After months of infighting, Jackson Township names new council member once thought unthinkable

JACKSON - After nearly a decade of allegations that the township council was openly hostile toward its growing Orthodox Jewish community, one of its leaders will now serve on the council itself.

Mordechai Burnstein, president of the Jackson Republican Club and planning board member, was appointed to the township council on Tuesday night, replacing former councilman Martin Flemming III, who resigned last month.

The vote to appoint Burnstein was a 2-2 tie. Mayor Michael Reina cast the tiebreaking vote, siding with Councilwoman Jennifer Kuhn and Councilman Scott Sargent. Council President Steve Chisholm, Jr., and Council Vice President Nino Borrelli voted against Burnstein's appointment, with Borrelli putting forth a motion to instead appoint planning board and environmental commission member Jeffrey Riker.

Burnstein will serve until the end of next year but, in an interview, said he doesn't intend to run for a full term in November 2024.

"It's a very proud moment in Jackson to know that we can get along and move things forward," Burnstein said. "Yes, I'm sure there will be some people who are angry but, if you look at it objectively, we all deserve to have a voice in moving forward.

"The Orthodox community is about 20% or 25% of the town's population. By and large, people just want good government, people who care about the future of the town, people who are invested in the town. I'm honored to have been called upon to serve."

The entire process lasted less than five minutes, but the behind-the-scenes tug-of-war over Flemming's resignation and naming his successor lasted months. The 2-2 vote was expected: Kuhn and Sargent ran alongside Reina in the 2022 elections, while Chisholm and Borrelli — whose seats expire next year — endorsed Flemming's own mayoral candidacy. Reina won in a close race, with Sargent and Kuhn ousting incumbents Andy Kern and Samara Porter O'Neill.

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In June, Flemming resigned his title of council president but said he kept onto his seat while renovations were finished on his new family home in North Hanover. By resigning his title before his actual council seat, it kept the role of council president — who sets the agenda — within Flemming's faction.

It's a stunning cultural moment for the town which spent much of the last decade embroiled in litigation specifically related to municipal officials' actions toward the Orthodox Jewish community.

From 2015 to 2018, the council adopted ordinances banning the construction of schools and dormitories and construction in the right-of-way lawn between the sidewalk and street, including on utility poles, in an effort to "preserve the character of Jackson Township," as an unsigned statement on the township website said at the time.

And under the pretense of enforcing township code, officials surveilled homes on Friday nights to observe the large gatherings taking place there.

Orthodox leaders were quick to point out that the only people affected by those actions were Orthodox Jews. The only potential schools on the docket were private religious schools that would serve Orthodox children, some of which planned dormitories so students could board on campus to avoid secular distractions.

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The large gatherings surveilled by code enforcement officers were Sabbath services, often held at private homes since there weren't any shuls within walking distance.

The policy of banning construction in the right-of-way only came about after a community group led by Burnstein sought municipal approval for constructing an eruv, a ceremonial wire often hung from utility poles that extends the boundaries of the home during the Sabbath and certain holidays. Without eruvim, practicing Orthodox Jews aren't allowed to carry objects outside the home.

The issue of eruvim — along with schools, dormitories and the Sabbath stakeouts — wound up in lawsuits filed by the Department of Justice, New Jersey Attorney General's Office and Orthodox Jewish advocacy group Agudath Israel that were only settled after new ordinances were introduced regulating where schools, dormitories, eruvim and houses of worship can be located.

Burnstein was one of the leaders of a new Orthodox voting bloc that began playing a more active role in the Jackson Republican Club last year, throwing their weight behind Reina's reelection campaign. It was that fracture that led to the political divisions still apparent on the township council.

The club elected Burnstein as its president a few months later and he has since become one of the most active and influential political leaders in the county.

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In his opening comments, Burnstein was quick to recognize Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore, one of the most powerful Republican politicos in the state sitting in the audience as Burnstein was sworn in.

"My job is to elect more Republicans and turn out the vote," Burnstein said. "Yes, it's easier sometimes to get out the Orthodox vote, but I've invited people to the club whether they're Orthodox or not."

Reina would eventually win reelection over Flemming, propelled by larger turnout numbers in voting districts with a sizeable Orthodox Jewish contingent.

"It takes a lot to sit up here and go about the business of the town," Reina said. "I think this council now will be lockstep in moving forward to continually make Jackson progress to where it needs to go."

Mike Davis has spent the last decade covering New Jersey local news, marijuana legalization, transportation and a little bit of everything else. He's won a few awards that make his parents very proud. Contact him at mdavis@gannettnj.com or @byMikeDavis on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jackson Township makes surprise pick for open council seat