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On January 3, 2023, Mayor Charles J.X. Kahwaty was sworn in as the 15th Mayor of the Borough of Franklin Lakes. With more than five months of “mayoring” now behind Mayor Charles J.X. Kahwaty, it seems a good idea for residents to get to know a little more about the Borough’s “new” Mayor.
Any introduction of Mayor Kahwaty must start with the fact that, for those that know him, he is and will always be known as “Charlie.” The goal of this article is to shed light on Charlie’s life, character, and the overall man that is Charles J.X. Kahwaty in order to give our community a chance to get to know the individual that is so connected with the Franklin Lakes government and community.
Charlie has a deep history with the State of New Jersey. Born in Paterson, Charlie spent his childhood in Fair Lawn, but eventually moved to Ridgewood when he was around 12 years old. He and his family moved to Franklin Lakes in March of 1969, where he has resided ever since, except for a brief period in Wyckoff and eventually his college years, beginning in 1972, when he attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976, Charlie returned to New Jersey to pursue his dream of working in law. He then attended Seton Hall University School of Law where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree in 1979.
Charlie went on to establish himself as a prominent figure in the New Jersey legal arena. After serving as President of the Bergen County Bar Association from 2002-2003, he was later named President of the Bergen County Bar Foundation in 2021, after serving as Vice President from 2018-2021. Charlie has also held numerous roles in the New Jersey State Bar Association, including serving as delegate to the General Counsel since 1988 and as a member of the Board of Trustees from 2006-2012. Not only that, he is also a member of the House of Delegates for the American Bar Association, the parliamentary body for the largest professional association in the world. Notably, Charlie also earned the Professional Lawyer of the Year Award for Bergen County in 2014. Against this impressive backdrop, he now runs his own private practice, specializing in personal injury law, commercial litigation, municipal court law, collections, and estate and trust law.
Even with his dedication to the law, Charlie always aspired to pursue a political career. “I’ve always had an interest in politics and going into law was kind of a corollary to that,” he says. “I can recall even as a little kid being political. I grew up in the time of John F. Kennedy and even then I can remember following politics. It has always been something that has galvanized me.”
Indeed, it was only a matter of time before the law and politics intersected in Charlie’s life. Many years after starting his law practice, Charlie was presented with a heavy choice that would shape the trajectory of his career and life. “Later on, I was very active in the Bar Association in which I was the President of the Bergen County Bar Association,” he says. “After, I started to get more involved with the State Bar Association. However, an opportunity then presented itself to be appointed to the Borough Council.”
Presented with this choice, Mayor Kahwaty had to weigh his options. “A fork-in-the-road appeared in which I could stay involved with the Bar Association or join the Council,” he elaborates. “I saw this as an opportunity for myself and said ‘I’m going to go with the Council.’ I’ve never regretted that.”
His career with the Franklin Lakes government has included being a Councilman and a member of the Planning Board since 2011, along with being the two-time President of the Borough Council. However, his ultimate progression to mayor occurred more recently when former mayor, Mayor Frank Bivona, announced that he would not be running for re-election.
Charlie has always had a deep appreciation for former Mayor Bivona’s leadership, stating, “He’s a role model and the guy you’d want to follow in terms of how he ran this town.” After “weigh[ing] the pros and cons” with Mayor Bivona of running for Mayor, Charlie garnered Mayor Bivona’s endorsement. Ultimately, that endorsement along with the “want to make a larger and more profound contribution to Franklin Lakes” fueled Charlie’s decision to run.
Given his professional accomplishments, it is obvious that Charlie’s life has been dedicated to hard work, determination, and perseverance. But when asked what residents might not know about him, Charlie states that they might be surprised to learn “how introspective and perhaps shy I am. Being Mayor is a very public position that doesn’t necessarily come naturally to me.”
And despite his busy schedule, Mayor Kahwaty still finds time to enjoy a multitude of hobbies. “I love photography,” he states. “I also like reading, traveling and dining with friends. I’m a bit of an archivist as well as I’m the archivist for the Bar Association. I organize historical things and documents together and I like that.”
Although Charlie’s tenure is far from over, he knows what he wants his lasting legacy to be. Along with his hopes of continuing the longstanding tradition of “preserving the financial integrity of the town” and “preserv[ing] the tax rate and the quality of services that we provide to the people,” Charlie states, “I also want to maintain the quality of life in all dimensions including this town’s natural beauty, the services we provide to the community, and maintaining reasonable development of the community.” He goes further and says that, “Change is inevitable, but I hope to manage change in a responsible way.”
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