Contested race for Byram seats

Byram - All three incumbents up for reelection to the township’s non-partisan council met the filing deadline of March 15, as did the three challengers. Three of the four-year terms on the five-member council are up this year. The municipal election will be May 8. Deputy Mayor Donna Griff and Councilmen Lou Esposito and Earl Riley filed for reelection. Griff was first elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2003; Esposito was first elected to an unexpired term in 2001 and re-elected in 2003; and Riley was first elected in 2002 to an unexpired term and re-elected in 2003. The challengers are running individually. Scott Olson is a member of the civic group, North Byram Concerned Citizens, and the township’s advisory architectural review committee. His ballot slogan is “For a Better Byram.” Brian Thompson is treasurer of the Byram Fire Department and his slogan is “Time For A Change,” and Daniel Rafferty’s slogan is “The Time For Change Is Now.” Byram’s government, allowed under the state’s Faulkner Act, has municipal elections every other year. The only other nonpartisan towns in Sussex County are Newton and Sparta, which do not have municipal elections this year. The winners would join Mayor Skip Danielson and Councilman James Oscovitch on the Byram council.