Meet Byram's deputy mayor

BYRAM — At its reorganization meeting on Jan. 2, the Byram Township Council unanimously elected Councilwoman Marie Raffay to be Deputy Mayor for a one-year term.

Raffay has served on the Council since 2009, and prior to her election to the Council, she had served as an alternate member of the Planning Board. The Planning Board requires that one member of the Township Council be a full member of the Planning Board, and she is that Council member.

Raffay has lived in northwest New Jersey nearly all her life. She was born in Denville and grew up in Stanhope. She graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1991 with a degree in Civil Engineering. She and her husband Russ settled in Belvidere and then came back to Byram Township about ten years ago.

The Raffays have four children —o ne daughter and three sons — and for 16 years, Raffay was a stay-at-home mom. During those years she took on volunteer and civic responsibilities, including alternative membership on the Planning Board.

Councilwoman Raffay earned a Master of Science degree in environmental planning last year from American Military University, and after receiving that degree she has been working for the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. She is pleased with the job because it allows her to make use of her education in engineering as well as her experience in community planning.

Her husband teaches economics and history at Mendham High School.

Raffay said the most important challenge facing the Byram Township Council is the balance between providing essential public services and being fiscally responsible with the taxpayers’ money.

It is common knowledge in the public sector and non-profit organizations that every penny of the budget must be spent, or else it will be cut the next year. Sometimes a decision to cut spending in the short term could backfire in the future when money is not available for necessary public expenditures.

The Council, as Raffay sees it, needs to think long-term and make sure that the Township has the money to provide the services which Byram citizens need and at the same time use the money wisely and responsibly.

The Deputy Mayor’s assignment is essentially to step in when the Mayor is for any reason unable to carry out his or her duties. The Byram Township Council rotates the Deputy Mayor position periodically.

Councilwoman Raffay is replacing Councilman Scott Olson this year, and it will be up to the Council to decide if she should continue next year. However, she will be facing the voters in Nov. 2013; they will decide in a nonpartisan election if she is to remain a member of the Township Council.