By Charles Layton
The Coaster has a story today (Thursday) about a petition drive aimed at changing Neptune Township’s form of government to a Mayor-Council system.
At present, Neptune is governed by five council members. According to the article, the petitioners, under the name NeptuneGovernment4All, want to change that to a system under which a mayor would be elected at large to a four-year term, and council members would be elected under a ward system rather than at large, as they are now.
The group’s website lists Warren Lapp, the former Republican candidate for township committee, as NG4A’s treasurer. No other officers or participants are listed. However, the Coaster quotes Dru Reynolds of Ocean Grove as one of the organizers. It quotes Reynolds as saying Neptune’s current system of choosing a mayor is undemocratic. Under that system, the five council members choose one of their own to serve a one-year mayoral term, on a rotating basis. Kevin McMillan is mayor this year, Randy Bishop will be mayor next year, and so on.
The Asbury Park Press also has an article on its website about the group — go here to read it.
The Coaster’s article is more comprehensive. It’s on page one.
The proponents need to get at least 20 percent of Neptune’s registered voters to sign their petition by Sept. 2, the Coaster says, in order to place a referendum on the November ballot.
Jerry — This is the place for the discussion you seek. Discuss away.
Ken,
Have you sent an email to the group asking about the cost question? I know they have a website.
But, I have a question for Blogfinger? Why aren’t they covering this more intensely? It’s a very important issue that Ocean Grover’s should know about.
“His or her” …who cares? I asked about the cost three days ago and still no answer on how much the immediate and recurring costs will be. Am I the only one concerned about the cost of government? Suppose it would be too costly to implement?
Mayor: Are you being extra sensitive? Isn’t it a writing convention to say “his” in a generic way? Should Frank have said, “His or her?” Just asking for future reference. Paul
The Mayor should achieve “his” goals, Frank? What if the Mayor is a woman? There’s been three female mayors in Neptune history, including me, and who’s to say that if this passed, I or another woman wouldn’t run and win?
I think 8 years maximum and then out they go for township committee members. If it’s good enough for the President then all should abide, from Congress to local government.
I think a Mayor should have a four year term in order to accomplish his goals; one year makes this impossible.
I just hope the people are willing to foot the bill for four more committeepeople and a full-time mayor at a salary of around $60K a year plus benefits and perks (right now, committeepeople get a little less than $7K a year and the mayor around $8K, and none of them get benefits through the township). This would be in addition to the current professional staff (contrary to what some believe, changing forms of government does not end tenure for department heads or professionals).
Bringing a big-city type of government to a medium-sized township can get mighty expensive for the taxpayer. If they can get enough valid signatures, put it on the ballot. It’s just a weird suggestion to increase the amount of committeepeople and expense involved when many of the same individuals involved with this (an offshoot of the Tea Party is helping them) complain that we spend too much on professionals, cops, and OEM. I’m up for whatever the people want, but as a citizen, I’d rather have more cops than more committeepeople. More committeepeople and an elected four-year mayor aren’t going to be able to bring the crime rate down or stop shootings or car break-ins. More cops can, though.
I have not read any mention of additional cost for taxpayers. Most citizen concerns have been about reducing the tax burden. Will double the number of elected officials sitting at the dais cost the same as five? Offices? Annual salary expense? Etc…etc?
Budget facts, please.
Did you folks know that the Democrats looked at the same idea back when they were out of power? It is a fact. I spoke to one of them talking about it yesterday. Randy Bishop was even considering it. And, after looking into this, there are several court cases that support this idea.
Take a look at the following link, especially at the bottom.
http://coalition4democracy.com/wardfacts.htm
Come on, let’s not demagogue something here. Let the people decide what they want.
Which is ironic, because the form of government currently in place is actually more republican (as in “in the style of a Republic”) than democratic.
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I guess the Republicans decided that was the only way one of them would have a shot of being Mayor. They’ve been having a hard time even getting elected to the Township Committee since Tom Catley moved on.
Let’s hope this gets on the ballot so that all of Neptune has a vote in it. I was reading the Press article the other day and it’s a nice idea that deserves the light of day. I’m not sure what the mention of a political party in this article has to do with the idea.
I for one see this as an opportunity for all of Neptune to have its say. Just sayin’