. Meloche here in Cherry Hill stated for news interviews saying with pride that “The students spoke and we listened”. But as the “parents are still speaking” – in opposition - he and the BOE is NOT “listening”, sticking instead to the “party line” of undermining parental authority as it relates to CRT, vaxxing, and masking. This current Board of Education and the Superintendent have not acted in the best interest of this school community, and the sitting Town Council should be weighing in on these issues as this affects the entire community. I have been outspoken about this as I refer you to the August 27, 2021 Sun newspaper article where I am quoted at a Board of Education meeting:
“David Lodge let his feelings on critical race theory and student masking be known when he offered: “It’s up to the school board, especially this superintendent, to push back on a policy that could cause harm to students. That pushback has not come. Therefore, I oppose Dr. Meloche’s contract renewal.” My stance, therefore, is unquestionable and is a matter of public record.
Kristen: What is your favorite amendment?
David: The First Amendment!
Kristen: Give me your best pitch on why and how we can support your campaign?
David: This town’s “rubber-stamp” politics is a reflection of one-party rule and a compelling reason for seeking a Town Council seat. The Town Council president’s wife is running for a Board of Ed seat which is clearly an ethical conflict, a form of nepotism which can only be a detriment to a fair or objective school board seat. The Board of Education has taken an apparent position that “party” mandates are the best for our children forsaking parental authority, while the FBI is directed by the party’s leader, President Biden, to label outspoken residents to be “domestic terrorists”, “punishing” local parents who are outspoken. The Town Council should be weighing in on each of those areas, but instead they’re condoning nepotism in the school board. I will provide a much needed “balance” on the Town Council with demonstrated courage to stand up to political bullies, and through the Council I can take steps to foster “push back” of the School Board’s mandates where necessary I bring to the table a much needed sense of the need for parental rights and of patriotic duty and honor that is sorely lacking in Cherry Hill today. There is a school administrator who showed open disdain for our American flag at a public Board of Ed meeting, something to be mindful of as disdain for the flag and for this country is the direction this community and our students are being led, and prompted me to participate in a related video that is posted on social media. But, where is the outrage from the Town Council about that and the other issues? Medical freedom and parental authority is being stripped away, layer by layer, apparently condoned by our Town Council. In Cherry Hill there appears a government of the party, instead of a government for the people. We need strong leaders with the courage to “push back” where needed. I am such a candidate as the aforementioned 8/27/21 Sun Newspaper article reflects.
Meet Rossana Parsons
Kristen: Who are you?
Rossana: My name is Rossana Parsons and I am one of four candidates running for Cherry Hill Town Council. I am a small business owner and have been for 23 years. Formerly, I was the Media Relations Director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia with frequents stints at the New York Fed, and Board of Governors as well as one at Credit Agricole in Paris, France. I moved to Cherry Hill, a town I love, 15 years ago. I am married with two children.
Kristen: Why are you running?
Rossana: At a meeting some time ago with members of the Cherry Hill Republican Club, I was asked if I would be interested in running with the other candidates. Initially, I wasn’t certain but after considering what has happened in our country with the federal elections, I began to realize that it is high time regular people start stepping up and taking back control of the legislation that is passed. The most realistic way to do that is to get control of local politics and ensure that the legislation passed by local politicians is truly legislation that reflects liberty and individual sovereignty and legislation that benefits citizens and stops the theft of their hard-earned money and property. I realized that the best way to implement change is to affect change at the local level and work incrementally for the good of the community. Local elections matter and there is no better time in our history of elections that this is true.
Kristen: What is your stance on parental choice for medical freedom in schools?
Rossana: One of the major concepts that over the years has been completely lost on public school bureaucracies is that parents are funding these schools through heavy taxation as in Cherry Hill. These administrators have forgotten that they work for us-not the other way around. They no longer listen to us or care what we have to say about the way our children are educated or what policies they implement. We are routinely dismissed at school board meetings and constantly cut off from finishing making our remarks. They behave mostly like they are doing us a favor by listening to us.
We should be encouraged and invited to come often and speak freely at these meetings and respected as their-in essence-true employers. Parents should not be forced to submit to school administrators and unelected Department of Education bureaucrats-not ever!
Kristen: What is your favorite amendment?
Rossana: I believe the amendment that is the clearest representation of what our country is and why it was founded is the Second Amendment. Most often we hear endless discussions about how our government must regulate and over regulate fire arms, making it more and more difficult for average citizens to have the ability to be self-armed.
The discussions are pointless because this amendment was created for the specific purpose of citizens being able to arm themselves against a tyrannical government. This is the most prominent reason for the second amendment. The entity that wants to rule tyrannically over its citizens should certainly not be the entity that gets to make the laws about our right to bear arms.
Kristen: Give me your best pitch on why and how we can support your campaign?
Rossana: Our council candidates love Cherry Hill and want to work to keep Cherry Hill prosperous and beautiful for all its citizens. Escalating taxation and encroachment are doing a great deal of damage to our business and residential communities and we need new members to reverse this dangerous course. We are committed to citizens viewpoints and we are profoundly interested in hearing what they have to say! Door knocking, making phone calls, telling family and friends about us and making donations will all help our campaign! Thank You!
Meet Diane Carr
Kristen: Who are you?
Diane: My name is Diane Carr. I am a candidate for Cherry Hill Town Council, one of four team members for four open Town Council seats. I’m married with two grown children who were homeschooled for the greater part of their schooling and am an ESL instructor at the community college. I also privately tutor English language learners online and in-person and have had a small tutoring business for 14 years.
Kristen: Why are you running?
Diane: When I heard of the opening of four council seats, the voices that encouraged regular people to step up to the plate – to run for office - came back to me because I had thought of it through the years. These voices were from individuals and various organizations that keep us informed about what was (and is) happening in the political world, not mentioned by the mainstream media. Because our council has had 44 years of one-party rule, I feel I (and my Team) can give needed balance. My aim is to have all residents’ concerns be given consideration as speedily as possible so no one is left ignored. If they live with problems Council can alleviate, it would be just to find solutions.
Kristen: What is your stance on parental choice for medical freedom in schools?
Diane: Who should know their children better than those who live with them and care for them? Parents, not those who make sweeping generalizations about a group, must make medical choices appropriate to each child. Parents should not be coerced into abdicating their responsibility to school administrations.
Kristen: What is your favorite amendment?
Diane: The 14th amendment seems most appropriate and in accordance for my run for Town Council and with what is happening across our country – that everyone born in the U.S. or is naturalized has equal citizenship and equal protection under the law. No state or council should deprive anyone of their civil and human rights under the law. This includes property rights.
Kristen: Give me your best pitch on why and how we can support your campaign?
Diane: We need balance in all levels of government. Forty-four years of one-party rule cannot possibly provide the dialogue necessary to search out options of a matter because of the tendency to have a collective mindset. Working with our Team has been invaluable. This kind of weighing in and hashing out decisions is what we want in discourse. Residents deserve no less.
You can best support me and our Team until Election Day with your creativity and energy to get the word out. Handing out flyers, going door to door, making phone calls, and posting on social media, especially to those you know would like to see diversity of opinion on Council, would be most helpful. Donations as well will help us fund additional resources. Thank you!
Editor’s note: This team was so inspiring to us, that we asked to host a gathering for the candidates. We loved their platform, their courage, and their diverse life experiences that all fit together as a new direction of leadership potential for Cherry Hill.
Care to join? You will be treated to dinner, drinks and music, with the fantastic opportunity to hear from Tricia Flanagan, CD-3 Candidate for Congress 2022. Visit her page to learn more about her candidacy, visit Tricia’s Website or her Facebook
To sign up for this upcoming opportunity to meet the candidates and also hear from Tricia Flanagan, visit the event Page. Tickets may be purchased online or at the door, but space is limited, so reserve your place ASAP.
Be ready to dance! Cherry Hill is the capital of dance parties in South Jersey.
To help volunteer, donate or learn more about this exciting team for change:
View Nicole Nance’s Interview
Freedom Speaking LLC and Shielding Liberty LLC have partnered with the Child Advocate Coalition LLC to highlight candidates for office all across NJ, from local Board of Education candidates through the gubernatorial candidates. Views expressed by the candidates may or may not represent the views of the entities referenced above, however the entities are proud to provide a platform for free speech. Featured candidates are invited to submit responses to our interview questions, link their candidate and fundraising sites, and showcase their chosen photographs.