'Boots on the ground' may be needed to create Edison public advocate

EDISON – Plans to reintroduce an ordinance to create the position of public advocate are expected back before the Township Council soon.

But questions remain whether there’s enough council support and how the issue would get to the ballot.

Michael Burns, who was serving as township attorney during Monday's agenda session, said he outlined in a memo to the council the procedures for a petition to get a question on the ballot, including when the petition has to be signed and how many people have to sign it, as well as when and how it has to be submitted to the township clerk.

The procedure also includes the timeline for certification by the clerk and presentation to the council to vote to put it on the ballot. Burns said it's a fairly complicated procedure in that is has a lot of moving parts before it goes before voters.

Council members questioned if there is a different standard for the number of petition signatures needed for ballot questions, depending on whether council approval is being sough,  as well as if the question is being geared for a special or regular election.

More: Edison again discussing the possibility of a council ward system

Burns said a special election would depend on when the petition is submitted to the council and how much time there is before a regular election. If there is more than 90 days before the next regular election, he believes then a special election is required. Burns said he didn't find in the township charter any difference in the number of signatures needed based on whether or not the council approves of the ballot question but was unsure if that was included in a township ordinance.

He believes the petition must include signatures from 15% of the township's registered voters. State records from the November 2022 general election show Edison had 63,926 registered voters.

Council Vice President Margot Harris urged residents who support the public advocate position to be willing to walk door-to-door to get signatures on the petition to get the question on the ballot.

"It needs a lot of signatures. We're going to need your help in order to make that happen if this has to go on the ballot," Harris said. "We'd love to get this done here in council and get that taken care of and approved as an ordinance, but if it means that we want to put this on the ballot because it's not happening here, we're going to need boots on the ground."

Last year the council twice introduced an ordinance to create the public advocate position, but a second reading and public hearing was never held.

Those ordinances called for the establishment of the position of public advocate to represent the interests of township residents in land use hearings before the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Planning Board in matters in which, if a development application was approved, there would be, in the judgment of the public advocate, a likelihood of a detrimental impact on the health, safety, quality of life or property values of residents.

More: Officer instrumental in diversifying Edison Police Department dies after ALS battle

Some residents along with some council members see the creation of a public advocate position as a tool to help residents fight undesirable development in the community. Residents who fought plans to build townhomes at the former Charlie Brown's site on Plainfield Road and a warehouse project in the Silver Lake Avenue neighborhood did their own research and paid for their own experts to testify against the projects.

But other council members expressed issues with the wording and language in the proposed ordinances as well as the liability for the township.

Previously Mayor Sam Joshi has said he would veto any effort to establish a public advocate in part because of the cost and the possibility of creating conflicts of interest which could result in hefty legal fees for the township.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Edison NJ public advocate position may need voter approval