Barrington mayor Patti Harris, a 27-year veteran of public service in the borough, announced she won’t be seeking a fourth term on council and second term as mayor. She tapped current council member Kyle Hanson as her mayoral successor at a Democratic fundraising event held at the town’s Tonewood Brewery last weekend.

Hanson leads the Democratic ticket for the November general election along with incumbent council member Vincent Cerrito and newcomer Melanie Mercado. The slate is running unopposed in the June 6 primary election.

Harris provided hands-on leadership through the COVID19 pandemic, rallying her community by creating the COVID Angels, a team of caring volunteers who helped the town’s seniors navigate the vaccine appointment process. She got students to sew cloth masks for frontline workers and oversaw record donations of food to the town’s pantry.

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“It’s just time for me to retire as an elected official and spend more time with my family,” Harris said at the council’s Tuesday work caucus. She added she isn’t close to retiring from her full-time job. “I’ve enjoyed my time as an elected official and more than that, I love being mayor. But I’ll look forward to not spending so much time at meetings.”

In a statement that will go out to residents in the next two weeks, Harris pointed to not only her pandemic leadership as among her proudest accomplishments but also her part in overseeing the economic growth Barrington has enjoyed over the past 12 years. “We’ve brought large corporations to town (in the industrial corridor) and supported new family-owned small businesses on Clements Bridge Road,” Harris wrote. “We’ve also welcomed over 150 new young families to town, built an inclusive, state-of-the-art playground, a beautiful 9/11 memorial, and celebrated our 100-year anniversary as a borough.

“I’m very thankful for the relationships I’ve built, and I cherish both the people I’ve worked alongside as well as those who’ve worked against me, because you gave me the drive and determination to push harder. I’m also extremely grateful to my husband Bob and my family (children Danny, Emily and Aidan), for their unconditional love and support, and for the sacrifices they’ve made so I could pursue my dream of giving back to my community.” Harris will stay on as mayor through the end of this year.

Hanson is Barrington’s director of public safety and last year led the ultimately successful effort to merge Barrington’s fire company with Haddon Heights to create a joint fire department. He has also spearheaded a collaborative fundraising drive, securing a number of private donations, corporate donations, and public funding to purchase new tiny tot climbing equipment for the Lost World playground. The effort to date has raised $215,000 of the needed $250,000, with Tuesday’s announcement by borough engineer Greg Evans that a second state Department of Community Affairs grant of $62,000 was successful. Hanson is hoping to bridge much of the final funding gap with a Camden County open space grant award and Evans’ office has submitted that application. The equipment has already been purchased and is scheduled to arrive this fall.

Next Tuesday’s meeting will have the public hearing on Barrington’s 2023 municipal budget, which Harris has proudly touted as having a zero municipal tax increase, the second in the last three years without an increase to the municipal tax rate. There will be an amending resolution to the 2023 budget, chief financial officer Denise Moules reported, but only to correct two input errors with the borough’s shared ambulance service agreements. “The amounts for Runnemede and Haddon Heights were transposed on the budget we sent to the state,” said Moules, “and the state requires you pass a correcting resolution for the record.” Runnemede pays Barrington $75,000 per year for ambulance service to its residents, Heights pays $25,000.

Runnemede has also approached Barrington ambulance chief Kate Bowen about expanding their current agreement, as one of their full-time emergency medical technicians recently quit. Bowen told the council that most of the details have already been negotiated and she presented the expansion as a win for her agency and the town without disclosing the new amount Runnemede has agreed to pay, or how much of Runnemede’s billing for services will come to Barrington instead. The new agreement involves sharing an already-budgeted Barrington EMT with Runnemede during the day. “The EMT would just be reporting to a different building,” Bowen explained. The council expects to act on amending that agreement next Tuesday.