Howell, New Jersey

How Howell is governed

Form of government not yet listed.

1 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

  • Theresa Berger per Wikidata

  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

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    Presides over the municipal court.

Website

twp.howell.nj.us

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Population over time

From 51,075 in 2010 to 53,537 in 2020 (+4.8%).

History

Native American and early European settlement

The area surrounding the Manasquan River and its watershed, which contains modern-day Howell, was originally settled by Paleo-Indians as early as 9,000 BC. These Paleo-Indians would later be called the Lenape people and the area was included in their territorial settlement of Lenapehoking. The Lenape who inhabited the area spoke the Northern dialect of Unami and several of their most prominent footpaths would become roadways, including sections of U.S. Route 9 and Route 33.

Prior to major settling in the area by Europeans, the land was designated as part of the Dutch New Netherland colony, before being handed over as part of British East Jersey and later being merged into the British New Jersey Colony. European settlement in the area began around the 1760s. Their move to the area was driven by the search for agriculturally fertile soil.

Founding and early history (19th century)

Howell Township was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 23, 1801, from portions of Shrewsbury Township. Portions of the township were later taken to form Brick Township in the newly created Ocean County (February 15, 1850), and Wall Township (March 7, 1851). The township was named for Richard Howell, who served from 1794 to 1801 as the third Governor of New Jersey.

Initially founded by Benjamin Howell as the Monmouth Furnace, engineer and philanthropist James P. Allaire purchased and expanded the facility in 1822, renaming it to the Howell Works; this facility harvested and processed bog iron to provide pig iron for Allaire Iron Works, which was a leading supplier of iron in the 19th century. Allaire Village was a bustling mill town at the height of the mining operations, and which has since been preserved alongside the remains of the Howell Works facility as Allaire State Park, located within Howell and neighboring Wall Township.

20th century

On April 8, 1903, Farmingdale was incorporated as a borough from Howell.

In 1907, journalist Arthur Brisbane, who had recently purchased the then-abandoned Howell Works, purchased around 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of land in Howell to create the Howell Tuberculosis Preventorium for Children, which operated from 1909 to 1960; the site was later converted into the Howell Municipal Complex, which houses the local branch of the Monmouth County Library, a senior center, police and court building, public works facility, and the former town hall. The road that connected and passed through the site is named Preventorium Road.

In 1929, southern portions of Howell were ceded to Jackson and Lakewood townships in Ocean County.

21st century

Some scenes for the 2005 War of the Worlds remake were filmed in Howell, and a neighborhood called Ardena Acres was recreated as a set and left standing in Universal Studios Hollywood.

On October 16, 2012, the Howell town hall was formally relocated from the Municipal Complex on Preventorium Road to the former Global Corporate Center building on US Route 9 North, following extensive renovations and relocation of the remaining tenants.

In June 2017, two separate tornadoes, both rated EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, struck the township within minutes of each other, causing notable damage and knocking out electricity. The first and most damaging one struck the Fort Plains area along US Route 9 at 7:21 PM, lifting up occupied vehicles and uprooting trees as well as damaging a Home Depot, Chase Bank, strip mall, and local ice cream parlor. The second one struck around 6 minutes later within Oak Glen Park, uprooting or breaking multiple trees which forced the park to temporarily close.

Roughly six years later in April 2023, a tornado rated EF-2 struck Howell and neighboring Jackson Township near the Aldrich Road area. The National Weather Service confirmed that the tornado was 50 yards wide and 1.4 miles in length. It was one of the strongest tornadoes to have hit the state, as it was part of four separate powerful tornadoes that had also impacted the state that same day.

Alleged ethnic profiling by local officials

On July 25, 2025, former Township Manager Joseph Clark filed a lawsuit, alleging that Mayor John Leggio, Councilman Ian Nadel, and other local officials had suggested new local ordinances that would have required tenants in the township to provide proof of residency in order to approve Certificates of Occupancy (CO), as well as measures to cross-reference local arrest records with a CO registry, a move alleged to racially profile undocumented Hispanic renters. Clark resigned from his role 2 weeks prior, on July 11.

On September 5, 2025, then-Deputy Township Manager Matthew Howard filed a similar suit in the New Jersey Superior Court, alleging that the township "weaponize housing regulations to punish individuals based on their ethnicity, immigration status, and/or perceived national origin". Howard resigned from his role later that month.

Both suits alleged that Mayor John Leggio and Councilman Ian Nadel suggested searching through residents' garbage in an effort to find bottles of Modelo, a Mexican beer brand, to target Hispanic residents. Howard also alleged that Councilman Nadel sought to have code enforcement employees stake out a home because it was "owned by Jews" and was used to celebrate the Sabbath.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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