Group launches a petition drive to place issue on Nov. ballot.
By:Lea Kahn
For the second time in three years, a small band of citizens led by Dennick Court resident Peter W. Radice Jr. is circulating a petition that seeks to change the form of municipal government in Lawrence Township.
The group, comprising Mr. Radice, Charlotte Bradley, Patricia Burkett, Larry Flickinger and Mary Ivins, wants to place a question on the Nov. 8 ballot, asking township residents if they want to change the form of government.
The petition must be signed by 3,688 registered voters 20 percent of the 18,439 registered voters in Lawrence to put the question on the ballot. The petition must be submitted to Municipal Clerk Kathleen Norcia by July 25.
A similar effort in 2002 failed because Mr. Radice and his supporters could not gather enough signatures on the petition by the filing deadline.
The petition that is now in circulation asks voters whether they want to drop the present council-manager form of government and replace it with the mayor-council form, referred to as the "strong mayor" form.
"All this does is to put the question on the ballot," Mr. Radice said. "It does not change the form of government. In order to get people to discuss it, you have to get it on the ballot. They can vote it down, if they want."
Mayor Pam Mount, however, said that if the citizens want to change the form of government, a charter study commission should be formed similar to the one formed in Lawrence in 1989, and similar to the effort under way in Hopewell Township.
The mayor-council form of government calls for electing a mayor and a five-member township council. The mayor, who would oversee the daily activities of government, would be separately elected. All would serve staggered four-year terms.
None of the candidates would run as a member of a political party. The nonpartisan elections would be held in May, and a run-off election would be held in June if a candidate did not receive a majority of votes.
Under the current council-manager form, voters elect the five-member township council in November. The council members take turns serving in the honorary position of mayor. The candidates, who run as Democrats or Republicans, serve four-year terms. A municipal manager oversees the day-to-day activities of government.
This is not the first time that a change in the form of government has been considered in Lawrence. In 1989, a special charter commission studied the two forms of government. Mr. Radice served on the Charter Commission, which released its report in 1990.
Meanwhile, Mr. Radice said he has gathered about 300 signatures on the petition since it began circulating last week. The group expects to conduct a door-to-door campaign in the southern end of Lawrence to obtain more signatures, possibly as soon as next week, he said.
"We are trying to modernize the government. People want (a mayor) who is responsible to them someone who is elected and not appointed," Mr. Radice said. "The mayor knows the people can get rid of him if he is not responsive. We want a modern form of government. West Windsor Township, Trenton, Hamilton Township, Washington Township and Ewing Township all have it," said Mr. Radice, who served on the Trenton City Council before he moved to Lawrence in 1973.
Mr. Radice criticized the council-manager form, because of the lack of checks and balances. There are no executive or legislative branches of government under the current form, he said. Township council appoints a municipal manager, and once the budget has been adopted, it has little say-so in governmental operations, he added.
Mr. Radice also favors a nonpartisan form of government.
"In a nonpartisan situation, you get people who are looking to do the job," he said "(Serving on the council) is not a feather in their cap. They are not looking to move to the next level of government. They are dedicated," Mr. Radice said.
"Changing anything is difficult," he conceded. "But the results of change in most cases is rewarding."
Mayor Mount was skeptical about the so-called movement for changing the form of government. Mr. Radice is the only person that she knows of who has pushed for a change in the form of Lawrence Township’s municipal government, she said.
"If the citizens think we should restudy the form of government, I would be perfectly willing to do that," she said. "Last time, there were a few supporters. The process should be what they are doing in Hopewell Township form a charter study commission."
Mayor Mount pointed to the 1990 charter study commission in Lawrence, which recommended retaining the council-manager form. The commissioners decided that this is the best form of government for a community of this size, she said.
Municipal Manager William Guhl and Chief Financial Officer Richard Krawczun have done a good job preparing the budget, and Township Council is involved with the community, the mayor said.
In the strong-mayor form, there is no guarantee that the person who is elected as mayor has the skills to serve in that function, Mayor Mount said. But with the council-manager form, the residents have the best of both worlds a council that represents the public and a professional manager to run the day-to-day activities, she said.
Everyone on Township Council is responsive to the citizens, Mayor Mount said. If the council wanted one person to serve as mayor for four years, that could easily be done, she said. It is not necessary to have a strong-mayor form of government.
The strong-mayor form may be popular in the big cities, she said, but Lawrence is not going to grow much larger than it is now. She added that she could not think of any city governments that would be a model for Lawrence.
"We are not going to get much bigger, so what’s the point," Mayor Mount said. "It’s always an interesting discussion and an interesting debate, but we have a pretty good deal here."