Voters in America do a lot of stupid things. I do not need to list the names of people who would have been better off remaining private citizens than public officials.
But the beauty of our system of government is that Americans have the right to go into a voting booth and make dumb decisions. Our founding fathers gave us that right, and we do not want to let them down.
On Nov. 8, 2005, a majority of the voters who turned out on Election Day in Jackson voted in favor of switching from a Township Committee form of government to a mayor and Township Council form of government.
The change in Jackson’s form of government was approved by a count of 6,587 yes to 5,682 no. There were 28,943 registered voters in the township at that time.
Jackson’s new form of government was to be nonpartisan, meaning that candidates running for a municipal office (mayor or council) would not appear on the election ballot on a political party line. The voters’ decision to change the form of government also moved the date of the municipal election from November to May.
A mayor and council members were elected inMay 2006 and took office on July 1, 2006, as the new government came into being.
In recent years some Garden State residents and media members have started to complain about the number of times residents have to go to the polls if they choose to participate in the elective process to the fullest extent possible.
Fire district elections are held in February, school budget and board of education elections are held in April, municipal elections in nonpartisan towns are held in May, primary elections are held in June and the general election is held in November.
With complaints about all of those election dates ringing in their ears, members of the state Legislature eventually passed a law that gives municipalities that have a nonpartisan form of government and hold a municipal election in May the option to move the nonpartisan municipal election to November, on the same day that voters will be casting ballots in partisan elections for president, governor, and other state and federal offices.
Sporadic discussion continues in Trenton — without any decision being made — about whether to move the school election (April) and the fire district election (February) to the general election date in November.
But back to Jackson. On June 14 the Township Council voted 3-2 to introduce an ordinance that, if adopted on June 28, will move the municipal election from May to November beginning in 2012. The three council members who voted to introduce the ordinance, Scott Martin, Ken Bressi andAnn Updegrave, said the change in date will save money by eliminating one election date from the calendar and result in a higher turnout for the municipal election since more people vote in November when all other offices are on the ballot, than in May, when only the municipal offices are on the ballot.
Council members Mike Kafton and Bobbie Rivere voted no on the introduction of the ordinance.
Kafton made it a point to say that the people who voted in favor of a change in Jackson’s form of government in 2005 voted to have the municipal election in May.
Perhaps some or all of the 6,500 people who voted for the change in government did so because they wanted a municipal election in May to have a lower turnout than a municipal race would have in November.
Perhaps some or all of the 6,500 people who voted for the change in government did so because they wanted officials to have to spend tens of thousands of dollars on an additional election date every two years just to show those who recommended the change how silly the idea was to replace one political setup with another and believe there would be an improvement.
(By the way, has the new form of government in Jackson lowered property taxes in six years? Improved the quality of life for residents? Instituted better public services and programs? Attracted more commercial ratables to the township? Led to better representation on the municipal level? I would be interested in hearing the answers to those questions from people who voted to change the township’s form of government. “Hope and change,” you know.)
Regardless of the voters’ motivation in 2005, I agree with Kafton that the residents of Jackson should be asked, in a binding referendum, if they want the date of Jackson’s municipal election to be moved from May to November.
Kafton has suggested placing the referendum question on the November 2011 general election ballot.
I would respectfully disagree with the councilman on that point. I believe the referendum question should be placed on the May 2012 municipal ballot when people who care enough to vote in the municipal election can cast their ballots on the proposed change in election dates.
Mark Rosman is the managing editor of the Tri-Town News. He may be reached at [email protected].