Hearing canceled after attorney advises
waiting until courts rule on petition
By:Roger Alvarado
Township Committee members say they will await the outcome of two lawsuits before determining whether to enact a second charter study ordinance.
A public hearing on the ordinance introduced Sept. 28 was to be held Tuesday, however on the advice of legal counsel Eric M. Bernstein, committee members instead opted to cancel their scheduled meeting.
Failing to hold the public hearing kills the proposed ordinance.
If passed, voters would have been asked in November 2005 whether they wanted to establish a charter study commission to study changing Hillsborough’s form government.
"It is our intention to place a charter study question on the ballot for the general election next year," Mayor Steven Sireci said. "We believe the best method for changing Hillsborough’s form of government is through an elected charter study commission that examines all the various potential options for local governance.
"Legal counsel, however, has strongly advised the Township Committee to hold off any action on a new ordinance until the completion of the court proceedings on the lawsuits involving the original ordinance and the invalid change of government petition," Mayor Sireci said.
Committee members said they decided to cancel their meeting because the charter study ordinance was to be the only significant matter before them Tuesday.
Consequently, a charter study ordinance would have to be reintroduced at some point in the future before a public hearing for adoption could be set.
In May, Township Committee members passed a charter study commission ordinance that would have placed the question on this year’s election ballot. At the time, the members of Citizens for a Change in Government LLC, a citizens group that spent months collecting roughly 4,200 signatures to petition the local government to place the question of changing the current committee form of government to a mayor-council form, perceived the move as having been done to short-circuit its own efforts because the ordinance would have taken precedence over their petition and appeared on the ballot.
In July, the petitioners took the township to court and succeeded in getting Somerset County state Superior Court Judge Frank Gasiorowski to issue a court order declaring the ordinance for the charter study null and void because it had not been properly advertised to the public. The township has filed an appeal with the Appellate Division of the state Superior Court, which, according to Township Administrator Kevin P. Davis, will be heard Jan. 10.
A hearing on a second court case, filed by the petitioners against the township because of Mr. Davis’ August decision to throw out their petition on grounds the petition did not list the names of the petitioners and other technical shortcomings, will take place in state Superior Court in Somerville on Oct. 29 before Judge Peter Buschbaum, Mr. Davis said.
On Oct. 8, Judge Buschbaum said he did not believe he had jurisdiction at to hear the petitioner’s case because the ordinance case was on appeal, according to Mr. Davis.
However, the judge was persuaded to listen to arguments from both sides on Oct. 29 to determine whether he has jurisdiction to hear the matter, Mr. Davis said. One thing that is certain is that neither side will see its question on next Tuesday’s ballot.
"We have been advised by counsel to wait for the Appellate Court ruling, and, as appropriate, any subsequent court action on the invalid petition," Mayor Sireci said.
If neither the original ordinance nor the petition is upheld by the courts, Mayor Sireci says he anticipates reintroducing the ordinance sometime early next year.