Editing Dover, New Jersey (section)

===Local government===
Dover operates using the [[Town (New Jersey)|Town]] form of government, one of nine municipalities (of the 564) 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''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the Town Council who are chosen on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The Mayor is elected [[at-large]] to a four-year term of office. The Towns Council is comprised of eight members, with two council members elected to two-year terms from each of the four [[Ward (United States)|wards]] on a staggered basis, with one seat coming up for election each year in each ward.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 58.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=5 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 5. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body had been known as the Board of Aldermen until October 2023, when the name was changed to the Town Council, making it the last municipality in the state to have used the term Aldermen.<ref>Westhoven, William. [https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/local/morris-county/2023/10/25/last-nj-aldermen-dover-gender-neutral-council/71306368007/ "NJ's last aldermen are gone as Morris County town switches to gender-neutral 'council'"], ''[[Daily Record (New Jersey)|Daily Record]]'', October 25, 2023. Accessed November 5, 2023. "Dover no longer has a board of aldermen running things. Neither does New Jersey. The governing body of the Morris County municipality voted by a 5-4 margin on Tuesday to declare itself a 'town council,' effectively relegating the alderman title to Garden State history. Dover was the last holdout in the state after another Morris town, Boonton, made the same change in 2021."</ref>

{{As of|2025}}, the [[Mayor]] of Dover is [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] James P. Dodd, whose term of office ends on December 31, 2027.<ref name=Mayor>[https://www.dover.nj.us/cn/Mayor/?tpid=2309 Mayor's Page], Town of Dover. Accessed May 5, 2024.</ref> Dodd had previously served as Mayor from 2006-2019 and defeated incumbent Mayor Carolyn Blackman in the 2023 Democratic primary en route to returning to office.<ref>Cahill, Frank. [https://morrisfocus.com/2023/11/09/dodd-secures-decisive-victory-in-dover-mayoral-race-clinching-70-of-votes/ "Dodd Secures Decisive Victory in Dover Mayoral Race, Clinching 70% of Votes"], Morris County Focus, November 9, 2023. Accessed February 4, 2024. "Ex-Mayor James Dodd achieved a resounding victory in Tuesday’s election, securing 70% of the vote in a bid to retake the position he previously occupied for four consecutive terms.... In the June Primary, Dodd competed against the incumbent Mayor Carolyn Blackman and Edward Correa. Dodd emerged with a majority of 50.6% of the votes, totaling 844. Blackman secured 24% of the votes, which amounted to 405, while Correa obtained 25%, equal to 418 votes."</ref> Members of the Town Council are Geovani Estacio-Carillo (Ward 2; D, 2026), Sergio Rodriguez (Ward 2; D, 2025), Arturo "A.B." Santana (Ward 4; D, 2025), Michael J. Scarneo (Ward 3; D, 2025), Marcos Tapia-Aguilar, Sr. (Ward 4; D, 2026), Claudia P. Toro (Ward 1; D, 2025), Veronica Velez (Ward 3; D, 2026) and Sandra Wittner (Ward 1; D, 2026).<ref>[https://www.dover.nj.us/cn/TownCouncil/?tpid=2310 Town Council], Town of Dover. Accessed May 5, 2024.</ref>

Dover serves as the lead agency operating a joint municipal court that also serves the neighboring municipalities of [[Mine Hill Township, New Jersey|Mine Hill Township]], [[Mount Arlington, New Jersey|Mount Arlington]], [[Victory Gardens, New Jersey|Victory Gardens]] and [[Wharton, New Jersey|Wharton]].<ref>[http://www.dover.nj.us/uppages/2015%20Reorg.%20Minutes-APPROVED.pdf Mayor and Board of Aldermen, Town of Dover Minutes of the Reorganization Meeting for January 1, 2015], Town of Dover. Accessed July 29, 2015.</ref> Established in 2009, the joint municipal court was projected to offer annual savings in excess of $250,000 over the 10-year life of the agreement.<ref>Forrest, Cindy. [http://www.northjersey.com/news/council-judges-proposal-for-joint-municipal-court-1.367035?page=all "Victory Gardens Council judges proposal for joint municipal court"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', May 18, 2012. Accessed July 29, 2015. "With Dover as the lead agency, four other area towns - Rockaway Borough, Wharton, Mine Hill, and Mt. Arlington - entered into a landmark municipal court shared-services agreement in 2009 anticipating an estimated $2.65 million savings over the 10-year life of the contract."</ref>