A bill that would change the terms of office for the mayor and council from two to four years has passed the state senate and has moved onto the state assembly for possible passage by June. If passed, the winner of the November mayoral election would serve for four years rather than two.
The matter was a surprise to some local political figures, who said it seemed to have been kept relatively quiet. They said that if the bill becomes law this year, it could change the length of office after all deadlines have passed for possible opponents to opt to run against Democratic Mayor Dennis Elwell.
Independents and Republicans have until June 5 to register for the November mayoral election. Because Elwell has a significant financial war chest and a particularly good economic climate in which to run, possible opponents who didn’t know about the bill might have opted to skip this year and face him in two years when conditions would have been different – not realizing until it was too late that they would have to wait four years instead.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-20th Dist.) – whose firm is employed by the town – was the chief sponsor of the bill in the senate. Legislation in the state assembly was sponsored by Neil Cohen (D-20th Dist.) someone who has frequently sponsored legislation with Secaucus Democratic Municipal Leader Anthony Impreveduto.
The bill would change the terms of office without a voter referendum. The voters of Secaucus rejected such a change in a 1996 referendum by a three to one margin.
The bill it is currently being reviewed by the Assembly Local Government Committee for possible passage in June.
Deputy Mayor John Reilly, a rumored potential candidate for mayor this year, said he first learned about the law at a fundraiser late last month. He had thought the legislation had been tabled until next year, but actually, the state senate passed the legislation 36-2 on March 26.
According to Assemblyman Cohen’s office, the legislation is still active and could still be passed this year. In fact, the legislation seems to be on a fast track, with both the senate and assembly acting much more quickly than is typical. Sen. Lesniak introduced the bill in the senate on Feb. 15, and the senate passed the legislation with one minor amendment on March 26. Assemblyman Cohen introduced the same bill on Feb. 22, and – according to a representative of Cohen’s office – the assembly could vote on the matter as soon as June, if the bill gets released from committee.
The change of law affects two other communities in the state that still have what is considered an older style of municipal government for 12,000 or more residents. The bill would also affect Harrison in Hudson County and Westfield in Union County.
“This bill represents a legislative determination that when the population of a town reaches 12,000 persons, it requires the leadership continuity of a four-year mayor,” the bill passed by the senate says.
Reilly said the legislature apparently developed the law as the result of political pressure in Westfield, but since the state cannot develop a law to change the government in only one municipality, Secaucus and Harrison will be affected.
It was largely a mystery
Apparently, despite the major change this would mean for Secaucus, very few people in Secaucus were aware of the legislation until Assemblyman Impreveduto (D- 32nd Dist.) and state Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D- 32nd Dist.) announced it at a fund raiser in Secaucus at the end of March.
The timing has raised protests from various political figures.
“I’m firmly against it. I think they are trying to sneak something through it without the people of Secaucus knowing, something Secaucus people rejected in the past,” said Frank MacCormack, who ran for mayor as an Independent two years ago. “If Dennis [Elwell] and rest of the council want to be honest about this, they would present this to the public and let the public vote on this.”
First Ward Councilman John Bueckner, another possible mayoral candidate, will have until June 5 to make up his mind whether he will run for mayor’s office or run for reelection as a councilman.
“I can say this, the matter was never discussed at a council while I was in attendance,” he said last week, calling it “disheartening news.”
Bueckner said he believed it unlikely that Elwell and other Democratic council members did not know of the impending law, since the assembly sponsor of the bill, Cohen, has co-sponsored legislation with Impreveduto – the municipal democratic leader in Secaucus.
“I think something as important as this, should have been discussed on the council,” he said. “I’m not naive enough to think Dennis [Elwell] didn’t know, since Dennis is the one that brought Lesniak into Secaucus to do legal work. Dennis must have had some discussion.”
Elwell said he had heard about the change, but had presumed it would not take place before the 2001 Secaucus mayoral election. He said political pressure in Westfield had prompted the change.
“I was told it had stalled in the assembly and that it was unlikely to happen this year,” he said. “I didn’t talk about it because I didn’t see a point of talking about something that might not happen.”
Voters had rejected the change
In 1996, Secaucus voters rejected the change of government in a 3-1 vote when the question was put on a referendum.
The change of government option came as a result of a 1991 law sponsored by Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto in answer to the near constant campaigning local officials under the current two-year cycle.
Under the present system, Secaucus voters elect one councilperson in each ward every year, with the mayor’s seat up every alternating year in what Impreveduto called “government in flux,” in which half the council is up for reelection every year. But before Impreveduto’s legislation became law, communities like Secaucus could not change these terms of office without also changing the form of government. Secaucus has what is called a “weak mayor” system, but one in which the mayor has voting and veto power. In some other towns like Carlstadt, the mayor doesn’t vote except to break a tie.
Yet even though the law has been on the books since 1991, Secaucus did not pursue the change, though numerous local officials complained about the grind of year to year campaigning.
In 1996, Michael Harper, then an aide to former Mayor Anthony Just, started a petition drive to put the matter on the ballot.
Bueckner said he believed the move by the state legislature in 2001 is in direct opposition to the will of Secaucus voters.
Thomas Troyer, who ran for mayor as a Republican two years ago and could run this year, said he was also troubled by the silence, noting that a lack of information could keep people from running for office this year.
“I’m running for Board of Education,” he said. “I’m not thinking about running for mayor. But I think this is just the way Town Hall operates. It doesn’t surprise me.”