Council hires ‘number one' choice replacement

BYRAM - A new family will soon be moving into Byram and with it will come a new township manager. In a special meeting held Monday, April 26, the Byram Township Council appointed Gregory Poff II of Somerset County to the $90,000-per-year salaried position. "We had 35 initial applicants and then narrowed them down to eight," said Mayor Eskil Danielson. "We interviewed seven and were fortunate to get our number one choice." Poff is currently serving as assistant township manager in Randolph Township, and will start work in Byram on May 24. The new township manager holds a bachelor of arts degree in policy and management studies from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Penn., and a master's of public administration degree from Rutgers University. Poff also served for more than two years with the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa, as a district project manager supervising community water and sanitation program development. In Randolph, he has been responsible for preparation of and managing a six-year capital improvement budget, open space land acquisition, and the administration of the Morris County Cooperative Pricing Council. "I credit the township council for doing a thorough job of searching for a talented prospective manager," said Danielson. Poff will relocate with his wife, Patricia, and his son, Vance, in the near future. "I think that we have a man who is going to bring a new era of managerial progress to Byram Township," said Danielson.