Jackson Township mayor Mike Reina walks along the trails at the Bunker Hill Bogs Wildlife Recreation area, a newly created township eco park which reclaimed hundreds of acres of woodlands from local developers.

Jackson, NJ – Today, Jackson Township Mayor Mike Reina has announced that he will run for reelection as our town’s mayor in the November general election.     Reina was appointed as Mayor by a large majority in a 4-1 vote by the town council after the departure of Mark Seda to serve as an interim Mayor until November.       Mike Reina, an independent Republican who has supported non-partisan government was part of a bold mixed democrat and republican ticket in a previously unheard of bi-partisan campaign.

That bipartisan partnership however fell apart when former running mate Mike Kafton, who suggested he should be next in line for mayor, balked at Reina’s nomination by the council and cast the lone dissenting vote against Reina.  Kafton’s fellow democrats disagreed with the former democrat club president and both republican and democrat council members voted yes to Reina’s appointment.   The council’s confidence in Reina demonstrated he was indeed the best person for the job and his appointment was in the best interest of Jackson Township.

Mike Reina inherited a mess from former Mayor Mark Seda and vowed to work with both democrats and republicans to find solutions to many of the town’s problems.   Now Reina, like any other resident who wishes to run for mayor will proceed in the first part of the process which includes gathering 350 signatures from registered Jackson voters.  No longer does being Jackson’s mayor depend on past political patronage or paying dues to a party for a nomination.  Any resident who can gather 350 signatures is eligible to run, just one of many forms of transparent and open government supported by Mike Reina.

Recently, Mike Reina reinstated township advisory boards which would give ordinary Jackson Residents in a position to make recommendations directly to the Mayor and empowering residents in our town’s government process.   It was a decision that was applauded by the community, but opposed to by Reina’s former running mate.    ”I have re-opened boards and commissions that were left by the wayside. By doing so I invited Jackson residents to participate.” explained Reina.    Regarding his newly announced candidacy, Mike Reina said  “It is an honor to represent this town, regardless of the length of time I have to do it.”

The winner of November’s election however, is to only serve the remaining time on former mayor Mark Seda’s term, and which will run until the May 2010 mayoral election.

Mayor Mike Reina dons a tie crafted by local Jackson Kindergartners as he takes time out of his busy schedule to celebrate Father's Day with children and dads at the Lucy N. Holman Elementary School