Byrnes To Serve As Berkeley Council President In 2018

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - Longtime Ward 1 Township Council member James J. Byrnes will serve again as the council president in 2018, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said.

Byrnes previously served as council president in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He was first appointed to the council in 2012, after former Councilwoman Karen Davis stepped down. He won her unexpired term that year and was re-elected to full terms in 2013 and 2017.

Byrnes was instrumental in helping the decimated Ward 1 to recover from Superstorm Sandy. Ward 1 includes the Bayville, South Seaside Park and Pelican Island sections of the township.

"Councilman Byrnes lead our Council during the most difficult time in our history, in the aftermath of Sandy," Amato said. "Councilman Byrnes provided that steady leadership that was needed."

Byrnes served as a medic in the 82nd Airborne during Vietnam, where he received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star,

Byrnes has lived in Bayville for 33 years. He is a former two-term member of the Berkeley Township Board of Education. He also served as chairman of the Berkeley Township Planning Board and as a member of the Berkeley Township Board of Adjustment. Byrnes currently serves on the Ocean County Construction Board of Appeals and the Ocean County Board of Social Services.

He's a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars 9503, St. Barnabas Knights of Columbus 8603, former vice president for the International Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 2018, and a volunteer for Northern Ocean Habitat for Humanity.

“I look forward to working with Mayor Amato and the rest of the Council in 2018.” Byrnes said.

The reorganization meeting starts at noon on New Year's Day in Town Hall on Pinewald-Keswick Road. Byrnes and council members Angelo Guadagno, Judy Noonan and Sophia Gingrich will be sworn into new four-year terms.

Photo: Courtesy of Berkeley Township