Mayor Michael Powers

Mr. Powers has deep roots in Lawrence Township. He grew up in the Colonial Lakelands and now resides on Pin Oak Drive in the Pine Knoll neighborhood with his wife Victoria and their twin boys Christopher and Hunter. A graduate of Lawrence High School, Mr. Powers received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Emory University in Atlanta and his law degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. Mr. Powers is admitted to the bar in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. After ten years in private practice (most recently with the Hamilton Township law firm of Destribats, Campbell, DeSantis and Magee), Mr. Powers now serves as senior corporate counsel to PharmaNet, an international drug development company headquartered in Princeton, NJ. In his capacity as senior corporate counsel, Mr. Powers heads a 15 member Legal Department of this 2,500 employee organization.

In November of 2003 Michael was elected to a four year term on the Lawrence Township Town Council. Mr. Powers believes that there is too much special interest money in politics in general and has consistently supported campaign finance reform efforts at the local level. During his first year on Council Mr. Powers introduced a “pay to play” ordinance to limit campaign contributions from professionals doing business with the Township.  As a homeowner himself, Mr. Powers knows the impact property taxes have on a peoples lives. During his second year on Council, Michael identified a tax saving measure that reduced the Township Manager’s proposed 2005 tax hike by 11% through the use of the open space fund for park maintenance.  In 2006 Michael had the honor of serving as Mayor of Lawrence Township.  As Mayor of Lawrence, Mr. Powers took the Council on the road to meet with residents outside the confines of Town Hall. As Mayor, Michael launched events such as the Dog Days of Summer and Diversity Day to strengthen the ties of our community. Michael also utilized his year as Mayor to focus on health initiatives and initiatives for our youth.

In November of 2007 Michael was re-elected to a second term on the Lawrence Township Council.  One of his initiatives for this second term is an “Invest in a Cop” program.  The program will result in the hiring of an additional township patrol officer through the generous support of Rider University and other private educational institutions that are currently exempt from paying property taxes to the township. Mr. Powers currently is the Council liasion to the Recreation Committee, the Growth & Redevelopment Committee, Shade Tree Committee and Human Relations Committee.

In addition to his activities at Town Hall, Mr. Powers is an active member of the Lawrence Knights of Columbus Council #7000. Mr. Powers is a Past Grand Knight of this charitable organization. As Grand Knight, Mr. Powers helped to revitalize the Church of Saint Ann blood drive and coordinated blood drive efforts with Adath Israel Synagogue. Mr. Powers is a former President of the Stonerise at Lawrenceville Condominium Association. As a member of the Stonerise Board of Trustees, Mike successfully petitioned Lawrence Township to lift a parking ban that prevented unit owners from parking on Gordon Avenue and helped to slow down traffic traveling on the roadway. In his free time, Michael likes to spend time with his family, travel and play golf. Mr. Powers has a passion for history - particularly the Colonial American period. He and his wife have visited Rockford, the Lancaster, Pennsylvania home of Colonel (subsequently General) Edward Hand. They have also been to Maidenhead, England - the original namesake of Lawrence Township..