A killer turned councilman. Masked men. And lots of weed. Welcome to ‘Pot Town,’ N.J.

April 24, 2025

A confessed killer is now a community leader.

Four council members have abruptly resigned since February. And the mayor claims a mysterious incident precipitated that exodus from the Englishtown borough council and led to his nomination of John Alite — the former mob hitman — as a replacement.

But he refuses to talk about it.

“There’s a lot to unpack there,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow and assistant director of the Bloustein Local Government Center at Rutgers University…

While Englishtown’s situation is admittedly unusual, plenty of towns have weathered dysfunction, Rutgers’ Pfeiffer pointed out.

“Things happen,” he said. “There’s always been oddball situations that happen in local governments.”

But lately, Englishtown has faced more than its share.

NJ.coms, April 24, 2025

 

Recent Posts

NJSPL: The Potential of Participatory Budgeting Within New Jersey

Budget Cuts and Who Absorbs Them When budgets are cut, the first programs to go are those without dedicated funding or legal mandate. Many of those programs serve low-income, disabled, and vulnerable populations. New Jersey is in a period of fiscal austerity. The...

Prof. Andrews and PhD Candidate Lina Moe: Make Room for Robots

Make Room for Robots Read Article Summary As robots become increasingly common in cities, from sidewalk delivery bots and security robots to drones and autonomous vehicles, policymakers face new questions about safety, privacy, accessibility, and the use of shared...

New Jersey State Policy Lab Holds 5th Annual Internship Presentations

On Wednesday, August 5th, the New Jersey State Policy Lab hosted the end-of-summer presentations for the 2026 intern cohort at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. These presentations are the culmination of the work accomplished through the 10-week...