Last call for candidates for open seat on Cheswick Council

No one has applied for the open board position on Cheswick Council after almost a month.

A former councilman who chose not to seek reelection is willing to fill in if council doesn’t have an interested candidate by 5 p.m. Monday.

The two-year seat opened up last month when incumbent Michael Girardi chose a four-year seat over a two-year seat after winning both in the November election.

When council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, it plans to appoint either a candidate who comes forward by Monday or former Councilman Bob Kristof, according to Council President Paul Jack.

Kristof finished his term at the end of December and chose not to run. However, he still wanted to help the borough late last year and volunteered to sit on the board governing the newly formed joint police department between Cheswick and Springdale Township. No one else in the borough had applied for that position, either.

Under state law, municipalities have 30 days after a seat becomes vacant to appoint a new member. If that doesn’t happen, then the borough’s vacancy board has 15 days to appoint a borough resident.

There has been a lack of public interest to fill a number of seats on several borough boards. These seats are open, all three-year terms: one seat on the Planning Commission, one seat on the Zoning Hearing Board and three seats on the Agan Park Board.

Council members aren’t sure what’s causing the lack of civic interest.

“It’s the same everywhere,” Councilwoman Karen Stauffer said about the lack of candidates for municipal offices in general.

Councilman Brad Yaksich added, “We all get along. We debate. But everyone at the table is trying to do the right thing.”

Interested candidates for any of the positions should send a letter of interest to Cheswick Borough, 220 South Atlantic Ave., P.O. Box 235, Cheswick, PA 15024, or call the borough office 724-274-5125.