The 1923 Municipal Manager Law was the last type of reformed municipal government the State of New Jersey introduced in the progressive era. The law introduced to New Jersey the council-manager form of government first developed in Sumter, South Carolina.
The council is nonpartisan and elected at-large for four-year terms. The terms may be either concurrent or staggered, and there is an option for run-off elections. Presently, only Lodi Borough uses run-offs and staggered terms, with half of the council being elected for four-year terms every two years.
The mayor, elected by the council from its own numbers, has no executive responsibility beyond appointing representatives of commissions and boards, and presiding over council meetings. The mayor is elected for a four-year term in municipalities with concurrent terms or serves for a two-year term in Lodi Borough which has staggered terms.
The members of the council are subject to recall elections.
| Municipality | County | Terms | Council Seats |
| Asbury Park City | Monmouth | Concurrent | 5 |
| Clifton City | Passaic | Concurrent | 7 |
| Garfield City | Bergen | Concurrent | 5 |
| Hackensack City | Bergen | Concurrent | 5 |
| Lodi Borough | Bergen | Staggered | 7 |
| Medford Lakes Borough | Burlington | Concurrent | 3 |
| Teterboro Borough | Bergen | Concurrent | 5 |
Famous quotes containing the words municipal, manager and/or law:
“No sane local official who has hung up an empty stocking over the municipal fireplace, is going to shoot Santa Claus just before a hard Christmas.”
—Alfred E. Smith (1873–1944)
“Nothing could his enemies do but it rebounded to his infinite advantage,—that is, to the advantage of his cause.... No theatrical manager could have arranged things so wisely to give effect to his behavior and words. And who, think you, was the manager? Who placed the slave-woman and her child, whom he stooped to kiss for a symbol, between his prison and the gallows?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The wit of man has devised cruel statutes,
And nature oft permits what is by law forbid.”
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)