AYOR
Telephone (732) 721-5600 Fax (732) 607-7957
Mayor James T. Phillips
Township of Old Bridge
1 Old Bridge Plaza
Old Bridge, NJ 08857
Mayor Phillips is available for appointments during the week. To make an appointment with the Mayor, please contact the Mayor's Assistant by calling 732-721-5600 ext. 2040 or via e-mail at Mayor@oldbridge.com
Mayor's Message to Residents
as published in the January 2008 Newsletter
Dear Friends:
It is great to be back as your Mayor for a second term. Thank you for giving me an extended opportunity to serve you, the taxpayers, as we continue to help Old Bridge become a stable and accountable community, and distinguish itself as one of the places to be in New Jersey. My plans for the next four years address taking continued responsibility for keeping this township strong and healthy in ways that are important to our local community as well as the county and the state:
Our commitment to open space and preserved farmland is helping us to finally control the over-development of township property and increase the availability of outdoor recreational facilities for residents seeking some time in the great outdoors.
It is no accident that Old Bridge offers secure parks, safe ball fields and state of the art play areas making it much easier for all of us to make healthier choices for exercise and leisure activities that are close to home.
Indoors, too, we are maintaining and helping to sustain facilities that improve quality of life in Old Bridge for residents of any age. There are increased assisted living opportunities and a very caring and active center for our seniors, a conveniently located and full service municipal complex to serve the needs of residents, vendors and local businesses, while at the same time offering a wonderful township library and a civic arena with one of the best indoor skating rinks around.
Please be sure to check out our Parks & Recreation Department's full schedule of sports, crafts and exercise programs for all ages. Plus, two of the newest and most exciting signs or our growth come as we look forward to welcoming the YMCA as a new neighbor specializing in family fitness and fun, and the remodeling and expansion of the Township Animal Shelter to raise its stature to a more aware and humane "No Kill" facility.
Increased funding to support our first aid squads and expand the manpower of our police department further ensures our operation as a township on call for its residents in emergency, as well as daily living situations.
Our attention to travel and safer mobility has resulted in new accessible buses to make it easier for our seniors to make their way through town; ongoing improvements to local sidewalks and roads, especially to and from the schools; and our collaborative efforts with Middlesex County to improve county roadways, including the new county bus route. The expansion of four commuter parking lots adding 366 spaces is one of our newest efforts to sustain Old Bridge's considerable value as a Northeast Corridor commuter community with easy access to both major roadways and NJ Transit railways.
Our willingness to help ourselves by helping others is evident in our Inter-Local Agreements (11 right now) with the County and the Board of Education, as well as with several neighboring communities including Sayreville and South River. By combining resources and services we are finding more efficient and cost-effective ways to manage major pieces or our work, and these efficiencies are part of our successful formula for keeping the municipal tax rate stable.
I am pleased as your Mayor, as we welcome in another New Year, to encourage you to live well in the township you work hard to support and continue to help grow. Whether you enjoy biking, walking, hiking, skating, reading, or driving to help you unwind, there are many safe and beautiful places to do so throughout our 42 square miles. So, as we endure the winter months and then welcome spring, get out there and let Old Bridge work for you.
♦
Mayor's Biography
About Jim Phillips
Jim is a lifelong resident of Old Bridge. He is married 28 years to the former Miss Janet Nahai of Woodbridge. Jim has three children--Jennifer, Joanne, and Jimmy. The family are members of Most Holy Redeemer Parish.
Summary of Educational and Professional Qualifications
Graduate of Villanova University, BS Degree in Accounting, Controller and Corporate Treasurer for multimillion dollar manufacturing corporations, Treasurer of Middlesex County, attended The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers Center for Government Services, State Certified Municipal and County Financial Officer.
Appointed or Elected Government Experience
Board of Fire Commissioners Old Bridge Fire District #1 (Commissioner)
Old Bridge Human Resource Council (Member)
Old Bridge Planning Board (Member)
Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority (Commissioner)
Middlesex County Utilities Authority (Commissioner)
Middlesex County Planning Board (Member)
New Jersey State Senate (Senator)
Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders (Freeholder)
Middlesex County Economic Development Commission (Commissioner)
Old Bridge Township Housing and Redevelopment Agency (Commissioner)
Civic Associations
Laurence Harbor Fire Company (Former Volunteer Firefighter)
Old Bridge Girls Soccer League (Former Coach)
Old Bridge Little League (Former Manager)
Old Bridge Fall Baseball League (Former Manager)
Old Bridge Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh (Member Since 1972)
Laurence Harbor First Aid Squad (Honorary Member)
Laurence Harbor Fire Company (Honorary Member)
Major Accomplishments
As a member of the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and then as County Treasurer, Jim worked to cut the County tax rate an unprecedented ten straight years in a row.
He is the founder of "Yes for Open Space," a non-profit organization that successfully led the public information campaign passage of the Middlesex County Open Space and Farmland Preservation Referendum.
Jim represented the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders in negotiations that resulted in the acquisition of the Olympia and York property in Old Bridge. This acquisition preserved 2,500 acres of land for public open space that had been previously approved for 10,264 units of residential development.
Jim worked with Middlesex County and Old Bridge Township officials to create the Middlesex County Old Bridge Waterfront Park and the John A. Phillips Open Space Preserve.
As a member of the Old Bridge Township Housing and Redevelopment Agency, worked with fellow Commissioners to establish Maher Manor. Maher Manor is a 100-unit low-income Senior Citizen housing building to be constructed on property adjacent to Old Bridge Regional Hospital on Ferry road in Old Bridge. Final site plan approval was sought and subsequently granted unanimously on March 20, 2003 by the Old Bridge Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Faulkner Act Form of Government
The Mayor's Role
Overview
New Jersey’s Optional Municipal Charter Law (NJSA 40:69A-1 et seq.) popularly known as the Faulkner Act, became law on June 8,1950, Chapter 210 of the Laws of 1950. By January 1,1994, one hundred and twenty four of New Jersey’s 567 Municipalities had adopted a form of government under one of the Faulkner Act’s four optional as plans: mayor-council, council-manager, small municipality and mayor-council administrator. According to the 1990 United States Census, these 124 Faulkner Act communities have a combined population of 3,717,940. This represents 48.10% of New Jersey’s population.
The Mayor’s Role
A municipality operating under the mayor-council plan shall have a department of administration headed by a business administrator and other departments, not less than two, no more than nine, as council may create by ordinance. All the administrative functions, powers and duties, other than those of the municipal clerk and the tax assessor, must be allocated and assigned among and within such departments. The clerk and the tax assessor are subject to the same general administrative procedures and requirements as the other departments in areas such as budgeting, purchasing, personnel practices, and data processing services, but beyond those areas, in the general practice and conduct of their duties, they do not answer to the mayor.
Each department of the municipal government is headed by a director who is appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent of council. Each department head serves during the term of the mayor who appointed him/her and until the appointment and qualification of his successor. The mayor can remove any department head at any time. However, prior to removal, the mayor must file written notice to council of his/her intention. The removal becomes effective on the 20th day after the filing of the notice unless the council, within that time frame, passes a resolution by a 2/3 majority, disapproving the removal.
Department heads appoint subordinate officers and employees and may, with the approval of the mayor, remove these officers and employees. The only limitation on this power of removal is general law.
The appointment to boards, authorities or commissions vest in the mayor with the advice and consent of council unless the general law clearly requires a different procedure or appointment by resolution, in which case the appointment is made by council.
The department of administration functions much like a “chief of staff” under the mayor. The business administrator’s five enumerated duties under the direction of the mayor are to:
- Assist in the preparation of the budget;
- Administer a centralized purchasing system;
- Be responsible for the development an administration of a sound personnel systems;
- Perform other duties as council may prescribe;
(if provided by ordinance) the administrator, subject to the direction of the mayor, shall supervise the administration of each department established by ordinance; shall have the power to investigate the organization and operation of any and all departments; to prescribe standards and rules of all departments including practice and procedure. This shall extend only to matter of budgeting, personnel and purchasing.
Beyond assisting the mayor in the preparation of the budget and administering the purchasing and personnel systems, the mayor and council define the role of the business administrator and the scope of his/her authority.
The mayor exercises the executive power of the municipality and performs the following functions:
Executive functions of the mayor
- Enforces the charter and ordinances of the municipality
- Supervises all municipal departments
- Fixes the amount of salary or wages paid to employees of the administrative departments subject to contractual obligations, within the general limits of the municipal budget
- Supervises care and custody of municipal property
- Can require reports from and investigate any municipal department, board, commission or agency
- Appoints and removes department heads, subject to council approval
- Appoints members to municipal boards, authorities or commission subject to council approval
- Designates an acting mayor in times of illness or absence
Fiscal functions of the Mayor
- Review, analyze and forecast trends of municipal services, programs and finances
- Oversees the municipal budgeting, purchasing and personnel procedures
- Prepares the municipal operating and capital budgets
Contractual functions of the Mayor
- Negotiates contracts subject to council approval
- Signs all contracts, bonds, and other instruments requiring the consent of the municipality
- Sees that all contractual and franchise terms and conditions are kept and performed
Ministerial functions of the Mayor
- Gives the annual "State of the Township" address
- Serves as an ex-officio, nonvoting member of all appointive bodies of which he/she is not an official voting member
Legislative functions of the Mayor
- Can attend council meetings and take part in council discussions
- Can vote to break a tie on the question of filling a vacancy on the council
- Can vote to break a tie on the question of filling a vacancy on the council
- Can propose legislation
- Can veto ordinances, subject to override by a 2/3 majority of the whole council
- If the mayor takes no action on an ordinance (neither signs nor veto) within ten days of its submission by council, the measure becomes law as if he/she had signed it.