Committee mulls charter newsletter

Attorney asked if township must mail pamphlet to voters

By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
   Township Committeeman Carl Suraci questioned at Tuesday’s meeting the need to approve a request from the Charter Study Commission to provide $7,000 to mail an educational pamphlet to all Hillsborough residents.
   The planned pamphlet would detail the reasons for the commission’s recommendation to change from a township committee form to a mayor-council form of government.
   Mr. Suraci said he was unsure if the request was necessary since the report detailing the commission’s decision to recommend a change in government is already available to residents.
   ”I don’t see the point of having another expense,” he said. “But if law requires it, it must be permitted.”
   Mr. Suraci requested that Township Attorney Albert Cruz look into the role of the commission and determine whether it is required by law that it spend the money to send an informational pamphlet to residents’ homes.
   According to Commission Chairman Chris Jensen, the budget that was approved in December 2006 included funds for such a pamphlet to better explain the commission’s recommendation.
   ”The commission had always planned and budgeted for this,” he said.
   The Charter Study Commission was created in 2006 to study the current form of government and make any recommendations for changes as they saw fit from months of research. The commission’s recommendation will be on November’s ballot, and residents will have the opportunity to vote on whether the government form should change.
   Now that the commission has already published its recommendation, members have been spending their time trying to plan and create an educational pamphlet that will explain to residents the job of the commission, as well as the reasons they favor a mayor-council form of government over the current form.
   Mr. Jensen said the basic goal of the pamphlet is to provide the public with more information so they are better informed on election day.
   ”You can’t put a price on an informed public,” he said.
   The commission recommended a mayor-council form of government, in which the mayor is directly elected by the people, as are the five members of the council. The form of government also includes a mayor-appointed business administrator.
   Copies of the full report are available free of charge in the clerk’s office, as well as on the Web site at hillsborough-nj.org. There will also be notice in each week’s e-newsletter through election day, and on TV-25, Hillsborough’s Hometown Channel.