Residents will decide Jackson govt. change Question proposed by citizens group will be on ballot
BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
JACKSON – Voters will be asked in the Nov. 4 election whether they wish to change the form of government they currently have to one proposed by the members of VOTE.
In a series of cliffhanger scenarios, the members of Voters Organized To Elect our mayor (VOTE) finally succeeded in obtaining the required number of signatures from registered Jackson voters to place their question on the upcoming Election Day ballot. At Monday night’s meeting of the Township Committee, Township Clerk Ann Marie Eden certified the amended VOTE petition.
VOTE failed to obtain the required signatures from 20 percent, or approximately 5,100, of the township’s registered voters on its first attempt.
Eden said that although she did not complete her count of the 2,274 additional signatures submitted by VOTE members on Sept. 17, a day earlier than the 10 days provided by law to amend its petition, the group had already reached the required 1,162 additional signatures it needed to place the referendum question before voters in six weeks.
The township had requested an extension of the five days Eden had to certify the new signatures and a judge had granted two additional days, but Eden said it would not be needed.
“They’ve met their requirement,” she said.
VOTE member Dan Gross said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that he was pleasantly surprised by the announcement, which he also said he did not expect since the court had given the township two additional days to complete its certification process.
“The town clerk’s office did a tremendous amount of work validating the signatures so quickly, both in the initial count and the subsequent one, so I commend them on a great job,” he said. “I’m thrilled that all our efforts produced the hoped for result. Now democracy begins.”
Mayor Michael Kafton congratulated VOTE members on their achievement and Deputy Mayor Sean Giblin made a motion to rescind the ordinance the committee adopted on July 28 that would have asked voters to approve the creation of a charter study commission to determine if the town’s form of government should be changed.
“We can address this matter at some future point,” said Giblin. “Our ordinance really serves no purpose at this point.”
Only one question addressing a change in government may be asked of voters in any one election to prevent confusion.
The committee adopted its ordinance after the petition drive was begun by VOTE in June to propose a change of government in Jackson.
At present, Jackson has a Township Committee form of government. The governing body has five members who are elected at large. Each January, the committee selects one person to serve as mayor for the year. The mayor has no more power than any of the other four committee members.
VOTE is proposing a change to a nine-member council in which six of the nine council members would be elected from wards to be established in the community. Three council members would be elected at large. In addition, a mayor would be elected by residents. The mayor’s term and the council terms would be for four years and residents would vote in nonpartisan elections in May.
“This is the form of government that has an elected chief executive with strong executive and administrative powers,” said Ernest Reock, retired director of the Center of Government Services, New Brunswick. “It is a mirror of the federal form of government. As of January 2002, only 65 [municipalities] in New Jersey out of 566 used this form of government, but they are the largest in the state. There are some small ones such as Avalon, which has 2,100 people, and uses this form of government, but all the large ones use it.”
Jackson’s population (42,816 according to the 2002 census) is half that of Dover Township (89,706), whose voters last year approved a similar ballot question to the one proposed by VOTE.
Reock said that if Jackson voters approve the change in government this fall, all of the new council members would be elected in May and then re-elected on a staggered basis every two years. Council members would determine their salaries.
Under Jackson’s current form of government, committeemen are paid as part-time employees, although they also receive health care benefits.
The change in government proposed by VOTE would purportedly replace the potential partisan domination of the present Township Committee by a Republican or Democratic majority with a non-partisan mayor and council.
“That doesn’t preclude [anyone from] campaigning as a Democrat or Republican,” said Reock.