Local government Hi-Nella is governed under the
borough form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form, which is the state's most common form of government. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the six-member borough council, with all positions elected
at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with three seats coming up for election in odd-numbered years in a three-year cycle. The borough form of government used by Hi-Nella is a "
weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can
veto ordinances subject to an
override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council. , the mayor of Hi-Nella is
Democrat Michael J. Segeren, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023. Members of the Borough Council are Jose A. Class (
R, 2024), Cindy McCoy (D, 2023), Kris Muska (
I, 2024), Harry Uber (R, 2023) and Robert Wise (D, 2025).
Federal, state and county representation Hi-Nella is located in the 1st Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 6th state legislative district.
Politics As of March 2011, there were a total of 571 registered voters in Hi-Nella, of which 252 (44.1%) were registered as
Democrats, 59 (10.3%) were registered as
Republicans and 260 (45.5%) were registered as
Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties. In the
2012 presidential election, Democrat
Barack Obama received 66.1% of the vote (213 cast), ahead of Republican
Mitt Romney with 30.4% (98 votes), and other candidates with 3.4% (11 votes), among the 326 ballots cast by the borough's 645 registered voters (4 ballots were
spoiled), for a turnout of 50.5%. In the
2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 67.5% of the vote (249 cast), ahead of Republican
John McCain, who received around 29.3% (108 votes), with 369 ballots cast among the borough's 529 registered voters, for a turnout of 69.8%. In the
2004 presidential election, Democrat
John Kerry received 61.9% of the vote (216 ballots cast), outpolling Republican
George W. Bush, who received around 37.5% (131 votes), with 349 ballots cast among the borough's 497 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 70.2. In the
2013 gubernatorial election, Republican
Chris Christie received 59.6% of the vote (99 cast), ahead of Democrat
Barbara Buono with 36.7% (61 votes), and other candidates with 3.6% (6 votes), among the 171 ballots cast by the borough's 658 registered voters (5 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 26.0%. In the
2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 46.6% of the vote (90 ballots cast), ahead of both Democrat
Jon Corzine with 46.1% (89 votes) and Independent
Chris Daggett with 4.1% (8 votes), with 193 ballots cast among the borough's 544 registered voters, yielding a 35.5% turnout. ==Education==