Cheltenham’s Rhonda Isser recently made a tough life decision: she retired.

Isser’s involvement with the Township began eight years ago when she joined a sewer infrastructure meeting. In Isser’s words, “things just kind of snowballed from there.”

“My background is construction. I sold real estate, I did real estate development, and that’s how I got into plumbing infrastructure,” she said. “I felt that we needed to have a conversation. I wanted to come up with solutions to overcome some of what we were dealing with. I wanted to work with the Board and give my years of experience to them in a non-adversarial sort of way.”

Isser’s list of voluntary commitments is impressive. She was a member of Cheltenham Township’s Facilities Committee for one year, the Stormwater Management Committee for two years, and the Planning Commission for five years. She has also set up and maintained Cheltenham Infrastructure Solutions, a Facebook page which deals with sewer laterals and government solutions, for the last seven years.

“We expanded the page’s scope to talk about roads, bridges, cable, water, sewer. Everything infrastructure we dealt with on that page,” she said. “When I stepped into the sewer committee, people were going to be heavily fined to the point of potentially losing their homes in some cases. I was just a facilitator of conversations, and we were able to maintain a civil conversation about what was going on in the Township. And I think that was huge. People were open to disagree, and we always kept it non-partisan. It was a community-owned initiative that allowed for good discussion that we didn’t have before.”

“I think that page helped encourage the transparency that our commissioners are striving for,” Isser said.

Cheltenham Infrastructure Solutions, led by Isser, hosted “Takeout Tuesday” to foster restaurant success during the pandemic.

While her tenure with Township initiatives is up, Isser plans to continue hosting “Glenside Marketing Monday,” which advertises local businesses on the Glenside & Wyncote PA community Facebook page. Isser says the initiative has gotten plenty of positive feedback from residents and local business owners.

While never employed by the Township, she’s left an indelible mark on it. Isser won the Sustainable Cheltenham Award in 2018 for keeping residents calm and explaining the ins and outs of a chaotic $50M sewer sale to Aqua America’s Pennsylvania branch.

“It was very kind and thoughtful the way they gave me the award by coming to me,” she said. “It’s never been done like that.”

“Rhonda’s involvement in the community as a citizen and resident and member of several resident groups has been unmatched,” Matt Areman, Ward 1 Commissioner, said. “Certainly I appreciate all of her efforts and advocacy on behalf of the residents and I wish her a lot of luck in whatever future endeavors she engages in. And hopefully it involves taking some time for herself because she’s spent so much time taking care of others.”

“She’s been a huge asset. She’s definitely one of the bright spots of our community,” Areman said.

“There’s a Jimmy Carter quote, ‘I have one life and one chance to make it count for something.’ I just felt like I had the right skills at the right time that would hopefully be of value. They kept me around for eight years and gave me some appointments, so I hope I was able to help. If you have something to offer, you should offer it,” she said.

After many years of involvement, it became apparent to Isser that it was time to step back and reevaluate where she can be most effective.

“I’m open to opportunities as they come up, I just don’t know what those are right now,” she said. “I would hope I was of value.”

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