The mayor has the duty to enforce the municipal charter and ordinances; prepare the annual budget; appoint deputy mayors, department heads, and aides; and approve or veto ordinances passed by the Municipal Council.

Newark, New Jersey, was founded in 1666 and became a township on October 31, 1693, and granted a Royal charter on April 27, 1713.

It was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, and reincorporated as city in 1836.

[1][2] The city is governed within the Faulkner Act, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Mayor-Council Plan C form of local government, which became effective as of July 1, 1954, after the voters of the city passed a referendum held on November 3, 1953.

[3] The mayor of Newark is elected for a four-year term.