This post is intended to encourage Byram voters to research the four candidates vying for election to the Township’s three vacant council seats. Then commit yourself to getting out and making an informed decision with your vote on November 5.
Having served over 12 years as an elected official, and a half dozen years prior to that as a volunteer on numerous Township commissions and committees, I believe I am uniquely qualified to make these observations.
I am not intending this post to be an endorsement.
I do believe, however, that three of the candidates appear knowledgeable, dedicated and capable of representing all of us if elected. Please do your homework and research these candidates yourselves. I feel you will agree.
Instead, I write as a warning about the fourth candidate.
Having served on Byram’s Council with him previously – a term he shortened by his resignation after only two years, and after a thorough defeat in an attempted mayoral campaign – I feel obligated to inform the voting public of my opinion.
A simple Google search of “Carlos Luaces Byram” will easily explain many of my concerns.
Allow me point out some of them to you:
Luaces’ ex-running mate now backs Oscovitch (New Jersey Herald, October 30, 2013)
County Public Works Supervisor and Sadist Carlos Luaces Sprayed A Nest of Newborn Robin Chicks with Poison (The Monster Among Us blog, February 5, 2017)
Former Byram councilman pleads guilty to bird killings (West Milford Messenger, March 2, 2017)
Ex-West Milford DPW chief pleads guilty to bird killings (NorthJersey.com, February 27, 2017)
Of course you’d never know he ever was the head of DPW in West Milford, after being ‘released’ from his employment in Scotch Plains (after barely a year there, maybe because of things like this?) if you read his falsified resume that he has submitted twice when attempting to be appointed to Byram Township committees during the last two years.
It SHOULD read:
Town of Scotch Plains, Director of Public Properties/DPW Director, Scotch Plains, NJ, 2/2014-2/2015
then
Township of West Milford, Director of Public Works, West Milford, NJ, 4/2015-8/2015
He even misleads on his resume on his LinkedIn page online.
He is hot-tempered, arrogant, ill-informed and (to put it kindly) often practices purposeful deceit (see examples above) to try to make his ill-conceived arguments. The man is incapable of admitting a mistake, or apologizing after doing so.
The bottom line? I believe he is completely lacking the moral character that Byram’s residents deserve of their elected officials.
I believe that Byram Township is moving in a positive direction, and I am proud to have been part of that process for the last 12-plus years.
To ensure our Township continues that positive movement, I encourage my neighbors to not misplace their vote on an unqualified, undeserving candidate.
Respectfully submitted,
Scott Olson
Byram Councilman