This November, five Hopewell Township residents are asking for your vote.
Stephen Klopfer, Tamera Matteo, Vanessa Sandom, Michael Markulec, and Chad Goerner are on your ballot as candidates for the Charter Study Commission. Between them: three former mayors, financial and program management professionals, and a local business owner. Democrats, Republicans, and Unaffiliated — united not by politics, but by this place we call home.
Chart New Course has been knocking on doors since January. Across Democrats, Republicans, and Unaffiliated voters, 83% of the residents we spoke with agreed: it’s time for a serious look at how we are governed.
Now it’s your turn. When the New Jersey Legislature incorporated Hopewell Township in 1798, it was an agrarian community of a few thousand residents.
The township’s population has grown roughly fourfold since 1950, reaching 18,763 as of the U.S. Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 population estimate. Its municipal budget has grown even faster — from $24.6 million in 2015 to $36.8 million in 2026, a 50% increase in just over a decade. Employee benefits and insurance alone now account for $6.9 million, nearly a fifth of the total 2026 budget.
And the form of government overseeing all of this growth? Unchanged since 1798.
This November’s ballot has two Hopewell Township municipal charter questions. The first: should a Charter Study Commission be elected to study our form of government? The second: if so, who should serve on it?
If voters say yes, five elected commissioners are sworn in shortly after the election and their nine-month clock begins. They will examine the three Faulkner Act forms available to Hopewell Township — Mayor-Council, Council-Manager, and Mayor-Council-Administrator. The commission may also recommend a special charter requiring Legislative approval — an option, but not a simple or timely one. And the commission may recommend that the current form of government, examined honestly and in public, remains the right one. That too is a legitimate outcome — and one that would carry the weight of a thorough, public look rather than assumption.
Nothing is decided. Everything is on the table.
When their work concludes — by approximately August 2027 — the commission’s recommendation goes to voters in a second referendum, likely November 2027. The commission studies. Voters decide.
The commissioners study. Voters decide. Stephen Klopfer brings deep expertise in evaluating organizational process, work structures, and capabilities. Tamera Matteo knows what it takes to run an organization accountably and transparently. Vanessa Sandom served as mayor of Hopewell Township and was instrumental in establishing the Hopewell Valley Arts Council and the Lawrence Hopewell Trail. Michael Markulec served as mayor of Hopewell Township and on the HVRSD Board of Education, and knows firsthand how the current structure works — and where it strains. Chad Goerner served as mayor of Princeton, where he led one of New Jersey’s most closely watched government restructurings — and wrote the book on it.
Three former mayors. Two parties plus an Unaffiliated. One shared belief: Hopewell Township’s future deserves a thorough, public look.
250 years ago, George Washington crossed the Delaware River right here — into this valley, through this township, toward a future he believed would be more fitting for his time.
It’s time to ask what our future should look like. Vote yes on the Charter Commission question this November. And if you’d like five committed neighbors to do that work, we’d be honored by your vote.
Visit ChartNewCourse.org to learn more and stay engaged.
Chart New Course is represented by certified charter commissioner candidates Stephen Klopfer, Tamera Matteo, Vanessa Sandom, Michael Markulec and Chad Goerner. We are a bipartisan group of former local officials, a veteran, management and financial professionals, an attorney, and a local business owner.
