About Us
Founding Members
The original founders of Howell NJ First were the five residents who circulated the nonpartisan petition in 2021.
(Seated L-R, Dawn Van Brunt, Michael Bernstein, Marc Parisi, Kathi Novak, Ira Thor)
About our form of government
Howell Township has a Council-Manager form of government, commonly referred to as the Faulkner Act. Our Council has five members and every two years either two or three seats are up for election. Howell holds partisan elections, which means candidates run as affiliated with one of the two major political parties: Republican or Democrat. All Council members serve four-year terms. Our Mayor is one of the five Council members and has limited authority beyond that of the other Council members.
Council's role is limited to legislative duties, meaning they make laws and set policy. Council hires a Manager who runs the day-to-day operations of the town. Council appoints a municipal clerk, a tax assessor, and has a role in the selection of the township attorney. Council also appoints residents to serve on the Planning and Zoning Boards. These residents have an important responsibility in approving or denying applications for development.
It is a popular misconception our town is run by the Mayor. This is not true in our form of government. Our town is run by a Manager who is hired by Council. The Manager oversees all department heads and personnel. The Manager prepares the municipal budget that is approved by Council. The Manager must attend all Council meetings and typically participates in discussion with Council, but has no vote. The Manager serves at the pleasure of Council and may be removed by a majority vote at any time.