Millburn sets June special election for new, non-partisan government

Millburn voters will decide in a June 16 special election whether to change its form of government to a non-partisan Council-Manager system after the Charter Study Commission elected last fall unanimously approved a final report yesterday. 

If the ballot referendum passes, the new council will be elected this November – effectively negating the results of the June Democratic and Republican primaries – and the new government would begin on January 1, 2027.

In June, Republican incumbents Frank Saccomandi IV, the current mayor, and Ben Stoller, are unopposed in the primary.  So are Democrats Beth Zall and Bill Brazell.

“Millburn has many strengths. The current form of government is not one of them,” the commission members stated in the report. “The current form of government has structural deficiencies that hamper good governance.”

Voters approved the creation of the commission last November with 65% of the vote; in that contest, Republicans took a 3-2 majority on the township committee and elected the first GOP mayor in nearly a decade.   The 2025 referendum had bipartisan support.

The proposal would replace the five-member township committee – a form of government that’s been in place since 1857 – with a seven-member township council, all elected at-large.  Partisan elections every year for a three-year term would be replaced by non-partisan contests every other year for a four-year term – four in one cycle and three in the next — also in November.  Mayors will still be selected from within the council, and the current plan does not set any parameters for terms beyond one year.

The panel cited certain operational issues with local politics: annual partisan elections meant constant campaigning, instability, and division; and the replacement of a business administrator with a township manager who has greater statutory authority.

“The Commission believes that Millburn will be best served by non-partisan elections. The Commission finds that partisan elections artificially restrict the pool of candidates for office, and that party affiliation serves as an imperfect barometer of how a candidate may vote if elected. Non-partisan elections allow those with the skills and experiences best suited to governance to rise to the top, rather than those who are most adept at managing party politics and advancing party agenda,” the report stated.  “Non-partisan elections will ensure that Millburn’s elected officials make the decisions that are right for Millburn, without pressure from local party committees to vote in a way that is best for the party.

Only one current elected official, Township Committeeman Michael Cohen, was not interviewed by the commission.

The report was prepared by the Charter Study Commission’s attorneys, Michael Collins and Suzane Cevasco of King, Moench & Collins.  Collins has emerged as an expert on form of government changes in New Jersey.