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===Local government=== {{See also|Mayors of Teaneck, New Jersey}} Teaneck is governed within the [[Faulkner Act]] (formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law) under the [[Faulkner Act (council–manager)|Council-Manager]] form of government. The council-manager system was adopted by referendum in 1988.<ref>[http://www.dudley-2010.com/Faulkner%20Act%2046pages.pdf "The Faulkner Act: New Jersey's Optional Municipal Charter Law"], [[New Jersey State League of Municipalities]], July 2007. Accessed December 18, 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.teaneck.org/virtualvillage/managersreports/2003.pdf#page=3 Teaneck Municipal Services 2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219025720/http://www.teaneck.org/virtualvillage/managersreports/2003.pdf#page=3 |date=December 19, 2013 }}, Township of Teaneck. Accessed December 18, 2013. "In 1987, a referendum to alter the form was approved, creating staggered terms for the Council. As part of the change, Council elections now take place every two years on the second Tuesday in May. Seven members serve four-year terms which expire in even numbered years as follows: three will expire in 2004, four will expire in 2006, etc."</ref> The council's seven members are elected at-large in nonpartisan elections to serve staggered, four-year terms of office. Following a municipal election, the Township Council holds a Reorganization Meeting where the winners are sworn in, and the council elects a mayor and two deputy mayors from among its own members. Under the council-manager system, the mayor's chief role is to preside over the council. The mayor (and deputy mayors) vote on all matters as regular members of the council, and the position is not an executive one. The mayor does, however, execute bonds, notes, contracts and written obligations of the Township and is empowered to perform marriages.<ref>{{cite web|title=Forms of Government in NJ|url=https://www.njlm.org/Faq.aspx?TID=25,|access-date=28 January 2020|website=NJLM New Jersey League of Municipalities}}</ref><ref name=General>[http://www.teanecknj.gov/Council/ Township Council – General], Township of Teaneck. Accessed December 18, 2013.</ref> <br>The chief executive of the Township of Teaneck is the [[Faulkner Act#Council–manager|Township Manager]], who is hired by the council and is present at meetings of the council but does not have voting power. The Manager implements Council policies, enforces ordinances and is responsible for appointing and directing department heads. The Township Manager is also responsible for preparing and submitting the budget to the council.<ref name="Interim MunicipalManager">[http://www.teanecknj.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=trees.treePage&treeID=180 Manager] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822105239/http://www.teanecknj.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=trees.treePage&treeID=180 |date=2012-08-22 }}, Township of Teaneck. Accessed July 10, 2012.</ref> The Township Council serves as Teaneck's governing body, setting policies and passing ordinances. It adopts an annual budget and approves contracts and agreements for services. The Council appoints the town officials, including the Manager, Clerk, Auditor, Attorney, Magistrate and Assessor. The Council appoints seven members of the Planning Board, the members of the Board of Adjustment, and all other statutory and advisory boards.<ref>[http://www.teanecknj.gov/Government/ Government], Township of Teaneck. Accessed August 13, 2013.</ref><ref name=General/> As of January 2023 the Township Council was comprised as follows:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.teanecknj.gov/council |title=Township of Teaneck Council Members |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=teanecknj.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206195729/https://www.teanecknj.gov/council |archive-date=February 6, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=BergenCountyDirectory>[https://www.co.bergen.nj.us/images/About_Bergen_County/2024-county-directory.pdf#page=63 ''2024 County and Municipal Directory''], [[Bergen County, New Jersey]], April 2024. Accessed April 15, 2024.</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Position ! Name ! Term began ! Term ends ! Notes |- |[[Mayors of Teaneck, New Jersey|Mayor]] |Mark J. Schwartz |January 1, 2025 |December 31, 2028 |Elected in 2012, the Council elected Schwartz mayor at the Council reorganization in January 2025. |- |Deputy Mayor 1 |Karen Lew Orgen |January 1, 2025 |December 31, 2028 | |- |Deputy Mayor 2 |Denise Belcher |January 1, 2023 |December 31, 2026 | |- |Councilmember (at-large) |Elie Y. Katz |January 1, 2023 |December 31, 2026 | |- |Councilmember (at-large) |Danielle Gee |January 1, 2023 |December 31, 2026 | |- |Councilmember (at-large) |Hillary Goldberg |January 1, 2023 |December 31, 2026 | |- |Councilmember (at-large) |Michael Pagan |January 1, 2025 |December 31, 2028 | |} As of January 2025, the Township Manager was Jacklyn Hashmat, who has been serving since 2024. Following its founding in 1895, Teaneck used the traditional [[Township (New Jersey)|township]] form of government, led by a three-member Township Committee (later expanded to five seats) elected on a partisan basis. On September 16, 1930, Teaneck residents voted to establish a [[non-partisan democracy|non-partisan]] Council-Manager form of government under the terms of the [[1923 Municipal Manager Law]], with five members elected concurrently on an at-large basis. In 1962, the Council expanded to its current size of seven members and the position of Deputy Mayor was created. In 1987, a referendum to alter the form to a Faulkner Act Council-Manager form of government was approved, providing for staggered terms for the council. The township is one of 42 municipalities (of the 565) statewide that use this form of government.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601184216/https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf |date=June 1, 2023 }}, [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> <br>Until 2021, council elections took place in even years on the second Tuesday in May. Following a referendum that passed in 2021, the date of Township Council elections was moved to November to be held with the state-wide elections.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 157.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=12 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604040836/https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=12 |date=June 4, 2023 }}, p. 12. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/teaneck-will-move-local-elections-from-may-to-november/ |title=Teaneck will move local elections from May to November |date=2021-11-03 |access-date=2023-02-06 |last=Fox |first=Joey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206205058/https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/teaneck-will-move-local-elections-from-may-to-november/ |archive-date=2023-02-06 |url-status=live |publisher=[[New Jersey Globe]]}}</ref> In May 2000, three women ran for Township Council, and all three, incumbent Jackie Kates and newcomers Marie Warnke and Deborah Veach, were elected.<ref>Sampson, Peter J.; and Stancavish, Don. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-26541897.html "Teaneck Elects 3 Women To Council – Sole Incumbent Tops Crowded Field"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924180623/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-26541897.html |date=2015-09-24 }}, ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', May 10, 2000. Accessed December 3, 2014. "Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Kates, Deborah Veach, and Marie Warnke easily outpolled five other candidates Tuesday to win four-year terms on the Township Council."</ref> Kates, Warnke and Veach completed their four-year terms and then ran for re-election in May 2004.<ref>Johnson, Paul H. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-94417049.html "5 candidates vying for 3 seats on Teaneck Council"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924182751/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-94417049.html |date=2015-09-24 }}, ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', May 8, 2004. Accessed December 3, 2014. "Five candidates are facing off for three seats. They are Mayor Jacqueline Kates, who is seeking her third term, Deborah Veach and Marie Warnke, who are both running for their second term, and challengers Monica Honis and Eric Cinotti."</ref> Jackie Kates and Deborah Veach were re-elected and became Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively. Ms. Veach resigned her position in October 2005 and was appointed to be the Township's Municipal Prosecutor.<ref>Aberback, Brian. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-113996123.html "Teaneck's deputy mayor resigns to become its prosecutor – Veach first elected to council in 2000"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924172531/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-113996123.html |date=2015-09-24 }}, ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', October 9, 2005. Accessed December 3, 2014. "Deputy Mayor Deborah Veach has resigned her council seat to become the township prosecutor."</ref> On May 13, 2008, the township voted to re-elect Monica Honis to the council (with 2,981 votes). Elnatan Rudolph (2,852) lost his bid for re-election, falling 38 votes behind his running mate. Barbara Toffler (leading the voting with 3,356 votes) and Mohammed Hameeduddin (2,890) were elected and took office on July 1, 2008, filling the seats left by Rudolph and former mayor Jackie Kates, who did not run for re-election.<ref>Ax, Joseph. "Rivals split the vote", ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', May 14, 2008. "Challenger Barbara Toffler surged to victory in Tuesday's bitterly contested council election, finishing first in a field of eight, and Councilwoman Monica Honis and newcomer Barbara Toffler also captured four-year terms."</ref> In the 2010 municipal elections, Adam Gussen, Elie Katz and Lizette Parker were re-elected to office, with former councilmember Yitz Stern taking the seat vacated by former mayor Kevie Feit, who did not run for a second term. At its July 1, 2010, reorganization meeting the council selected Mohammed Hameeduddin to serve as mayor, making him one of the state's first Muslim mayors, while Adam Gussen was chosen as deputy mayor.<ref>Ax, Joseph. [http://www.northjersey.com/news/Teaneck_picks_first_Muslim_mayor.html "Teaneck picks first Muslim mayor"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]', July 1, 2010. Accessed July 7, 2010.</ref><ref>Dwyer, Devin. [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jersey-town-picks-muslim-mayor-orthodox-jew-deputy/story?id=11092489 "N.J. Town Picks Muslim for Mayor, Orthodox Jew as Deputy"], [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]], July 6, 2010. Accessed July 7, 2010.</ref> In the May 2012 municipal election, Mohammed Hameeduddin won a second term in office (with 4,374 votes) and was the only incumbent to win re-election, with challengers Mark Schwartz (3,150) and Henry Pruitt (2,872) taking the seats of Barbara Toffler (2,526) and Monica Honis (2,238), who lost their bids for re-election and came in fourth and fifth respectively, while Alexander Rashin came in sixth (1,049).<ref>Superville, Denisa R. [http://www.northjersey.com/teaneck/teaneck_election.html "Two challengers join Teaneck council"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', May 8, 2012. Accessed July 10, 2012. "Hameeduddin received the highest number of votes — 4,374, according to preliminary results from the township clerk's office. He will be joined on the council by Mark Schwartz, a member of the Planning Board and the volunteer ambulance corps who received 3,150 votes, and Henry J. Pruitt, a school board member and retired educator who received 2,872 votes. Voters rejected the re-election bids of two councilwomen, Barbara Toffler and Monica Honis. Toffler, a retired professor, received 2,526 votes, while Honis, who teaches English as a second language in Clifton, received 2,238 votes. A sixth candidate, Alexander Rashin, a scientist in computational molecular biophysics, got 1,049 votes."</ref> In the May 2018 municipal election, Elie Katz won a sixth term in office (with 3,822 votes) and Gervonn Romney Rice, who was selected to replace Mayor Lizette Parker (after her death in 2016), won reelection (with 4,480 votes). Challengers Keith Kaplan (with 3,191 votes) and James Dunleavy (with 3,360 votes) defeated incumbent Alan Sohn (with 2,483 votes) and challengers Clara Williams (with 2,303 votes) and Charles "Chuck" Powers (with 2,282 votes).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.teanecknj.gov/home-news/may-8-2018-unofficial-election-results|title=Township of Teaneck New Jersey - May 8 2018 unofficial election results|last=www.evogov.com|website=www.teanecknj.gov|access-date=2018-05-14|archive-date=May 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514143657/https://www.teanecknj.gov/home-news/may-8-2018-unofficial-election-results|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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