Morrell wants chance to serve on council
Former mayor will seek appointment to open position
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

Harvey Morrell

Former Mayor Harvey Morrell told the Tri-Town News he wants to be appointed to fill the unexpired term on the Howell Township Council that will be open when Councilman Joseph DiBella is sworn in as mayor in January.

Morrell said that when he was campaigning with DiBella before the election, he found in going door to door that he was well remembered and “missed by many.”

“The old flame was lit,” he said.

DiBella was elected to a four-year term as mayor and the Republicans will be enjoying a fully Republican governing body for the first time in eight years.

When he is sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, DiBella will leave a council term that has two years remaining. The first year of that unexpired term will be filled by an appointee from the Republican Party. That person will serve in 2005.

In November there will be an election for the final year of the term. The person who is appointed to the seat may run to serve the final year.

Norine Kelly is Howell’s Republican municipal chairwoman and is the individual receiving the applications of those residents seeking to be a candidate for appointment. Members of the council are paid about $5,000 per year.

Kelly will submit all of the applicants to a committee that will in turn choose three finalists to be submitted for consideration by the council. She said the party has 15 days from the time DiBella is sworn in as mayor to submit three applicants to the governing body for consideration for the position.

Members of the council will have 30 days from the time when they receive the names of the three finalists to name a successor to DiBella.

Kelly said she believes the council will announce its choice for the appointment at the first public meeting following the receipt of the final nominees.

As of Tuesday, Kelly said she had received five résumés and telephone calls from four other people who indicated they would be submitting résumés for consideration.

Morrell was elected Howell’s mayor in 1992 and held the office from January 1993 through December 1996. He was defeated in the November 1996 election by Democrat Timothy J. Konopka.

Konopka took office in January 1997. He will leave office on Dec. 31 after declining to seek re-election to a third term in November.

Morrell, 73, said he enjoys the distinction of being Howell’s first elected mayor following a change of government from a township committee to a township council. The mayor is a voting member of the council, but is elected as a mayor and not a councilman.

Morrell also has the distinction of being Howell’s first police officer. That occurred in 1971 when the New Jersey State Police were replaced by the township’s own police department. Morrell later became the department’s first chief.

Since 1996, Morrell has served as the director of public safety in Allentown. He said he is presently grooming a person to take the position of police chief in Allentown.

He said his retirement in Allentown will give him the time he will need to turn his attention full-time to help keep things running in Howell if he is selected for the position.

“I’ve been out of it for a while,” Morrell said, adding that he is looking forward to the opportunity to get back into political life.