The Township Committee planned to act on a charter study ordinance at Wednesday’s meeting.
By: Melissa Edmond
The question to change the form of government to mayor-council failed by 408 votes, 5,545 to 5,137, in Tuesday’s voting.
As a result, the Township Committee planned to act on a charter study ordinance at Wednesday’s meeting, according to Committeeman Anthony Ferrera.
Mr. Ferrera, who was elected to a three-year term on the Township Committee on Tuesday night, said he was extremely pleased that the question was voted down.
"We didn’t waste money. We knew what the town wanted," he said. "We were confident if this would have gone to vote that the town wouldn’t want wards and that was shown tonight by the vote."
He said the vote shows that residents want a charter study.
"I told people I would give them an option and that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve done everything I told the people I would do," he said.
Former township Mayor Glenn van Lier, a member of Citizens for a Change in Government LLC, which petitioned to put the change question on the ballot, said he hopes the committee keeps its promise.
"I hope they will follow through with their promise of a charter study and that, more importantly, they don’t manipulate the voters like they did in this election season," Mr. van Lier said.
He said the Republicans on the Township Committee as well as members of the political action group Residents Against Wards (RAW) carried similar messages against the change in government.
He said false information was provided by both groups to residents through their literature and in a tape that was aired on local channel 25, which showed a public meeting about the proposed mayor-council form of government but excluded public comment.
"It wasn’t that big of a surprise to me," he said, indicating that the voters were uninformed and scared by the information RAW distributed.
Mr. van Lier and George Ostegren, a member of the group of petitioners, both cited a claim in one of RAW’s flyers that indicated that it would cost $700,000 for the township to implement the change in government.
"That’s a flat out lie. No one knows how much it’s going to cost," Mr. Ostegren said. "It was disappointing to me that the voters didn’t see beyond their dishonest literature … I think this proposal was good for Hillsborough Township."
Mr. van Lier said the petitioners did the best they could.
"We can hold our heads up high. We did the right thing. We were honest," Mr. van Lier said about the petitioners, claiming that their efforts forced the committee to follow through with a charter study.
The Township Committee introduced an ordinance at its Oct. 11 meeting to place a question on the ballot in November 2006 seeking to create a charter study commission. If the ordinance was approved at Wednesday’s (Nov. 9) meeting, the commission would study the possible forms of government for Hillsborough allowed by the 1950 Optional Municipal Charter Law, commonly called the Faulkner Act.
The commission may recommend a change or recommend no change which residents would vote on in the subsequent year.

