The Faulkner Act, or Optional Municipal Charter Law, provides for New Jersey municipalities to adopt a Mayor-Council government.
This form of government provides for election of a mayor and five, seven, or nine council members. All council members may be elected at large, or some may be elected by wards; they may be partisan or nonpartisan, and serve four-year concurrent or staggered terms. There may be up to ten administrative departments.
As in all Faulkner Act municipalities, citizens in the Mayor-Council system enjoy the right of initiative and referendum, meaning that proposed ordinances can be introduced directly by the people without action by the local governing body. This right is exercised by preparing a conforming petition signed by 10% of the registered voters who turned out in the last general election in an odd-numbered year. Once the petition is submitted, the local governing body can vote to pass the requested ordinance, and if it refuses, it is then submitted directly to the voters.
The following municipalities have adopted Mayor-Council system under the Faulkner Act.
Municipality | County |
Atlantic City | Atlantic |
Avalon Borough | Cape May |
Bayonne City | Hudson |
Berkeley Township | Ocean |
Brick Township | Ocean |
Bridgeton City | Cumberland |
Bridgewater Township | Somerset |
Burlington City | Burlington |
Burlington Township | Burlington |
Camden City | Camden |
Cherry Hill Township | Camden |
Clark Township | Union |
Delran Township | Burlington |
Denville Township | Morris |
East Brunswick Township | Middlesex |
Edison Township | Middlesex |
Elizabeth City | Union |
Ewing Township | Mercer |
Florence Township | Burlington |
Gloucester Township | Camden |
Hamilton Township | Mercer |
Harrison Town | Hudson |
Hawthorne Borough | Passaic |
Hillside Township | Union |
Hoboken City | Hudson |
Irvington Township | Essex |
Jackson Township Switched from Township as of July 1, 2006 |
Ocean |
Jefferson Township | Morris |
Jersey City | Hudson |
Lincoln Park Borough | Morris |
Little Falls Township | Passaic |
Long Branch City | Monmouth |
Mahwah Township | Bergen |
Manchester Township | Ocean |
Marlboro Township | Monmouth |
Mine Hill Township | Morris |
Monroe Township | Gloucester |
Monroe Township | Middlesex |
Morristown Town | Morris |
Mount Olive Township | Morris |
Mountainside Borough | Union |
Mullica Township | Atlantic |
Newark City | Essex |
New Brunswick City | Middlesex |
North Caldwell Borough | Essex |
North Plainfield Borough | Somerset |
North Wildwood (City of) | Cape May |
Oaklyn | Camden |
Ocean City | Cape May |
Old Bridge Township | Middlesex |
Orange City Township | Essex |
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township | Morris |
Passaic City | Passaic |
Paterson City | Passaic |
Pemberton Township | Burlington |
Perth Amboy City | Middlesex |
Phillipsburg Town | Warren |
Plainfield City | Union |
Piscataway Township | Middlesex |
Rahway City | Union |
River Vale Township | Bergen |
Robbinsville Township (known as Washington Township until 2007) |
Mercer |
Rockaway Township | Morris |
Saddle Brook Township | Bergen |
Sea Isle City Switched from Walsh Act as of July 1, 2007 |
Cape May |
Somerville Borough | Somerset |
South Amboy City | Middlesex |
Spotswood Borough | Middlesex |
Tinton Falls Borough | Monmouth |
Toms River Township | Ocean |
Trenton City | Mercer |
Vernon Township | Sussex |
Vineland City | Cumberland |
Washington Township | Bergen |
Washington Township | Gloucester |
Wayne Township | Passaic |
West Orange Township | Essex |
West Windsor Township | Mercer |
Wildwood City | Cape May |
Willingboro Township | Burlington |
Woodbridge Township | Middlesex |
Famous quotes containing the words faulkner and/or act:
“All of us failed to match our dreams of perfection. So I rate us on the basis of our splendid failure to do the impossible.”
—William Faulkner (18971962)
“Ah, Marilyn, Hollywoods Joan of Arc, our Ultimate Sacrificial Lamb. Well, let me tell you, she was mean, terribly mean. The meanest woman I have ever known in this town. I am appalled by this Marilyn Monroe cult. Perhaps its getting to be an act of courage to say the truth about her. Well, let me be courageous. I have never met anyone as utterly mean as Marilyn Monroe. Nor as utterly fabulous on the screen, and that includes Garbo.”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)