Kevin Riordan: Merchantville-Cherry Hill merger more 'Twist' than waltz

The most recent municipal merger in New Jersey - between Vineland Borough and Landis Township in 1952 - was so long ago that even this columnist wasn't born yet.

The rarity of such civic unions is usually attributed to our state's vaguely uplifting (and decidedly expensive) tradition of "home rule."

Budget crises have renewed bipartisan talk about consolidation, but courtship is always trickiest in the early stages. It's sort of like dancing with someone for the first time.

Consider the procedural potshot Trenton took last week at the fledgling Merchantville-Cherry Hill merger, which seeks to save money by combining the compact borough of fewer than 4,000 residents and the sprawling township of 70,000.

The Department of Community Affairs ruled that a 300-signature petition from Merchantville residents and a supportive resolution by the Cherry Hill Township Council created an impermissible "hybrid" application for a consolidation study.

So it "will not be considered," sniffed the DCA's Local Finance Board, which took four months to develop its four-paragraph ruling. Such circumspect deliberations suggest how difficult consolidation may be.

'Almost comical'

"On the one side, the governor is saying they want to encourage consolidations, and on the other [his administration] is saying, 'This petition doesn't count.' I'm laughing about it because it's almost comical."

I, too, figured Gov. Christie's "cut spending or die" administration would welcome the application, perhaps by uploading another of his signature sleeves-rolled, fingers-jabbing videos to YouTube.

But the governor's office and the DCA aren't particularly forthcoming about whether there's a contradiction. You know, between supporting consolidations in principle while seeming picayune about the Merchantville-Cherry Hill application in particular.