It is currently governed within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Mayor-Council system of municipal government (Plan C), implemented based on the recommendations of a Charter Study Commission as of July 1, 1962,[1] before which it was governed by a Board of Commissioners under the Walsh Act.
The governing body consists of a mayor and a five-member city council, of which two seats are elected at-large and three from wards.
[4][5] Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Cain started work as a mechanic and worked for the Babcock & Wilcox Boiler Company in Bayonne.
In 1910, Cain, a Democrat, defeated the incumbent Pierre P. Garven.
Cain was very independent and was many times at odds with the city's Democratic party.