The position of Mayor within the governmental
framework of the Township of Delran is a position possessing great
duties and responsibilities for the proper, efficient operation of
the government of Delran. The party holding the position of Mayor
must exercise all powers and duties with a sense of responsibility
and purpose. As the chief executive and administrative officer of
the community, the Mayor possesses the first link of communication
with the general population and is directly responsible for the orderly
provision of governmental services to each individual within the Township.
In general, it is the duty of the Mayor to establish programs, agencies
and organizations designed to provide governmental services in an
efficient and appropriate manner.
[Amended 9-3-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-19]
The Mayor shall be elected by the voters of
the Township at a regular municipal election and shall serve for a
term of four years beginning on the first day of January next following
his or her election.
Any person who desires or who shall be elected
to the position of Mayor, as an elected official within the Township,
shall reside within the Township, and removal from the Township shall
constitute grounds for vacation of this office.
The Mayor shall receive such compensation as
the Township Council, by ordinance, shall provide.
[Amended by Ord. No. 2000-11]
A. Executive power. The executive power of the Township
shall be exercised by the Mayor.
B. Enforcement of ordinances and Charter. The Mayor shall
enforce the Charter, ordinances of the Township and all general laws
applicable thereto.
C. Annual report. The Mayor shall annually report to
the Council and the public on the work of the previous year, and on
the condition and requirements of the Township government and shall,
from time to time, make such recommendations for action by the Council
as he or she may deem in the public interest.
D. Departmental supervision. The Mayor shall supervise
all the departments of the Township government, and shall require
each department head to make annual and such other reports of his
or her work as he or she may deem desirable.
E. Approval or veto of ordinances. Ordinances adopted
by the Council shall be submitted to the Mayor, and he or she shall,
within 10 days after receiving any ordinance, either approve the ordinance
by affixing his or her signature thereto, or return it to the Council
by delivering it to the Township Clerk, together with a statement
setting forth his or her objections thereto, or to any item or part
thereof. No ordinance or any item or part thereof shall take effect
without the Mayor's approval unless the Mayor fails to return an ordinance
to the Council within 10 days after it has been presented to him or
her, or unless Council, upon reconsideration thereof, on or after
the third day following its return by the Mayor shall, by vote of
two-thirds of the members, resolve to override the Mayor's veto.
F. Attendance at meetings. The Mayor may attend meetings
of Council and may take part in discussions of Council, but shall
have no vote, except in the case of a tie on the question of filling
a vacancy in the Council, in which case he or she may cast the deciding
vote.
G. Appointments. The Mayor, with the advice and consent
of Council, shall appoint all officers and employees for whose election
or appointment no other provision is made by the Charter or ordinance
and, in addition, shall make the following specific appointments:
(1) Department directors. The Mayor, with the advice and
consent of Council, shall appoint each department director.
(2) Planning Board. The Mayor shall appoint Class II and
Class IV appointees to the Planning Board upon the expiration or termination
of the terms of these members.
(3) Other appointees. The Mayor shall appoint such other
appointees as the Council may subsequently provide by ordinance or
state law may require.
H. Recommendation of a budget. The Mayor, on or before
the 15th day of January of each year, shall submit to the Council
his or her recommended budget, together with such explanatory comments
or statements as he or she may deem appropriate. The budget shall
conform to the requirements of law and shall be prepared by the Mayor
with the assistance of the Business Administrator. In this connection,
during the month of November, the Mayor shall require all department
heads to submit requests for appropriations for the ensuing budget
year and to appear before the Mayor or the Business Administrator
for a public hearing, which shall be held during that month on the
various requests involved. The budget in question shall additionally
have appended thereto a detailed analysis of the various items of
expenditure and revenue. Council, in reviewing this budget, may reduce
any item or items by vote of the majority of Council, but any increase
in any item or items therein shall become effective only upon the
vote of two-thirds of the members of Council, pursuant to the requirements
of N.J.S.A. 40:69A-46.
I. Removal from office. The Mayor, in his or her discretion,
may remove any department head after notice of opportunity to be heard.
Prior to removing a department head, the Mayor shall first file written
notice of his or her intention with Council. Such removal shall become
effective on the 20th day after the filing of such notice, unless
Council shall, prior thereto, adopt a resolution by a vote of two-thirds
of the whole membership of the Council disapproving the removal.
J. Business Administrator severance pay. The Business
Administrator shall be entitled to a three months' written notice
prior to his or her removal or nonreappointment. In the event that
the Mayor determines that the removal shall be immediate or that he
or she does not provide the three months' written notice of nonreappointment,
then the Administrator shall be paid for any unpaid balance of his
or her salary plus his or her salary for a maximum of the next three
calendar months following the effective date of the Mayor's action
unless the removal is for good cause as defined in N.J.S.A. 40:69A-43(c).
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:69A-42,
the Mayor shall designate the Business Administrator, any other department
head, or the Township Clerk to act as the Mayor whenever the Mayor
shall be prevented by absence from the Township, disability or other
cause from attending to the duties of his or her office. During such
time, the person so designated by the Mayor shall possess all of the
rights, powers and duties of Mayor. Whenever the Mayor shall have
been unable to attend the duties of his or her office for a period
of 60 consecutive days for any of the above stated reasons, the Acting
Mayor shall be appointed by Council and shall succeed to all of the
rights, powers and duties of the Mayor or the then Acting Mayor.
Whenever a vacancy in any office is required
by the Charter or this chapter to be filled by the Mayor with the
advice and consent of Council, and there is no holdover incumbent,
a Mayor may temporarily fill such vacancy in the absence of any contrary
provision of the Charter or Township ordinance by appointing an acting
officer, including the designation of himself or herself as Acting
Business Administrator, in the event of a vacancy in that office.
Such appointee shall have all of the functions, powers and duties
of the office until it shall be filled permanently. Any such appointment
shall terminate not later than 30 days after the date of appointment,
unless the Council, by resolution, authorizes one or more extensions
of such thirty-day period.
Except for the violation of N.J.S.A. 40:69A-163
through 40:69A-165, the Mayor may be removed from office only under
the recall provisions particularly established under N.J.S.A. 40:69A-168
et seq.