The proposed changes are not power to the Voters, as they advertise.
It will be power to the Mayor supported by a minority number of registered voters.
The facts show the proposed structure breeds strong Mayors, not the "weak Mayor" they advertise.
Holmdel’s current decentralized Township Form of Government is the “weakest” format as the Mayor is elected to a 1 yr term. The Committee structure allows for equal weight and equal power amongst the 5 members.
Any change in structure creates a “stronger mayor” than we have today by electing them to 4-yr terms. The Council-Manager Form is the weaker mayor format of the 2 options (Mayor-Council-Strongest Mayor) available.
Directly elect the Mayor puts unspeakable power into the hands of 1 person with the ability to fund raise far beyond anything they can do as township committee member, assures a 4 yr term becomes 8, 12, 16 years and running.
The proof is in the NJ municipalities that have converted to Council-Manager, only 43 (8%) of 565, use this form.
Let’s look at the Mayor tenures in the ONLY 5 (5 of 53, 9%) Monmouth County municipalities that converted to C-M
Keansburg (18yrs), Aberdeen (13yrs), Asbury Park (8yrs), Ocean (7yrs), & Howell (6yrs).
Mayors become extremely difficult to remove and are only supported by a minority number of registered voters in these structures.
Voter turnout so low Mayors in Keansburg and Ocean Township won their reelections with 12% of registered voters support. Note party bosses are alive and well in these structures with even stronger outside influences.
(https://saveholmdel.org/models-for-holmdel%3F)
This is exactly why Holmdel does not “directly elect the mayor.”
It is false advertising.
85% of NJ municipalities hold PARTISAN elections. The unusual combination to directly elect your mayor in nonpartisan elections, its radical! Used by only 36 (6%) of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities! And those 36 municipalities are very different from Holmdel. They include many of New Jersey’s largest and highest-density cities.
They want us to directly elect Holmdel’s King!
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