March 22, 2026 Millburn Township Charter Study Commission Meeting Minutes Minutes of the meeting of the Charter Study Commission of the Township of Millburn, in the County of Essex, New Jersey, held in the Bauer Center starting at 3:00 PM on the above date. Mr. Drucker welcomed those present and read the following notice: In accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, be advised that notice of this meeting was posted on the township website. All those in attendance joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. Upon call of the roll, the following Charter Study Commission members were recorded present: Corey Biller, Jerry Kung, Shaunak Tanna, Joanna Parker-Lentz, and Chris Drucker. Also present: Suzanne Cevasco, Esq. of King, Moench & Collins LLP. Mr. Tanna made a motion to approve the agenda. Seconded by Mr. Biller. All voted in favor. Reports There were no reports since the previous meeting. Public Comment Mr. Drucker opened the public comment period. Jeffrey Feld thanked the Commission for doing a great job. Ben Forest, a council member of the Borough of Red Bank, attended the meeting in person and addressed the Commission. Mr. Forest had served on Red Bank’s Charter Study Commission a few years ago, and they recommended moving from a partisan borough council form with a weak mayor to a non-partisan manager form. He made an analogy that the council-manager form is similar to a board of directors and boards of education in New Jersey. He mentioned that he was just elected to a second term. The commissioners provided an overview of the Commission's work to date. The Commission had conducted dozens of structured interviews, covering practitioners and officials with direct experience in the full range of local government forms under consideration, including current and former members of the Millburn Township Committee. Mr. Drucker and Dr. Kung described the Commission's research visit to Verona, a municipality that has operated under the council-manager form of government since the 1980s. Eric Osserman, Millburn resident, asked if any interviewees had argued in favor of keeping a partisan system of government. The Commission noted that phase III deliberations, including the question of partisan vs. non-partisan elections, would occur at the next meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 26. Ms. Parker-Lentz noted that there were interviewees that had argued in favor of partisan elections. Mr. Biller and Mr. Tanna emphasized that this meeting was meant to listen to additional perspectives from the public, not to make any decisions. Mr. Osserman added that in his view party politics are toxic and had a negative effect on local governance. Jeanne Cosgrove, Millburn resident, disagreed with Mr. Osserman. She wanted to discuss the role of the business administrator, and asked if a change in the form of government would � March 22, 2026 Millburn Township Charter Study Commission Meeting Minutes change the authority of the mayor as compared to the business administrator. Ms. Cevasco explained the difference between forms of government considered to be "weak mayor" forms versus those considered to be "strong mayor" forms, and commissioners explained the delineation of legislative and executive functioning between the Township Committee and council-manager forms. Rob Friedman, Millburn resident, asked if the police chief could be dismissed by the mayor in a strong mayor form of government. Ms. Cevasco confirmed that this is the case because in strong mayor forms, the mayor selects department heads. Frank Saccomandi, Millburn resident, noted that strong mayor forms of government have less continuity because when the mayor changes the entire administration changes. He felt that a strong mayor form of government is not a good fit for the town. Ms. Parker-Lentz and Dr. Kung reviewed the history of how the strong business administrator ordinance came about in Millburn. Roy You, Millburn resident, asked if the individual features of any proposed changes would be up for election by Millburn residents. Ms. Cevasco replied that the Commission decides on one unified recommendation, and that is the question that would be presented as one question on the ballot. Dr. Kung added that an explanatory statement could be on the ballot. Mike Becker, Millburn resident, asked about the format of the Commission’s final report. Ms. Cevasco replied that the reports are generally 40-60 pages long. Her office would help to draft the report for any recommendations. Kris Heinrichs, Millburn resident, supported the council-manager form of government. He noted that lengthening terms would be helpful, that elections every other year make sense, and that elections cost money and lead to voter fatigue. He supported expanding the size of the governing body to spread out the work for each individual member, and he advocated moving to non-partisan elections, noting that the partisan system discourages individuals from running. Ms. Cosgrove wished to speak. Prior to her statement, Mr. Biller asked the members of the public to let her say her piece so that all perspectives are presented and on the record. Ms. Cosgrove said that she just returned from Washington, advocating on behalf of conservation with federal legislators. She felt that even in non-partisan elections, residents would still be able to discern a candidate's values and party leanings, and that elections would remain competitive regardless. Mr. Biller asked if she felt there was an advantage to the party system in a local election. She replied that “if you look nationally, you see a values system.” Mr. Drucker and Ms. Cevasco called for order following an interruption from the audience during Ms. Cosgrove's comments. Ms. Cevasco reviewed the purpose of the meeting and laid the ground rules for discourse. Ms. Cosgrove finished her statement, saying that the party system gives residents a useful starting point regarding alignment of values. Dr. Kung asked her whether Board of Education elections are well-served by being non-partisan. She replied, “I think that if you’re lazy, it’s good to know what party a person’s with” and that “it does a little bit of your homework for you.”� March 22, 2026 Millburn Township Charter Study Commission Meeting Minutes Ben Stoller, Millburn resident, asked about how the level of toxicity affects decision-making on the Township Committee. He disagreed that values are determined by R and D labels and said that the focus should be on how much one cares for and has contributed to the town. Linda Bloniarz, Millburn resident, disagreed with Ms. Cosgrove. She said that the town is very divided and needs to move forward from defaulting to party labels. She asked about how a change might affect candidates wishing to step up to run. The commissioners invited Mr. Forest to comment. Mr. Forest described his personal journey to supporting a nonpartisan system, acknowledging an advantage of the partisan system in its built-in infrastructure of fundraising, organizational support, and campaign materials. He said he ultimately supported the change to non-partisan because he found it morally unacceptable that roughly 40% of unaffiliated voters are effectively excluded from the partisan primary process, and noted that his nonpartisan campaigns had allowed him to seek support from a broad cross-section of residents. Noel Bigman, Millburn resident, speaking in his personal capacity, asked if there is a form of government that would be better for Millburn financially. He noted that property taxes are high. He wanted to know if partisan or non-partisan elections would impact funding from the county. Mr. Biller encouraged him to stay tuned for the final report, which would address this issue more fully. Mr. Saccomandi described switching his party registration in order to run locally, and noted that his values do not align neatly with either party. He argued that forcing candidates to choose a party label is unfair to the 43% of town residents who are unaffiliated, since voters at the door will make assumptions based on the R or D that may not reflect where the candidate actually stands on local issues. He expressed support for non-partisan elections. Mr. Friedman noted that Board of Education elections are non-partisan and that he was able to research the candidates when deciding who to vote for. Dr. Kung replied that there should be robust avenues for civic discourse, especially in non-partisan election systems. Mr. Biller noted that the analogy to Board of Education elections has been raised by many. Ms. Parker￾Lentz added that the Commission is considering all voices and is cognizant that the issue of partisan versus non-partisan has many perspectives. Michael Pasternak, Millburn resident, felt that residents should not go down the party line and should be more thoughtful about how they approach local issues. He emphasized that candidates should want to serve their local community, and that a non-partisan system would allow residents to build a sense of ownership in the community rather than “passing through and voting on the party line.” He suggested making campaigns more fair from a financial perspective. Mr. Heinrichs said that he challenged anyone to identify a meaningful difference between the party platforms in the 2025 local Township Committee election, arguing that the election was not about local policy. In his view, noise about national political associations came at the expense of focus on local issues. Ms. Parker-Lentz said that there are ways for the community to come together and coalesce around shared interests. � March 22, 2026 Millburn Township Charter Study Commission Meeting Minutes Mr. Tanna encouraged residents not to lose sight of the bigger picture regarding government reform. He emphasized that the question of partisan vs. non-partisan elections could be modified after adopting a Faulkner Act form of government. He noted that it is much more difficult to change the form of government than to modify the individual features once the form of government itself has been adopted. Weiwei Huang, Millburn resident, speaking in her personal capacity, asked if there would be any changes in campaign finance in a different form of government. Ms. Cevasco replied that campaign finance rules are by state statute and would not change. Mr. Forest detailed some of the practical aspects of fundraising in a non-partisan election system. Ms. Cosgrove noted that political campaigns are expensive and it may be difficult to find candidates willing to run. Ms. Parker-Lentz noted that interviewees in non-partisan systems have had to raise less money because it was less about party labels. Mr. Tanna added that interviewees have indicated that non-partisan elections encourage more individuals to run because it is not necessary to take up a partisan label. Dr. Kung noted that with partisan elections, the local parties are incentivized to field candidates even if governance is going well. Mr. Becker asked about the process for changing individual features of the form of government, such as the size of the governing body. Jean Pasternak, Millburn resident, identified herself as the chair of the local Republican committee, but noted that her statements were her individual beliefs and not those of the committee. Drawing on her own experience as a nonpartisan Board of Education member, she said she was elected on the strength of her knowledge and issue positions, and that the nine￾member board was highly productive despite policy disagreements, with no outside party directing members' thinking. She contrasted that experience with what she has observed at Township Committee meetings in recent years, where she feels members have not always been able to act independently of their party. She also described a bipartisan community event she organized with Democratic Committee member Jorge Mastropietro, which brought together residents who would not otherwise have spoken to one another, and expressed strong support for the Commission's work. Mr. Drucker noted that the mayor of Verona described holding quarterly community meetings to encourage broader civic discourse. Mr. Biller observed that without a true primary system locally, party backing effectively makes it difficult for residents to run off the line. Ms. Parker-Lentz encouraged everyone to be civil and to focus on the form of government first and foremost. Mr. Feld thanked the commission again. Mr. Biller thanked the public for attending the session. Mr. Osserman said, “I want to apologize for my behavior.” Adjournment Mr. Biller made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Parker-Lentz. The meeting was adjourned.� March 22, 2026 Millburn Township Charter Study Commission Meeting Minutes ____________________________ Dr. Jerry Kung, Commissioner Charter Study Commission Secretary Approved: April 15, 2026�