Cheltenham Township commissioners Ann Rappoport (Ward 4) and Mitch Zygmund-Felt (Ward 6) have each stepped down from their posts. Glenside Local reached out with questions to honor their service and experiences over the years. Their responses are below.

Commissioner Rappoport served the board for 12 years, Zygmund-Felt for eight. Their final legislative meeting was held at Elkins Park’s Curtis Hall on December 17, during which fellow commissioners shared tributes in thanks for all of their accomplishments and endeavors. Resolution 44-25 was read and adopted honoring Rappoport, and Resolution 45-25 was read and adopted honoring Zygmund-Felt. Resolutions and remarks start around minute mark 35:20 of the meeting recording.

“It is hard to put into words the impact that these two commissioners have had in Cheltenham,” the township said in a statement. “The resolutions presented just touched the surface in listing some of the items they tackled during their service, including initiatives for facilities and financial planning, economic development, stormwater management, sustainability, zoning, and much more.” 

Photos from the meeting include:

Commissioner Ann Rappoport

How has Cheltenham Township changed over the course of your tenure?

I’m gratified to say that positive changes have happened over my twelve years as Commissioner, and although team effort is always part of positive change, certain substantive and procedural improvements weren’t seriously tackled until I proactively and directly took them on.  I’ll mention a handful of examples. (1) I was working with residents and pushing for traffic calming from the start.  For a while, these efforts were brushed off.  We persisted, gained increased support from a changing Board and from Staff, and now have a systematic traffic calming program and are seeing positive results.  (2) When I came on the Board 12 years ago, I was stunned to learn there was no system for reviewing the performance of township managers, or attorneys, or consultants and very little questioning about aspects of change orders and consultant reports.  Without protocols for reviews, how could we improve or prioritize?  Where was accountability?  What responsibility did the Board take?  When I was vice president of the Board, I made sure these processes were instituted, though again, it took teamwork.  Ditto instituting a one-day annual Board retreat.  (3) Twelve years ago, communications with our taxpayers and other stakeholders could fairly be called poor and/or adversarial.  Through my regular email updates (about every 6 weeks), 24-hour turnaround (usually) to phone calls and emails, personal meetings, and through concerted advocacy to all Board members, among other ways, I’ve tried to make local government more transparent, comprehensible and responsive to the community we serve.  The Township may not be where we should be on this yet, but I think the bar has moved.   MORE BELOW

Most satisfying moment(s) as a commissioner: 

SO MANY!  Digging in and doing hard work on behalf of Cheltenham was a fairly constant source of satisfaction, along with advocating for the changes noted in the first question above. Among the many: (1) Helping to revise the Zoning Code, SALDO and Comprehensive Plan among other multi-year projects was strenuous and frustrating, but quite significant.  I learned a lot, which helped to better inform the public as well as my decisions, and also contributed to improved documents.  It was especially satisfying to strengthen focus on environmental sustainability, tree replacement policy, green space, pedestrian needs, historic preservation, and stream/riparian and stormwater protections (remember storm drain labeling, stream identification and naming, and DEP and Army Corps efforts, too?).

(2) It was satisfying to actually achieve passage of a viable Vacant Property ordinance to help address blight, and a Rental Registry and Inspection ordinance to help protect renters and reduce inappropriate practices, among other policy initiatives. 

(3) I found it rewarding to push for more positive relations with the School District through holding monthly liaison discussions, and to work together with them on a number of public relations and outreach campaigns to try to dispel negative impressions about Cheltenham, get the facts out, and strengthen our image. 

(4) Among the challenges I found stimulating to address were those involving various utility groups; it was gratifying to achieve just compensation for the Township in several cases where I successfully argued that utilities were benefiting from use of Cheltenham land and to direct their attention to proper maintenance of facilities and units they’d allowed to deteriorate.

(5) It was satisfying to help constituents on a daily basis to navigate local government, feel heard and resolve issues.  Dialog is a valued part of self-governance.

(6) Building upon partnerships and recognizing our invaluable volunteers – from fire companies to historic and environmental and sports activists – were necessary and therefore satisfying achievements.

(7) It was tremendously uplifting and a satisfying privilege to advocate on behalf of this community as my research, analysis and conscience saw fit, even when/if my recommendations and vote were not ratified by the majority. Even – or perhaps especially – when my voice and vote were in the minority, I found it tremendously satisfying to speak up for the perspectives, rights, respect and transparency, public welfare, protections, etc. for our diverse stakeholders and the long-term interests of Cheltenham.

Favorite things about Cheltenham Township:

(1)  Cheltenham’s people have always been striving to make things better.  From the Abolitionists to those today who start our gatherings with Land Acknowledgements, from small entrepreneurs to fervent educators, from those who fight noise and climate change to those who fight for health and human rights, Cheltenham is synonymous with brilliant people of diverse sorts who are willing to sacrifice, roll up their sleeves and engage personally in the work of civic improvement.

(2)  …not to mention all those other things like history, architecture, green space, trees, walkable resources, public transportation, etc…

Words of wisdom/advice for future commissioners:

I’m sure they’ll bring their own assets and consciences to the table.  I’ve already provided them an “Unfinished Business Memo”, and doubt they’d want to hear more from me, BUT…

• Seldom are things simplistically black or white:  Make time to understand the complexity and nuances in order to improve public policy and government responsiveness.
  
• Nourish the special character of Cheltenham.  We can build and thrive on our unique assets without trying to become other municipalities throughout the county, while nevertheless looking to successful innovations here and abroad for inspiration.
  
• Be the sort of government you’d ideally expect from others; use your leadership respectfully and mindful of what’s at stake beyond yourselves, your egos, your career springboards and your personal connections.  The success of self-governance depends on the integrity of our participants and our processes.

What do you plan to do with your newfound free time?

The Magic 8 Ball says, “Ask again later.”

Commissioner Mitch Zygmund-Felt

How has Cheltenham Township changed over the course of your tenure?

Under both the end of the Norris Presidency and that of BOC President Areman, the Board of Commissioners took on a significant number of issues which had been neglected by multiple decades of prior Boards. They included:

• Chronic reluctance to address flooding and stormwater management. The Stormwater initiative and associated Enterprise Management Fee positioned policies and finances to take on this Township-wide problem.
  
• Aging, unsafe or failing public facilities and infrastructure. Again, these Boards identified, exposed and initiated either plans and/or actions to bring our physical, functional and personnel (when required) resources into more functional, efficient, sustainable and accountable operation. Many are still a work in progress.
  
• Dramatically expanded transparency and community engagement became the norm, specifically when gauged against the generations of local governance which ran roughshod and only allowed exposure when decisions or measures were being readied for a vote.

Most satisfying moment(s) as a commissioner:

Easiest one to answer for me. In our facilities assessment, what I learned and heard from nearly 200 LaMott residents about the state of the Community Center motivated and near enraged me. I initiated our contacts and authored the US Congressional Appropriations with Congresswoman Dean and her senior staff. The incredible and unexpected outcome, the $3.8 million award, is head and shoulders the most satisfying and rewarding accomplishment during my two terms of service!!!

Favorite things about Cheltenham Township:

Cheltenham Township is a community of named areas, villages, neighborhoods and streets filled with engaged, committed, diverse, talented and passionate residents and business owners. Over my 38 years as a resident and 8 additional years as an elected representative, it was reassuring to experience the unique nature and fabric of this truly remarkable municipality.

Words of wisdom/advice for future commissioners:

Stay the course which has been undertaken. Be patient that these improvements and changes will take time and resources that are not currently available or immediately necessary.

What do you plan to do with your newfound free time?

Free time?? As I’ve written, Cheltenham has been my “mistress and mission” these last eight years. It has also taught me many lessons about the limits and responsibilities of public service. I intend to re-engage in some form of my prior commercial (aka earning $$) life and may yet find places to enlist my knowledge and experience in the public domain. I, much like Cheltenham, despite our respective ages, remain a work-in-progress.

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Photos: Cheltenham Township, Ann Rappoport