Mahwah August 18, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 3 Officials opt to move council election to November by Frank J. McMahon Mahwah’s governing body has decided to introduce an ordinance that will move the township council election that takes place every two years from May to November. If the ordinance is adopted, the 2012 council election would be pushed from May to November, and the terms of Mayor Richard Martel, who will be up for reelection that year, and Council Members Samuel Alderisio, Lisa DiGiulio, and John Roth, who will also up for reelection that year, will have their terms extended by six months. Mahwah’s municipal government is nonpartisan. That is, it does not have any party affiliations, and candidates do not run for municipal election under the banner of any political party. Township Attorney Terry Bottinelli explained to the council at a recent public meeting that a new state law permits nonpartisan municipal governments to hold their elections on the same day as the November general election. Council President John DaPuzzo said he favored the change in date because there would be a higher turnout in a November election. He emphasized that the township’s style of government will remain non-partisan. A straw poll of the council indicated total agreement with the change in date of the municipal elections. The new law permitting the change was passed by the New Jersey Senate in December by a 38-0 vote. Later that month, the measure was passed by the New Jersey Assembly by a vote of 50 to 24 with two abstentions. It became public law in January, but will not take effect until January 2011. As a result, the earliest year in which the date of the Mahwah municipal elections could be changed is 2012. Under previous state law, municipal elections that are nonpartisan were held on the second Tuesday in May. The new law will allow any municipality that holds regular municipal elections to choose by ordinance to hold regular municipal elections on the same day as the general election, which is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The new law provides, however, that once a municipality has chosen to change the date of its regular municipal election to the date of the general election, it is not permitted to change the date back to the month of May until at least 10 years have passed since the adoption of an ordinance to change the date. A new ordinance would have to be adopted in order to change the date back to May. Any runoff in a November general election would be held that December, with the elected official taking office on Jan. 1. Brian Campion, Mahwah’s township administrator, estimated that the change in date of the Mahwah municipal election would save the township up to $50,000 in election costs, and would spur participation by a greater number of voters in the municipality. Some elected officials in the state have voiced opposition to the change in date for non-partisan municipal elections because voters in the general election often vote along political party lines, which could be unfair to Independent candidates. William Dressel, director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, agreed that some municipalities, depending on their size, would save money with a change of the municipal election date. He pointed out that the league is pleased that the law is permissive in that it gives municipalities the option to change the date but, at the same time, the league felt the 10-year time frame to change back to the May date was too long. The primary sponsors of the new law were Assemblymen Patrick J Diegnan Jr. and Peter J Barnes III, Democrats from the 18th District in Middlesex County; Nellie Pou, a Democrat from the 35th District in Bergen and Passaic counties; and Paul D. Moriarty, a Democrat from the Fourth District in Camden and Gloucester counties, and several co-sponsors in the Assembly and State Senator Barbara Buono, also from District 18 in Middlesex County. The Mahwah Library Writers’ Collective meets on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. at the Mahwah Public Library. The group’s goal is to support adult writers at all levels. The collective will allow writers to share their stories and receive constructive feedback. Writers working in fiction and creative non-fiction are welcome and need not to be published to join. ‘Collective’ supports writers Members are encouraged to attend regularly and come prepared with copies of their work to share. Mahwah residency is not required, and there is no fee. The group is accepting new members this fall. Call Cindy Herrmann at (201) 529-2938 for information. The Mahwah Library is located at 100 Ridge Road in Mahwah. The best prices are now! �������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������� ���������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������� ���������������������� ������� ������������ ����� ������������ ������������� ������������ ��������� ������������