I’m writing this letter about a ballot question being posed to Hillsborough voters in November.
Heather Lovell Burniston Court
Question number five states “Shall the Mayor-Council Plan of Optional Municipal Charter Law, providing for five council members to be elected at large for staggered terms at elections held in November with the mayor elected directly by the voters be adopted by Hillsborough, Township, Somerset County, New Jersey?”
At first glance, it’s sounds great. We would be able to directly elect our mayor. Who wouldn’t want to directly elect their mayor? But after catching a couple of the Charter Study Commission meetings on TV, I decided to download and read the 82 page Hillsborough Charter Study Commission’s final report. It was a daunting task but well worth it. Learning about the past history of Hillsborough was fascinating and well written. Reading the rest of the report was an eye opening experience in which I learned a great deal about our local government.
Hillsborough for me has always had a small town feel even though it has grown leaps and bounds over the years. The caring I have seen people show for one another in this town is unmatched to anywhere else I have ever lived. I credit this to being one of the reason’s Hillsborough was named the 23rd best town in the USA by Money Magazine.
So I have to ask, why change it? Why risk going from our current township form, which is quoted, on page 27 of the report as “simple and close to the people” to a mayor-council form, which on page 22, is stated as being a “more complex-larger government”?
If this new form of government is passed in November, we are going to see the same political gridlock here in Hillsborough that we read and watch going on in Trenton. Do you really want that? I for one am happy to still have that “simple close to the people” feel. I like knowing that at anytime if I have a concern about my town, I can walk into a Township Committee meeting and voice my concerns to the mayor and township committee members. With this new form, the mayor doesn’t even have to show up at meetings.
Lastly, right now our taxes are among the lowest in Somerset County. I know of several other towns that had significant tax increases after they changed to the mayor-council form of government. I personally can’t see how taxes won’t go up. The additional staff alone will cause higher taxes.
Unlike some who have lived here for a long time, I have enjoyed watching changes take place in Hillsborough. Change can be a good thing when it’s done for the right reasons. But to make a change of this magnitude with there being so many flaws in the proposed form of government just doesn’t make any sense.
Keep our town government “simple and close to the people”; vote no on local question no. 5 this November.