Hopewell Township is growing. Its population is more diverse, its budget more complex, its infrastructure more sophisticated than at any point in its 228-year history. New families are arriving. Long-rooted ones are watching the valley they love evolve in ways no one fully anticipated. And yet the structure of our government has not changed at all since 1798.
Chart New Course is a non-partisan group of Hopewell Township residents — Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters — who believe our municipal government needs to evolve. We came together not because of politics, but because of our love of place. We incorporated Chart New Course in January 2026, built a canvassing operation from nothing, and began knocking on doors to talk with all voters throughout our township. We are still knocking.
What Happened and When.
In January, the Committee selected David Chait as mayor, and he delivered his inaugural address. Government reform was not mentioned. In March, the Township mailed its Town Crier to every household — four pages on road paving, a new ambulance, the Cultural Festival, and the PILOT victory. Government reform did not appear anywhere.
On March 29, Chart New Course gave every Township Committee member a courtesy update on our petition drive, closing with this invitation: “We welcome conversation and collaboration with the Township Committee as we embark on this effort.” No one responded.
The very next day, the Township Committee issued a press release announcing its Municipal Charter Study plans. We are heartened that our efforts helped put government reform on their radar. But there is a catch: Township Committee members have already indicated a preference for the status quo. Their Municipal Charter Study ordinance, if passed, would delay any change for a year longer than our proposal — and would block our already popular reform effort for four years.
It is noteworthy that government reform was not on the Committee’s radar until after township residents received Chart New Course’s postcard and our canvassing team started to collect signatures on our Petition.
Regarding the letter from former mayor Courtney Peters-Manning.
Peters-Manning claims the existing Township Committee form of government promotes better decisions and that our effort bypasses public input. We disagree on both counts.
The Township Committee concentrates both legislative and executive authority in five people who select a mayor annually from their small group without any public input. Every December, Committee members huddle and privately negotiate who gets to be the next mayor. At the January reorganization meeting there is no public discussion, no mayoral ballot is offered to voters. Hopewell Township’s new mayor is selected by Committee members whose own turn at the job depends on returning the favor.
A minimum of three votes is all it takes to be mayor. Three votes — not three thousand, not three hundred. Three. Every sitting Committee member is perpetually negotiating to be the next mayor with the four people sitting up on the dais — there is no auditioning for this job before the public.
That is not how a mayor should be chosen. That is how favors get returned.
Under Chart New Course’s proposal, effective in 2028, the mayor would be directly elected by every resident to a four-year term. Seven council members would be elected at large. Day-to-day operations would be handled by a professional, non-partisan manager — hired on merit, retained on performance, removable by a majority vote of the council.
Consider what we have today. What should be a full-time job — Township Administrator, responsible for overseeing a municipality of nearly 18,000 residents and a $35 million budget — is currently a part-time role held by the Public Works Director, who receives a $10,000 stipend for taking it on. The person overseeing all Township operations is also the head of one of the departments he is supposed to oversee.
This is not a criticism of any individual. It is a criticism of a structure that asks one person to do two full-time jobs for $10,000 extra and calls it administration.
In contrast, Chart New Course is offering every registered voter something the Township Committee has yet to offer — a direct up-or-down vote on a government where the mayor answers to the public, the manager answers to the council, and no one is asked to do two jobs for a $10,000 stipend.
What Chart New Course is asking of you.
On May 4, come to the Township Committee meeting and ask them to table their Municipal Charter Study ordinance. Tell them you want the chance to vote on Chart New Course’s proposal in November.
Can’t make it? Sign the petition at chartnewcourse.org/sign-the-petition and join us at chartnewcourse.org. Every signature puts this question where it belongs — on the ballot, before every voter.
If you believe this growing, changing community deserves a government built for the century we are living in, together we can make it happen.
Your choice. Your vote.
Sincerely,
Chad Goerner, John Hart, Michael Markulec, Tamera Matteo, and Vanessa Sandom
Former elected officials, a veteran, financial professionals, an attorney, and longtime local business owners
