10 seek election to charter study commission
Howell voters will be asked if they want a charter study panel
BY LARRY HLAVENKA JR.
Staff Writer

Two five-person slates are seeking to be elected to a charter study commission that would investigate different types of municipal government that could be used in Howell.

On Election Day, Nov. 7, there will be two questions on the ballot related to the Howell charter study commission. The first question will ask voters if they want to impanel a charter study commission. Residents may vote yes or no.

A second question will ask residents to elect five people to serve on the commission if a majority of voters approves the formation of a charter study commission.

One group of residents seeking to serve on a charter study commission is made up of Sharon Carpenter-Migliaccio, William Field, Reinhard Kirchhof, John Lebrio and George Wyatt.

A second group of residents seeking to serve on a charter study commission consists of William Adams, Bruce Goldberg, Jeanine Raccuglia, Michael Revier and Robin Shaughnessy.

Residents do not have to vote for an entire slate of candidates - they may vote for up to five individuals. The top five vote-getters will serve on the commission if such a panel is approved.

A five-person commission would study various forms of government and review whether the current system fits Howell's needs, or whether a different form of government should be employed. The commission would have nine months to hold public meetings and come up with a recommendation that would be forwarded to the Township Council.

Any proposed change in Howell's form of government would have to be placed before voters.

At one time Howell operated under a Township Committee form of government in which the mayor is not directly elected by residents.

The municipality eventually changed to its present form of government, a council-manager format. The mayor is directly elected by residents, but serves as a voting member of the five-person Township Council. There are no voting wards in Howell and all council members are elected at large.

Adams did not return a phone message seeking comment on why he is running for the charter study commission.

Carpenter-Migliaccio said she has lived in Howell her entire life, but declined to disclose her age. She is a makeup artist and a civil engineering student.

"It has come to my attention through the years that this form of government (council-manager) is not the most effective form of government for a township the size of Howell," she said. "This form seems to work best with smaller municipalities. Perhaps there is a form of government to serve us more efficiently."

She said she finds the current form confusing, since the council makes policy decisions, but defers to the manager to implement them.

"Our mayor is separately elected, but holds no greater power than the other four people up there," she said.

Carpenter-Migliaccio said she may favor a ward system in which representatives from different parts of Howell would be elected to a governing body by residents of that ward.

"What effects the northern part of Howell may not be as critical to the southern part of Howell," she said.

Carpenter-Migliaccio reminded residents that a charter study commission would not have the power to change Howell's form of government, but only to make a recommendation to the council.

Field, 46, is a professor of political science at Rutgers University and Georgian Court University. He said township elections have always favored a single slate of candidates with similar opinions.

"We moved here in 1994 and during that time each election has gone completely to one party, until last year," he said. "That doesn't seem like it is representing the town so well."

Field called the current system "unrepresentative" and said he may favor a ward system. However, he said if he is elected to a charter study commission he would examine all forms of government.

"My own sense is that it would be a lot more reasonable for the diversity of opinion in town to be expressed more efficiently," he said. "From following reorganizations in Dover Township and Jackson (both Ocean County municipalities have changed their form of government in recent years), it makes a lot of sense to look at our own system. I think if there were a way of getting more diversity, you have ideas better expressed."

Goldberg, 52, has lived in Howell since 1969. He works as an event coordinator and is a coach in the North Howell Little League.

He said he became involved when "it was brought to my attention that someone brought a proposal to change the system of government," referring to a 2005 effort put forth by a group of citizens to change to a different form of government that included wards. "When I heard people were trying to push this ward system, I heard it hadn't worked in Camden, Atlantic City, Newark, Jackson. I don't know if it's really good or not. It does seem as if it hasn't worked in other communities."

But Goldberg believes the government system is worth examining.

"I just feel that I could help if I was open and objective to see what would serve Howell best," he said.

Kirchhof, 56, has lived in Howell for 11 years and works in the food service/engineering field. He served on the Township Council from 1999 to 2002.

"The form of government we have now is not adequate for Howell," he said. "There are 10 to 12 other forms of government, Howell will fall into three or four," due to its size.

He, too, said he likes the idea of a ward system.

"I'd like to bring up wards where Howell would be divided into four or five different geographical areas and each area would have a representative elected," he said.

Lebrio, 57, a 20-year resident of Howell, is retired. Last year he led an initiative which proposed a specific change of government and attempted to place that proposal on the November 2005 ballot. The effort did not gather enough signatures on a petition to place the question before voters, but it did result in a Township Council decision to ask voters this year if they want a charter study commission to examine different forms of government.

Lebrio's group known as RAFT (Real Accountability for Taxpayers) supported a nonpartisan mayor-council form of government. The group proposed dividing Howell into wards and holding municipal elections in May instead of November.

"I want to make sure the form of government we are in now is the right form of government and if there is something better out there, [to see] if we should consider it," Lebrio said.

He discussed the ward system again, but did not say he would necessarily advocate that form of government if elected to the charter study commission.

"Howell's population has changed, there are more forms of government that we are opened up to," he said. "We want to make sure we cover all of the bases. Basically, I think there are some forms of government that allow people to be more intimate with their government."

Raccuglia did not return a phone message seeking comment on why she is running for the charter study commission.

Revier, 50, works as a plant manager for a plastic manufacturing company. He has lived in Howell since 1986. Most recently, he said he served a three-year term on the township's Economic Development Committee. He believes that experience and his willingness to ask questions make him an attractive candidate for a charter study commission.

"I was asked to participate so that I might be able to offer a point of view," he said. "Of what limited experience in government I have, I have a vested interest that the public is heard and all sides of the issue are given equal [discussion]. Maybe just by asking some questions to educate myself, it will educate others as well."

Revier does not have a preferred form of government, nor does he believe the current form is functioning inappropriately.

"I am pretty open as to the direction," he said. "I've heard some comments on both sides of the issue. I would absolutely want to hear more about it. I've heard complaints [about the current government], but I'm not sure how objective they are."

Shaughnessy could not be reached for comment.

Wyatt could not be reached for comment.