Jackson votes for new form of government
Residents will be able to elect mayor directly
BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer

The second time was the charm for advocates of a change in Jackson’s form of government. Voters approved a ballot question on Nov. 8 that was recommended by a majority of charter study commission members in July.

As a result, Jackson’s five-member Township Committee will be replaced with a directly elected mayor and five at-large council members elected in staggered terms. The new government will debut midway through 2006.

A winner-take-all contest will be held in May. The cost of the change will not be determined until the new government takes control on July 1 and sets salaries for new personnel and elected officials.

Residents approved the change of government with a vote of 6,587 “yes” to 5,682 “no” on Election Day. According to the Ocean County Board of Elections, there were 28,943 registered voters in Jackson as of Aug. 11.

Two years ago an advocacy group called Voters Organized to Elect our mayor (VOTE) proposed a similar change of government, which voters rejected.

However, while the government change that voters approved on Nov. 8 will not include VOTE’s proposed ward system for Jackson, it will authorize nonpartisan municipal elections to be held in May instead of partisan elections held in November.

There will be no primary elections to determine candidates for office.

On Nov. 8, Republicans Josh Reilly and Ann Updegrave won the final Township Committee election, defeating Democrats Michael Brod-erick and Kevin Nerwinski. Republicans will control the township’s government from Jan. 1 to June 30.

Despite his defeat, Nerwinski said he has already decided to run in May for the four-year term of mayor.

“There’s always going to be an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ under your name, but I don’t think people thought about local politics [on Nov. 8] other than putting [Doug] Forrester in office to lower their taxes,” Nerwinski said. “May elections are going to be about the local candidates. Now the playing field is a little more level, so we have a shot. If I lose [again], I will be sure of one thing — the people don’t want me.”

Reilly said he is contemplating a run for an elected office in the new government, but did not specify if it would be as mayor or a council member.

Updegrave said she would not run for mayor, but intends to run for council.

“I would never jump into the mayor’s position first time out,” Updegrave said. “Anybody ... needs to get their feet wet before they get comfortable wearing the hat of mayor.”

Updegrave said she and Reilly had not supported the form of government proposed in the approved ballot question. However, Updegrave said she understood voters’ desire for change.

“The taxpayers obviously want change, big time, in Jackson,” she said. “They voted us in but they also want a full-time mayor in Jackson. Some people just want total change, [but] may not understand the ramifications of this change.”

Republican Committeeman Mark Seda said he has not made a decision about running for a position in the new government.

Broderick did not return calls for comment. Democratic Committeeman Sean Giblin indicated he had not made any decision at this time.

However, Deputy Mayor Michael Kafton, who served on the charter study commission and voted with the majority to recommend a change in Jackson’s form of government, said Monday that he is considering a run for either mayor or council.

Kafton has previously said that he supports a directly elected mayor for Jackson. He said he was pleased with the outcome of the election.

“Of course I’m very happy that it passed,” he said. “I went out there and campaigned for it.”

Leslie Savage, who served on the charter study commission and did not vote with the majority to recommend the change, said she campaigned to defeat the ballot question, but conceded that her efforts were not successful.

“I thought the election would be a little closer than it was,” she said. “What was more of a surprise was that the public was so willing to accept any change, even a bad one, rather than wait for something better to be proposed.”

Savage said she would not seek an elected position in the new government.

Charter study commission member Sal Duscio, who also did not vote to recommend the change, said he had not expected voters to approve the change of government either.

“I was expecting a very close vote, but I wasn’t expecting to lose,” Duscio said. “A lot of people tell me that they didn’t vote for a change of government, they voted to directly elect their mayor. I told them, ‘You bought the package, pal.’ ”

Gross, a core member of VOTE as well as a member of the charter study commission majority that recommended the change, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the election.

“I was not surprised by the results, I was delighted,” he said. “I did not speak with people at the polls, but I did speak with people at a supermarket a couple of days before Election Day. Most people felt that they wanted to vote for their own mayor. Most of them said they were dissatisfied with the partisan fighting, the dirty politics or the non-issue fighting. They said they felt it was time for a change and they voted accordingly.”