Alexander Rubenstein, incumbent for Byram mayor

My wife, Jeannine, and I are ten-year residents of the town, and we have five children. We are very happy to be part of this community and enjoy every aspect of living in Byram.

In my four years as mayor thus far, I have started and made great progress on numerous initiatives. Bringing natural gas into town, improving our information technology systems and social media engagement, and working with the power company to be much more aggressive with vegetation management. I have also sat on the planning board and been instrumental in numerous commercial approvals on our Route 206 corridor. And I was directly involved in maintaining the continuity of our municipal government during the global Covid-19 pandemic. But my work is not done, there is much more to do.

We have made great strides regarding a solution for our end-of-life municipal services building and police department, but the question remains unanswered. We need to keep driving this project forward. The police and municipal workers deserve a workplace which is safe and up to date.

Now that we have completed our Open Space and Recreation Plan, we have a framework based on resident feedback of how to proceed with parks and recreation improvements. Already in progress is the development of a new dog park, but this is only one point of ten. There are many other projects that would greatly benefit the residents of Byram.

And last, Byram needs to continue to improve and refine how we notify and interact with residents. We need to have better ways to get the message out, and make sure that residents are fully aware of events, situations, and activities in town that affect their life. Combined with this is the ability for citizens to engage the government and give input regarding critical decisions that affect them.

However, these and other initiatives are not free. It is an ongoing balance to support capital and infrastructure improvements, all the while keeping the taxpayer in mind. This has been demonstrated clearly over the last four years by some of the lowest municipal tax increases in the last fifteen years. I will continue to work hard with the council and administration to serve our residents in the most fiscally responsible fashion possible.