To the Editor:
The “Chart a New Course” initiative seeks to place a referendum on the November 2026 ballot that would fundamentally restructure Hopewell Township’s government. While the group frames this as modernization, we need to ask: is this the right change, or is it just a change?
The proposed structure — formally known as the Faulkner Act Council-Manager Plan — would install a professional Town Manager as the day-to-day chief executive of Hopewell Township. This person would prepare the budget, appoint and remove department heads, and run municipal operations. Yet the Town Manager would be appointed by the Council, not elected by the people. If the manager makes poor decisions or is not responsive to the people, residents have no direct recourse at the ballot box.
Chart a New Course tries to soften this concern by promising a directly elected Mayor. But here’s what they’re not telling you: under the Council-Manager Plan they have chosen, the elected mayor has no executive power. According to the New Jersey League of Municipalities, under this plan, the unelected Town Manager is the chief executive— while the Mayor merely presides over council meetings. Residents would be voting for a figurehead, while the real power would lie in an unelected official with no direct accountability to the people.
What’s most troubling, though, is how little homework appears to have been done and how rushed this feels. New Jersey offers its municipalities not one, not two, but 12 distinct forms of government — a range that has evolved over more than two centuries, from the original Township Act of 1797 through the Faulkner Act of 1950 and beyond, each with further variations in council size, election structure, and the distribution of executive power. Has the Chart a New Course group presented an analysis of all 12 options? Have residents been shown a side-by-side comparison of what each would mean for Hopewell?
For example, the very same law the group is relying on — the Faulkner Act — offers another plan that would achieve their stated goal of professional management and a directly-elected Mayor without removing executive accountability from elected hands. It’s called the Mayor-Council-Administrator Plan. Under that structure, a directly elected mayor retains executive power, while an appointed administrator handles day-to-day operations. Residents get professional management and a chief executive they can vote out. Why was this option not presented? Why was it not even mentioned?
This is not a minor oversight. It is a telling one. It suggests that the group arrived at their preferred answer first and built the case for it afterward, rather than conducting a genuine evaluation of what would serve Hopewell best.
Finally, there are benefits to the current Township Committee form of government that are often overlooked. Under this form, while the Mayor is elected by the five Committee Members, they also have to run for their underlying seat on the Committee every three years. That makes for direct accountability. Further, day-to-day operations are handled by a professional Business Administrator, and most executive power resides in the Committee as a whole, not just in the Mayor. In my experience as Mayor for three years, as Deputy Mayor, and as a Township Committee Member, this actually forces us to make better decisions. Is it sometimes clunky? Yes, indeed. But having more voices in decision making results in better outcomes. The current five members of the Township Committee vary by age, life experience, race, religion, and many other factors. But one thing we have in common is that we listen to each other, and we listen to residents. Then, as each one of us approaches a problem or issue in a different way, our diverse perspectives lead us to the decisions we make.
Township residents are being asked to sign a petition, and potentially cast a vote, for one specific model, without any public analysis of the alternatives. That is not modernization. That is a shortcut.
Hopewell Township has been well served by thoughtful deliberation. That is why the Township Committee is proposing a study and/or a Charter Commission to examine all 12 options under New Jersey law, and then let residents decide if a change is needed, and if so, which form of government would best serve the people.
The decision should be presented after a full open process with lots of opportunity for resident participation. Township residents deserve the full menu of options, rather than just one option chosen by a small group of people. Hopewell Township’s future is too important to be decided by a shortcut.
Courtney Peters-Manning
Hopewell Township Committee Member and former Mayor
