Mayors of Teaneck, New Jersey

Teaneck, New Jersey was incorporated on February 19, 1895. It was created in Chapter XXVII in the Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey in 1895.[1] The office of mayor did not initially exist as such. In 1895, the township form of government was a direct democracy,[2] with a three-member township committee handling the affairs of the township between annual town meetings. The township committee selected a chairman. Historian Griffin wrote that William W. Bennett "was the obvious (and unanimous) choice to serve as Teaneck's first township committee chairman], roughly the equivalent of mayor and manager combined."[3] New Jersey revised township organization in 1899, and in 1910 Teaneck moved to a five-man township committee. On January 1, 1930, the Township selected its last chairman, Lacey Walker.[4] On November 11, 1930, the Township transferred to the Council-Manager form of Government,[5] electing Karl D. Van Wagner to serve as the first Mayor (from among the five council-members) at the reorganization meeting. By 1946, Teaneck had both a mayor and a deputy mayor. The first Deputy Mayor was Henry Diessler.[6][7] There were twelve Chairmen prior to Karl Van Wagner being elected Mayor in 1930.[8] The 24 Mayors of Teaneck, New Jersey are as follows:[7][4]

Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey
Inaugural holderWilliam W. Bennett
Formation1895

Mayors
MayorIn officeLeft officeNotes
Michael Pagan January 3, 2023 First term as mayor after two years of service on the council.[9]
Jim Dunleavy July 1, 2020 January 3, 2023 His first and only term as mayor. In office during Teaneck's transition of council elections from May to November. Declined to run for re-election to his council seat in 2022.[10]
Mohammed HameeduddinJuly 1, 2016July 1, 2020This was his second term as mayor. The Teaneck Township Council elected Hameeduddin as mayor on July 1, 2016, to fill the rest of the previous mayor's unexpired term. He was sworn into office the same day by Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey Steven Fulop.[11] Hameeduddin previously served as Teaneck mayor from 2010 to 2014.[12]
Elie KatzApril 24, 2016July 1, 2016This was his second term. He was filling in as acting mayor for Lizette Parker, who died in office. Katz was the Deputy Mayor at the time of Parker's death and assumed the role of acting mayor until a new mayor could be elected by the town council.[13]
Lizette ParkerJuly 1, 2014April 24, 2016Lizette Parker (August 31, 1971 – April 24, 2016) was the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of any municipality in Bergen County, New Jersey. Parker died in office on April 24, 2016.[14]
Mohammed HameeduddinJuly 1, 2010July 1, 2014This was his first term. Hameeduddin was the first Muslim mayor in Bergen County, New Jersey.[15]
Kevie Feit2008July 1, 2010[16]
Elie Katz20062008This was his first term. Katz was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, on July 16, 1974. He attended the Frisch School and graduated from Touro College. Katz was elected Mayor of Teaneck in 2006, making him the youngest person to serve in that office as well as the first Orthodox Jew.[17][18] Katz served until 2008, when he was replaced by Kevie Feit. Katz was serving as Deputy Mayor in 2016 when Lizette Parker died in office. He thus filled in as acting mayor for several months until the town council elected Mohammed Hameeduddin on July 1, 2016.[11]
Jacqueline Kates20022006
Paul Steven Ostrow19962002
Peter Bower19941995
John Abraham19921993Indian American who arrived in the United States in 1972 after working as a textile engineer in Tanzania.[19] He ran for the statehouse 37th District in 1997 and lost.[20]
Eleanor KieliszekJuly 19901992Kieliszek was re-elected mayor in July 1990 in the aftermath of the Phillip Pannell shooting incident, replacing Frank Hall.[21] This was her second term.
Francis "Frank" Hall1988July 1990This was Hall's second mayoral tenure.[22]
Bernard E. BrooksJuly 1, 19821988Bernard Brooks (c. 1935 – October 27, 2007) was elected mayor in July 1982, becoming the first black mayor in Teaneck's history.[23][24] He served as mayor from 1982 until 1990.[23] Brooks remained Teaneck's only African-American mayor until Lizette Parker's election in 2014.[24]
Francis "Frank" HallJune 19781982This was their first tenure as mayor.
Eleanor Kieliszek1974June 1978This was her first term. She was the first female Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey and the first woman elected to the township council. Eleanor Manning Kieliszek (1925 – May 16, 2017) was also an elected member of the Teaneck Township Council for 30 years from 1970 until 2000.[21][25]
Frank White Burr19701974Frank White Burr (January 7, 1906 – May 4, 1992) was the Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey from 1970 to 1974. He was an advocate for the Glenpointe development at the intersection of the New Jersey Turnpike (a portion of Interstate 95) and Interstate 80. Burr was born in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey on January 7, 1906.[26] He attended Hasbrouck Heights High School.[27] He graduated New York University and New York University School of Law and spent his entire professional life working for Chase Manhattan Bank. Burr served as a trustee on the Teaneck Board of Education from 1955 to 1961 and was board president from 1956 to 1957. He was a member of the Township's advisory board on Community Relations from 1961 to 1967 and was its chairman when Teaneck became the first town in the nation where a white majority voluntarily voted for school integration.[26] He opposed the 1972 New Jersey $650‐million transportation bond issue because it did not restore the closed West Shore Line railroad.[28] He died on May 4, 1992, in Teaneck, New Jersey.[26]
Thomas CostaMay 24, 19661969Thomas J. Costa (June 30, 1912 – April 1, 2003) was an American Republican Party politician who served two terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, as well serving as the mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey, and as a Bergen County freeholder.
Matthew Feldman1962January 1966Matthew Feldman (March 22, 1919 – April 11, 1994) resigned as mayor upon election to the New Jersey Senate.[29]
August Hanniball, Jr.June 19581962[30]
Thomas J. E. Brown1956June 1958
Henry DeisslerMay 23, 19501955
Clarence William BrettMay 28, 19461950
Milton Gideon Votee19341946He was born in 1880. He served as mayor for 12 years. He was one of the organizers of the switch to a township manager form of government. In 1958, the township renamed its Central Park the Milton Votee Park. He worked at the Railway Express Agency from 1900 to 1951. He was secretary of the Bergen County Sewer Authority. He died of a heart attack at Holy Name Hospital on August 9, 1961.[31]
Karl D. Van Wagner19301933Elected as the first mayor under the council-manager form of government on November 11, 1930.[5]
Lacey Walker19301930He was the last chairman under the township committee form of government. His last election as chairman was on January 1, 1930, and he served until November 11, 1930, when the township re-organized as a council-manager form of government and elected Karl D. Van Wagner as the first mayor.
Christian Gloeckler19271929
William Harold Bodine, Sr.19251926This was his third term.
Frederic Andreas19241924
Frederick J. Griffith19211924[32]
Maurice Veuve19181920
William Harold Bodine, Sr.19171917This was his second term.
Frederick McGuire19161916
William Harold Bodine, Sr.19151915This was his first term. He was born on March 15, 1874, in Brooklyn, New York to William Nott Bodine (1846–1896) and Julia Ann Pereigo (1847–1928).
Robert A. Shaw19121914
James E. Pearce19101911
William Weaver BennettFebruary 19, 18951909William Weaver Bennett (February 4, 1841 – June 13, 1912) was the first Chairman of Teaneck, New Jersey.[3] He was born in Derbyshire, England on February 4, 1841. When six months old, his parents came to America to live in Binghamton, New York, where the father died around 1853. He moved to Teaneck and built a series of row houses and then became the property manager for William Walter Phelps. He was the first chairman of Teaneck, New Jersey, from 1895 to 1909. Bennett died on June 13, 1912, in Teaneck, New Jersey, at the age of 71. He was buried at Brookside Cemetery, Englewood. He served as chairman for 13 years.

References
  1. An act to create a new township in the county of Bergen to be called the Township of Teaneck - Public Laws 1895, chapter 37, page 886
  2. "The Story of New Jersey's Civil boundaries" (PDF). nj.gov. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  3. Griffin, Robert D. "The Father of Teaneck: William Weaver Bennett". www.teaneck.org. Teaneck Public Library Online. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  4. "Mayors of the Township of Teaneck".
  5. http://www.teanecktoday.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Minutes-of-Nov-11-1930-pg-1.jpg
  6. http://www.teanecktoday.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Minutes-of-May-20-1946-pg-1.jpg
  7. "Mayors, Chairmen, and Council Members (1895 - 2016)". Teaneck Public Library Online. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  8. "Teaneck Public Library Online".
  9. Insider NJ "Teaneck Mayor Mike Pagan Issues Statement on Recent Leadership Election" Insider NJ, January 2023. Accessed January 16, 2023.
  10. Office of the Bergen County Clerk "UNOFFICIAL 2022 GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE LIST" Office of the Bergen County Clerk, October 2022. Accessed October 21, 2022.
  11. Alfaro, Alyana (2016-07-01). "Hameeduddin Sworn in as New Teaneck Mayor". New York Observer. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
  12. Alfaro, Alyana (2016-07-01). "Hameeduddin Sworn in as New Teaneck Mayor". New York Observer. Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  13. Ma, Myles (2016-04-25). "Teaneck Mourns Sudden Death of 44-year-old Mayor". NJ.com. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  14. Ma, Myles (2016-03-29). "Lizette Parker, groundbreaking mayor of Teaneck, dies at 44". NJ.com. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  15. Ax, Joseph (6 July 2010). "Teaneck's diversity showcased in new council makeup". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  16. Leichman, Abigail Klein (11 July 2008). "A Conversation with Kevie Feit". Jewish Standard. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  17. "Proudly Diverse Teaneck Is Forced to Re-examine Its Assumptions". New York Times. February 18, 2007. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  18. "Candidates Discuss Taxes, Diversity". Teaneck Suburbanite. April 29, 2010. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  19. "Abraham Is New Mayor". The Teaneck Suburbanite. July 8, 1992.
  20. "After Months of Running, Marathon Ends Tuesday". New York Times. November 2, 1997.
  21. Burrow, Megan (2017-05-17). "Eleanor Kieliszek, Teaneck's First Female Mayor, Dies At 91". North Jersey Media Group. Archived from the original on 2017-12-21. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  22. Garbarino, John (9 December 1991). "Getting To Know You". The Teaneck News. Teaneck Public Library Online. p. 3. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  23. Hanley, Robert (1991-04-12). "Teaneck, a Year After Killing, Is Striving for Racial Healing". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-05-13. Retrieved 2018-05-13.
  24. Conley, Linda (2018-04-26). "Brooks remembered as trailblazing community figure". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Archived from the original on 2018-05-13. Retrieved 2018-05-13.
  25. "Eleanor Kieliszek Makes History as First Woman Mayor". Teaneck News. Teaneck Public Library. 1974-07-12. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  26. David Voreacos (May 5, 1992). "Frank Burr, Civic Leader, Former Mayor of Teaneck". The Bergen Record. Former Mayor Frank W. Burr, who was long active in civic and church affairs and was a prime mover behind the town's largest development project, died Monday. He was 86.
  27. Staff. "N. Y. U. Sophomore Wins Carnegie Scholarship; Annual MacDonald Oration prizes Awarded - University Debates Colgate on May 9.", The New York Times, May 4, 1925. Accessed October 30, 2017.
  28. "New Jersey". New York Times. October 13, 1972.
  29. "Matthew Feldman, 75, Mayor Of Teaneck and State Senator". New York Times. April 12, 1994.
  30. "August Hanniball, Mayor of Teaneck". New York Times. February 25, 1959.
  31. "Milton Gideon Votee Dies". New York Times. August 10, 1961.
  32. Votee, Milton (6 February 1949). "F. J. Griffith Dies. Drug Executive, 69. Chairman of the Pennsylvania Co. began in field at 16". The New York Times.
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