Jefferson Hills has a new councilman

A Navy veteran and Pennsylvania Army National Guard officer candidate was appointed to Jefferson Hills Council.

Joseph Lynch was picked out of five candidates to fill the seat of the late Keith Polick, who died in a vehicle crash last month.

Polick, 65, was headed to Florida to vacation with his wife Sue before getting to work in his new role as council president.

He was traveling through Fayetteville, W.Va., on his way to Key West on Jan. 12, a few days before his wife was going to fly down, when his vehicle rear-ended a truck along Route 19. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

All five council candidates offered their condolences to Polick’s family and the community as each made their pitch to be appointed at a special meeting Tuesday night.

Lynch, a 2003 Plum High School graduate, served as Polick’s campaign manager this past election.

“He was a very close friend and close neighbor,” Lynch said. “When I moved back to borough 2017, he was one of the first people met. … He’s always been like a mentor to me and always looked after me.”

Lynch said that bond grew along the campaign trail, and Polick became like a second father to him.

It was Polick’s first time running for political office. He was the top vote-getter in a Republican sweep for four four-year council seats.

“I felt like I owe him this, and that’s why I stepped up not only for him, but I love this community and I want to do everything I can to help it,” Lynch said.

Lynch’s appointment came via 4-3 vote. Newly elected Republican Mayor Carrie Nuss-McCaffrey broke the tie.

Council President Dave Montgomery, Melissa Lynne Girman-Steffey and Hilary Kingsley-Budd voted for Lynch. Vice President Karen Bucy, Keith Reynolds and Nicole Ruscitto dissented.

The other candidates were Brian Militzer, Peter Doel, David Bentz and Lori Bartrug.

Reynolds nominated Militzer, who was the fifth highest vote-getter in the general election race for four seats.

That motion failed, 3-4, with the aforementioned elected leaders voting in similar fashion, and the mayor casting the deciding dissenting vote.

Reynolds then nominated Bartrug, the fifth highest vote-getter in the Republican primary.

That failed, 2-5, with only Reynolds and Ruscitto in favor of the GOP runner up.

Reynolds said he was disappointed his fellow elected leaders did not select someone who actually ran for council last year to fill the vacancy.

“In both cases, the Republican and Democrat next leading vote-getter did not get the nod to fill that seat,” Reynolds said. “That shows special interests and political favors. We did not honor the residents’ vote.”

Lynch served eight years in the Navy, from 2003 through 2011. He was a combat engineer, reached the rank of petty officer 2nd class. He served in Iraq war from 2005-2007.

He studied political science at Southern New Hampshire University, earned a master’s in international relations from Norwich University, a military college in Vermont, and is going for a doctorate online through Concordia University Chicago.

Lynch, 36, said his experience being in a war zone has helped prepare him for council.

“The high stress whenever you have to make a decision, my values in leadership, planning and commitment,” Lynch said. “I’m where I’m at right now because of my ethics that I have learned from being in the military.

”It’s time for new voices, new ideas. And hopefully we can start building bridges here and come up with a common solution to take our community to the next level.”

Montgomery cited Lynch’s service to the country as a factor that separated him from the other candidates.

“I thought he was sincere and he had a military background so, it was pretty impressive,” he said.

Reynolds attempted to have council reorganize following the appointment.

The reorganization may have resulted in a new council president and vice president being selected.

Solicitor Deron Gabriel said the special meeting was advertised for the council appointment and no further business, and it would be more appropriate to reorganize at council’s Feb. 14 general business meeting.

Reynolds conceded to have it on the latter meeting’s agenda following more discussion about the legalities of the special meeting advertisement.