Thank you, Byram voters

To the Editor: On Tuesday, May 8, Byram’s voters went to the polls and chose their council representatives for the next four years. I am honored, humbled, shocked, overwhelmed, excited, and thrilled to be one of those chosen to serve. Congratulations also to Dan Rafferty and Brian Thompson. First, I want to offer a warm and sincere “Thank You!” to Lou Esposito, Donna Griff, and Earl Riley. While I sometimes found myself in disagreement with their decisions or methods, I know everything they did had the best interest of Byram residents at heart. They deserve heartfelt thanks from all of us for that! It has been my goal to keep residents informed of the important issues in our town, as those of you who subscribe to the North Byram Concerned Citizens email list well know. That said, and with all due respect to those who may feel otherwise, I believe there are far more important issues facing our town than whether or not our athletic fields are ready for practice on March 16 rather than April 1. Yet that issue, rather than council meetings on our master plan, highlands land use mapping or conformance, Route 206 discussions, or the township’s annual budget, has drawn the largest and most vocal crowd of residents to a council meeting this year. That needs to change. Communications between our elected and appointed officials and the residents of Byram must be significantly improved, so that we can move beyond failure of understanding n which I believe has been the cause of most resident outrage n to achieve greater involvement and education of residents in all aspects of our town government. While the three new council members have widely varying levels of knowledge or experience in the workings of municipal government or the issues facing our town, we do share one common and important need. That is for all Byram residents to show patience and support, as well as regular participation in important township meetings, so that we can all move forward in addressing ‘bigger picture’ decisions that will make a better Byram for all of us! Getting elected was easy. The difficult work n the responsibility and accountability to you, the voters n has not even started. I’ve said this in a number of places to a number of people, but it definitely bears repeating. Please hold Brian, Dan and I to the highest of standards, and help us to live up to your expectations. I cannot speak for the others, but for me this is a huge responsibility that I take very seriously. My life changed last Tuesday night, and will change even more on July 1. I realize that not all of you agree with or voted for me, but I will do my best to represent all of Byram’s residents in the coming years. Thank you again, friends and neighbors, for your trust and support. Scott Olson Byram Township Councilperson-elect