In Howell Township, it’s a Toms River resident, not the elected board of Howell Township council members or the duly elected mayor who make all the decisions for the township. That person happens to be Brian Geohegan and this week, Mayor Theresa Berger said Geoghegan, a township outsider is usurping her authority as the elected mayor of the township after he appointed more than a dozen people to political patronage positions of the township’s Shade Tree Commission and Environmental Commission. Until now, that has been the role of the mayor of Howell Township.
“I do not consent to the township manager unlawfully usurping my mayoral authority to appoint members of the Shade Tree Commission until an ordinance has been introduced and a public hearing held amending the ordinance,” Berger said.