We the voters of Clifton sign below to confirm that the 2022 Mayor of Clifton should be given to the WINNER of the popular vote, the high voter getter.  Changing how the Mayor is chosen should only be done  by the voters of Clifton through a referendum vote and NOT by a handful of politicians.

Clifton NJ follows the Council - City Manager form of government.  Under this form, the City Council sets the policy and the City Manager manages day to day operations.  The City Council is elected in a non-partisan election, all Council people are "at-large" and serve a 4 year term.  The Mayor is selected by a vote among the newly elected City Council. All but once in nearly 100 years, the City Council has selected the winner of the popular vote, the highest vote getter amongst the Council to serve as its Mayor.

Under Clifton's form of government, the "Mayor" is largely a ceremonial position, responsible for chairing meetings and making appointments to the Planning Board.  All decisions made by the City Council require a majority vote among the Council members.

In the 2022 City Council election Raymond Grabowski (R) was high vote getter by over 1,000 votes.  However, there is a coup among the City Council members that are attempting to bypass the 100 year tradition of awarding the title of Mayor to the winner of the popular vote - the high vote getter - and nominating another Council person.  This has not been announced or discussed with the public - but has been handled in a "back room deal" behind the scenes.  A recent article from NorthJersey.com has confirmed that Councilman William Gibson (R) has been approached by an "un-named Council colleague" to be nominated for Mayor, and has said he will accept the nomination if offered.

This is a slap in the face to Clifton voters, who went into this Council election with the understanding that Clifton is under the same form of government and the same procedure would be followed when choosing a Mayor.  All the Council candidates are on record affirming they would select the high vote getter as Mayor, it is an abuse of power to change how the Mayor is selected behind voters backs with no public input.

Currently, there is interest among some Clifton residents to consider alternatives to the Council-Manager form of government or how a Mayor is chosen, to either have staggered elections, a Ward form of government, a separate election for Mayor, or other format with different elections for the City Council.  However, to do that requires either the creation of a committee, their proposal to the public, and a referendum vote or an initiative and referendum directly from the people so the VOTERS can decide where, when and how to select their Mayor.  

Only Councilwoman Lauren Murphy and Councilman Joe Kolodziej have confirmed publicly they will honor their previous statements and commitment to select the WINNER of the popular vote (the high voter getter) as Mayor.  

We the voters of Clifton sign below to confirm that the 2022 Mayor of Clifton should be given to the WINNER of the popular vote, the high voter getter - Ray Grabowski.  Changing how the Mayor is chosen should only be done by the voters of Clifton through a referendum vote and NOT by a handful of politicians without public input.