Executive Board

Executive Officers Biographies

Click on the blue and yellow tabs above to view full biographies for each of the League's current Executive Officers.

Janice Kovach
League 1st Vice President (Mayor, Clinton Town)

The League’s First Vice President, Mayor Janice Kovach has served as Mayor of Clinton Town since 2012.

Career & Service
Prior to joining state government, she was a Councilwoman in the Town of Clinton, serving as the Planning Board Liaison, Chair of the COAH committee, and the Historic Preservation Commission. She resigned her Town Council seat when she assumed the Director’s job of the New Jersey Division on Women, serving from August 2006 until September 2010. As the former Director, Ms. Kovach was a member of:

• Domestic Violence Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board
• Gender Parity Council and the NJ Commission on Women Veterans
• Governor’s Advisory Council Against Sexual Assault
• Governor’s Advisory Council on Domestic Violence
• New Jersey Commission on the Status of Women

As a resident of Clinton, Kovach served as a Trustee of the Red Mill Museum Village and President and Trustee of the CPS Partners in Education Foundation, Inc. In October 2004, she was appointed to the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council and served until May 2010. She is a Leadership NJ Fellow-class of 2009. She was appointed to the Hunterdon County Polytech School Board in March 2011 and served until October 2013. She continues to serve as a member of the United Way Women’s Leadership Council and as an executive board member and chair of the education and training committee of the NJ Women’s Political Caucus.

Passion Ventures
In addition to her role as Mayor, she has taken the passion for her work at the Division and parlayed it into a non-government role, speaking at events about the “Real Women in NJ.” Janice has worked as a consultant for several companies. Previously she was a Director with Prudential, managing a 24/7 call center and a Marketing Project Management Group. She has also held management positions with Fleet and NatWest Banks.

Education
She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Thomas Edison State College.

William Chegwidden
League 2nd Vice President (Mayor, Wharton)

The League’s Second Vice President, Mayor William Mayor Chegwidden, has served on the NJLM Executive Board since 2013.

Service
As Mayor of Wharton since 2001, he has dealt with every aspect of Municipal government, including Office of Emergency Management, Local Emergency Planning Committee, and Public Safety Director. Prior to that, Mayor Chegwidden was a Councilman for the Borough from 1995 to 2000, during which time he was Council President in 1997 and 1998. He also served as a Morris County Freeholder from 2007 to 2013.

In his work with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, Mayor Chegwidden has participated as a seminar panelist and moderator as well as a frequent author for NJ Municipalities magazine. He is also a member of the Conference of Mayors and the Morris County League of Municipalities.

Career & Education
A teacher at Morris Hills Regional District, Mayor Chegwidden teaches social studies, economics, and history while helping with extracurricular activities such as Junior Statesmen of America and coaching football, track, and wrestling. He earned an MA and BA from East Stroudsburg University in East Stroudsburg, PA, and an AA degree from the County College of Morris.  

Executive Officers Biographies

Click on the blue and yellow tabs above to view full biographies for each of the League's current Executive Officers.

Sue Howard
League 3rd Vice President (Mayor, Monmouth Beach)

The League’s Third Vice President, Mayor Sue Howard, has served on the NJLM Executive Board.

Service
Susan Howard is currently serving her fourth term as Mayor of Monmouth Beach. Mayor Howard began her public service in 1996 when she was elected to the Monmouth Beach Board of Education serving for nine years, six as President. She also served one year on the Shore Regional High School Board of Education.

She is a member of the New Jersey League of Municipalities Executive Board and serves on the Legislative Committee. She is also Co-Chair of League’s Women in Municipal Government Committee.

She is a member of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors Board of Directors and Co-Chairs the Legislative Committee. Mayor Howard is a strong advocate for shore protection serving on the Executive Board and is President of the Jersey Shore Partnership.

Career & Education
Mayor Howard began her 39-year career in telecommunications at Bell Laboratories and went on to work at Southwestern Bell, AT&T, and Telcordia Technologies, Inc., in various management positions with responsibility for budgets and forecasting, financial analysis, marketing, legal/regulatory policy, and software systems development before retiring in 2011.

She has a B.A. in Psychology from Rutgers University and an Executive MBA from Pace University. She and her husband, Jon Howard, have two grown daughters.