Arnold fills vacant council seat, opening up seat on redevelopment authority

Filling a vacancy on Arnold Council created another opening in the city.

Council chose Adam Zweig to fill an empty council seat created when former Councilman Joseph Bia was elected mayor in November.

After being chosen, Zweig resigned as chairman of the city’s Redevelopment Authority. Solicitor David Regoli said Zweig can’t hold both positions at the same time.

In his letter of interest for the council seat, Zweig said, “I feel that with my knowledge and work history, I can be of better service to the city and its residents as a member of the City Council.”

Councilman Zweig has been named director of streets and public improvements.

Zweig was one of three people who expressed interested in the council opening. He and Darla Thrower appeared before council at its meeting Tuesday, while Tim Gregg applied but was not present.

Thrower said she and her husband have lived in Arnold for more than 50 years and raised four children in the city. She retired after 28 years as a catalog supervisor for JCPenney. She now works part time with Second Chance Child Services, where she supervises visits for parents who have lost custody of their children.

“We have a great love and appreciation for our community and I want to pay it back by working with the city leaders to fix problems that we currently are dealing with,” Thrower wrote in her letter of interest.

Zweig said he has been an Arnold resident for about two-and-a-half years. He manages real estate for four-short line railroads across five states, through which he said he has interacted with officials at all levels of government.

Contrasted with those who grew up in Arnold, Zweig said he could offer a unique perspective. He said he believes strongly in accountability.

“The city has to learn to be fiscally responsible,” he said.

Asked what he would do to increase resident involvement in city matters, Zweig said the city needs to increase its social media presence by having officials share and create posts about the community, and show a united front in the community that residents can see.

Before council selected Zweig, Bia and Councilman Phillip McKinley encouraged those not picked to consider serving on other city boards such as zoning, planning and redevelopment.