Mayor of Jersey City

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Mayor of the City of Jersey City
Steven Fulop Ward E Councilman in Jersey City New Jersey circa 2012.jpg
Incumbent
Steven Fulop
since 2013
Term length Four years
Inaugural holder Dudley S. Gregory
Formation 1838
Salary $117,782[1]
Website Office of the Mayor

The Mayor of the City of Jersey City is the head of the executive branch of government of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint deputy mayors, department heads, and aides; and approve or veto ordinances passed by the City Council. The mayor is popularly elected in a nonpartisan general election. The office is held for a four-year term without term limits.

Forty-four individuals have held the office of mayor since the City of Jersey City was chartered on February 22, 1838. Dudley S. Gregory was the inaugural mayor of the city, and served on three separate occasions for a total of five years. The current mayor is Steven Fulop. He defeated former mayor Jerramiah Healy in the 2013 election and assumed office on July 1, 2013.

Duties and powers

The City of Jersey City is organized as a mayor–council form of government under the Optional Municipal Charter Law. This provides for a city-wide elected mayor serving in an executive role, as well as a city council serving in a legislative role. All of these offices are selected in a nonpartisan municipal election and all terms are four years.[2] Under state law, the mayor has the duty to enforce the charter and ordinances of the city, and all applicable state laws; report annually to the council and the public on the state of the city; supervise and control all departments of the government; prepare and submit to the council annual operating and capital budgets; supervise all city property, institutions and agencies; sign all contracts and bonds requiring the approval of the city; negotiate all contracts; and serve as a member, either voting or ex-officio, of all appointive bodies.[3]

The mayor has the power to appoint departments heads with the approval of the City Council; to remove department heads subject to a two-thirds disapproval by the City Council; approve or veto ordinances subject to an override vote of two-thirds of the council; and appoint deputy mayors. The mayor is permitted to attend and participate in meetings of the City Council, without a vote, except in the case of a tie on the question to fill a council vacancy.[3]

Elections

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See also: Jersey City mayoral election, 2001; Jersey City mayoral special election, 2004; Jersey City mayoral election, 2005; and Jersey City mayoral election, 2009

Under the original 1838 charter, mayors were elected city-wide for a term of one year. In 1868 the State Legislature extended the term of office to two years.[4] In 1892, the Legislature again changed the term of office, extending it to five years.[5] The city adopted a commission form of government under the Walsh Act in 1913.[6] This form provided for five commissioners elected city-wide. The Commissioners decided from among themselves which would serve as mayor. All terms were four years. Jersey City adopted its current form of government on May 7, 1961.[7]

Under the non-partisan form of municipal government, elections for mayor are held every four years on the second Tuesday in May.[8] If no candidate receives a majority of votes, a runoff election is held on the fourth Tuesday following the general election.[9] The term of office commences on July 1.[10] The next Jersey City mayoral election is scheduled to be held in 2017.[11]

Succession

In the event of an absence, disability, or other cause preventing the mayor from performing his duties, the mayor may designate the business administrator or any other department head as acting mayor for up to 60 days.[3] In the event of a vacancy in the office, the President of the City Council becomes acting mayor, and the council has 30 days to name an interim mayor.[12] If no interim mayor is named, the Council President continues as acting mayor until a successor is elected, or the council reorganizes and selects a new President.[12] Prior to 1971, there was no automatic succession law.[13] The office was left vacant for 47 days in 1963 when the City Council failed to reach a decision on appointing an interim mayor.[14]

List of mayors

Back and white drawing of a white man wearing a dark jacket and bow tie
Dudley S. Gregory, 1st mayor of Jersey City
File:Robert Gilchrist.png
Robert Gilchrist, 8th mayor of Jersey City
Back and white photograph of a white man wearing a high collared shirt, tie, and dark jacket
Frank Hague, 30th mayor of Jersey City
Color photograph of a white man in glasses wearing a collared shirt, tie, and jacket
Jerramiah Healy, 48th mayor of Jersey City
# Mayor Term start Term end   Party
1 Dudley S. Gregory April 1838 April 1840 Whig
2 Peter McMartin April 1840 April 1841 Unknown[a]
3 Dudley S. Gregory April 1841 April 1842 Whig
4 Thomas A. Alexander April 1842 April 1843 Unknown[b]
5 Peter Bentley April 1843 April 1844 Democratic
6 Phineas C. Dummer April 1844 April 20, 1848 Whig
7 Henry Taylor April 21, 1848 April 18, 1850 Whig
8 Robert Gilchrist April 19, 1850 May 2, 1852 Whig
9 David S. Manners May 3, 1852 May 3, 1857 Whig
10 Samuel Wescott May 4, 1857 May 2, 1858 Democratic
11 Dudley S. Gregory[c] May 3, 1858 May 6, 1860 Republican
12 Cornelius Van Vorst May 7, 1860 May 4, 1862 Democratic
13 John B. Romar May 5, 1861 May 1, 1864 Democratic
14 Orestes Cleveland May 2, 1864 May 5, 1867 Democratic
15 James Gopsill May 6, 1867 May 3, 1868 Republican
16 Charles H. O'Neill[d] May 4, 1868 April 10, 1869 Democratic
17 William Clarke[e] April 11, 1869 May 1, 1870 Democratic
18 Charles H. O'Neill May 2, 1870 May 3, 1874 Democratic
19 Henry Traphagen May 4, 1874 April 30, 1876 Democratic
20 Charles Siedler May 1, 1876 May 5, 1878 Republican
21 Henry J. Hopper May 6, 1878 May 2, 1880 Democratic
22 Isaac W. Taussig May 3, 1880 May 4, 1884 Democratic
23 Gilbert Collins May 5, 1884 May 2, 1886 Republican
24 Orestes Cleveland May 3, 1886 May 1, 1892 Democratic
25 Peter Farmer Wanser May 2, 1892 May 2, 1897 Republican
26 Edward Hoos May 3, 1897 December 31, 1901 Democratic
27 Mark M. Fagan January 1, 1902 December 31, 1907 Republican
28 H. Otto Wittpenn January 1, 1908 June 16, 1913 Democratic
29 Mark M. Fagan June 17, 1913 May 14, 1917 Republican
30 Frank Hague[f] May 15, 1917 June 17, 1947 Democratic
31 Frank H. Eggers[g] June 17, 1947 May 16, 1949 Democratic
32 John V. Kenny[h] July 1, 1949 December 15, 1953 Democratic
33 Bernard J. Berry December 15, 1953 June 30, 1957 Democratic
34 Charles S. Witkowski July 1, 1957 June 30, 1961 Democratic
35 Thomas Gangemi[i] July 1, 1961 September 26, 1963 Democratic
36 Thomas J. Whelan[j] November 13, 1963 July 6, 1971 Democratic
37 Charles K. Krieger[k] August 5, 1971 November 8, 1971 Democratic
38 Paul T. Jordan November 9, 1971 June 30, 1977 Democratic
39 Thomas F.X. Smith[l] July 1, 1977 May 12, 1981 Democratic
40 Gerald McCann July 1, 1981 June 30, 1985 Democratic
41 Anthony R. Cucci July 1, 1985 June 30, 1989 Democratic
42 Gerald McCann[m] July 1, 1989 February 13, 1992 Democratic
43 Marilyn Roman[n] February 14, 1992 June 30, 1992 Democratic
44 Joseph Rakowski[o] July 1, 1992 November 10, 1992 Democratic
45 Bret Schundler November 11, 1992 June 30, 2001 Republican
46 Glenn Dale Cunningham[p] July 1, 2001 May 25, 2004 Democratic
47 L. Harvey Smith[q] May 26, 2004 November 11, 2004 Democratic
48 Jerramiah Healy November 12, 2004 June 30, 2013 Democratic
49 Steven Fulop July 1, 2013 Incumbent Democratic

Notes

  • a b No source has been found to verify a party affiliation.
  • c Originally a Whig, Gregory switched to the Republican party in the 1850s.[15]
  • d e In 1868, the New Jersey State Legislature passed an act changing the term of office from one to two years. Having been elected a few days before that act was passed, O'Neill refused to serve longer than the term to which he was elected and resigned after one year. Clarke was appointed as Interim Mayor by the City Council.[4]
  • f g Hague retired during his eighth term and asked the City Council to appoint Eggers, his nephew.[16]
  • h Kenny resigned shortly after winning re-election citing poor health.[17]
  • i Gangemi resigned from office when it was determined that he was not a United States citizen and was ineligible to serve.[18]
  • j Whelan was removed from office after being convicted of conspiracy and extortion.[19]
  • k Krieger was appointed Interim Mayor by the City Council.[20]
  • l Smith resigned from office to seek the nomination for governor, finishing sixth in the Democratic primary.[21]
  • m McCann was removed from office during his second term after being convicted of bank fraud.[22]
  • n o q Acting mayor; held the office as a result of being President of the City Council at the time of a vacancy.
  • p Cunningham, the city's first African American mayor, died of a heart attack on May 25, 2004.[23]

Higher offices held

The following is a list of higher public offices held by mayors, before or after their mayoral term(s).

Mayor Mayoral term(s) Other offices held References
Dudley S. Gregory 1838–1840, 1841–1842, 1858–1860 U.S. House of Representatives (1847–1849) [24]
Samuel Wescott 1857–1858 New Jersey State Senator (1860–1862) [25]
Orestes Cleveland 1864–1867, 1886–1892 U.S. House of Representatives (1869–1871) [26]
Peter Farmer Wanser 1892–1897 New Jersey General Assemblyman (1882–1883) [27]
Glenn Dale Cunningham 2001–2004 New Jersey State Senator (2004) [28]
L. Harvey Smith 2004 New Jersey State Senator (2003–2004)
New Jersey General Assemblyman (2008–2010)		 [29]
[30]

See also

References

General
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Specific
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  25. ↑ Winfield 1874, p. 342
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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ New Jersey Legislative Digest for November 24, 2003. Accessed April 13, 2008. "Senator Joseph Charles, Jr., of the 31st Legislative District, has resigned effective August 18, 2003. L. Harvey Smith was sworn in as a member of the Senate for the 31st Legislative District."
  30. ↑ "31st Dist: Democrat victories for Cunningham, Smith, Chiappone", The Star-Ledger, November 6, 2007. Accessed December 27, 2007.
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