Commissioner
James E. Baker, Jr.
Commissioner James E. Baker, Jr. was elected in 2024 to serve his second three-year term as a Union County Commissioner. A lifelong resident of Rahway and a dedicated public servant, Commissioner Baker has devoted his career to providing vital human services to families and residents of Union County while supporting strong and sustainable community development.
Commissioner Baker is currently assigned to the County of Union’s Fiscal and County Operations Standing Committees. He also serves as a member of the Senior Citizen & Disabled Resident Transportation Board, the Advisory Council on Aging, the Disabilities Advisory Board, the Homeless Trust Fund Advisory Board, and the Middlesex County Utilities Authority, where he is serving his fourth year.
In 2025, Commissioner Baker served as Chair of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee and as a member of the Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Board. He also served on the Local Advisory Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (LACADA), the Industrial Pollution Control Authority, and the Shade Tree Advisory Board.
From 2006 to 2021, Commissioner Baker served as an At-Large Councilman in the City of Rahway, where he played a key role in numerous initiatives. His work included collaborating with veterans’ organizations to establish a city park named in honor of Myron Ross, a Rahway native and African American service member killed in combat during the Vietnam War; coordinating an employee volunteer program with Merck that engaged more than 100 employees across multiple community sites in Rahway; and serving twice as President of the Rahway City Council. He also helped coordinate a partnership with the County of Union’s Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program (SLAP), sponsored the effort to name the Children’s Section of the Rahway Public Library in honor of the late Congressman Donald Payne, Sr., and assisted in negotiations to relocate two County-managed services—the Community Coordinated Child Care agency and the Intoxicated Drivers Resource Center (IDRC)—to the City of Rahway.
Commissioner Baker’s previous experience also includes service on the State Legislative Committee of the New Jersey School Boards Association, the Urban School Board Association, the Rahway Board of Education, the Rahway Planning Board, and the Rahway Housing Authority. In addition, he served on the Boards of Directors for the Rahway Day Care Center and Jefferson Park Ministries in Elizabeth.
Commissioner Baker worked for the County of Union for 30 years, beginning as a Senior Program Development Specialist in the Division of Planning within the Department of Human Services. He later served in the Office of Community Development in the Department of Economic Development, where he helped local municipalities implement ADA-compliant sidewalks, improve road conditions, and complete other critical community infrastructure improvements.
A graduate of Wilberforce University, Commissioner Baker holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and earned a Master’s degree in Psychology from Kean University.