Evesham residents took to the polls this week and elected Jackie Veasy as Mayor. Ms Veasy will be the second woman to serve as Mayor of Evesham. The first took office on July 1, 1975.
Sandra Mano didn't intend to get into politics. She graduated from Rosemont College in Philadelphia, and at age 22 in 1962 entered the convent with the goal of becoming a nun. She took the name Sister Peter, but found the convent too constraining and dropped out 3 years later in 1965.
She moved to Evesham in 1972 with her husband, purchasing a home on Kent Avenue in Cambridge Park. Soon after moving to her new home, she began complaining of drainage problems in her yard due to, she claimed, faulty engineering on the part of the developer. A lawsuit soon followed, and Ms Shenfeld became involved in politics, trying to get the developer to fulfill their obligations to fix the drainage issues.
She ran for Town Council in 1973 at age 30 as an Independent. In addition to her, both the Republican and Democratic parties ran candidates. As no candidate received a majority of votes on the first ballot, a run-off was needed, where she prevailed. (In the election, only 2,926 votes were cast out of 6,000 registered voters).
In 1974 she moved to the Woodstream Apartments.
As a Council Woman, she was involved in restricting the power of the Mayor. Council voted to take the power of appointing members to Planning and Zoning Board out of the purview of the Mayor, letting Council handle those appointments. The battle to change the form of government actually made news in the New York Times.Two years later she ran for Mayor and won, and was sworn in on July 1, 1975.
As Mayor, she frequently clashed with the Township Manager, who was eventually removed.
"To her enemies (and she has many), Mrs Shenfeld...." After these clashes, a citizens group called 'Evesham Citizens in Anger' began a petition to have her recalled, alleging she tried to coerce township officials, repeatedly violated the Faulkner Act, and other charges. While several thousand names were gathered, she countersued 47 petition circulators for libel - those 47 were defended in court by the ACLU. This was not the only legal case Ms Shenfeld was involved in. Aside from suing the developers in Cambridge Park (which ultimately settled with the town in 1977), she sued a Cambridge Park neighbor for slander.
Also in 1975, she clashed with Evesham Township Superintendent of Schools Leroy Meland, charging that the school district was overpaying interest on their bonds by not sending the bonds out for bid, costing taxpayers $40,000. Mr Meland countered that they negotiated the best interest rate they were able to.
Ms Shenfeld lost re-election in June 1977 in a runoff. By 1979, she moved to Atlantic City to take a job with Resorts International. She was a polarizing figure, having many supporters and many detractors.
"Mrs Shenfeld, some of her friends say, is like a sizzling stick of dynamite, an abundance of energy that can't be turned off until she explodes and a job is done"
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