EDITORIAL
By Ruth Luse
For the first time since November, when Hopewell Township voters approved the creation of the Hopewell Township Charter Study Commission, citizens have a chance to find out what the five commissioners have been doing since they began meeting late last year.
The five-member commission, which is doing an in-depth study that might lead to a recommendation to change the township’s form of government, will give an interim report and answer questions at a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the municipal building.
This session comes near the end of Phase 1 (a study of the current form of government). Two more phases follow, according to Chairman Jim McGuire. They are: a study of forms of government to which the township might change (April and May), and the decision-making and report-writing phase (June and July). The deadline for issuing the commission report is Aug. 1.
Those interested in what Chairman McGuire and the other four member of the group Bill Cane, Janet Crum, Jon Edwards and Patricia Tieman have discovered about township government thus far should plan to attend.
What this group ultimately decides could have a significant impact on the way township government business is done in the future. These commissioners, in their final report, will make a recommendation. They might say the current form of government is fine. Leave it be. Or they could recommend that voters pick another form to replace the existing Township Committee form.
If the commission does the latter, voters then would decide whether they like the commission’s recommendation in the next November general election or in a special election (must be held at least 60 days, but not more than 120 days, following the official filing of the charter commission’s report with the municipal clerk).
Since this government study is a first for Hopewell Township, citizens should make a point of learning as much as they can about it. They can attend the April 12 meeting, or check out: [email protected].

