Madison Council to reconvene after voters fill vacancies that left borough at standstill

Madison Borough once again will have a functioning government.

Two write-in candidates were elected last month and are expected to be seated at the start of the year to allow Madison’s council to meet and conduct business.

Three resignations in July left the borough’s five-member council at a standstill and required a judge to order Madison’s secretary to pay essential bills.

When it next meets, Madison’s Council will see one familiar face returning to serve.

Robert Hildenbrand, 67, said he will resume his role as a council member, a position he held until he resigned during a July public meeting following a spat with the board’s president.

“I probably overreacted and let my thin skin get the better of me. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done that again,” Hildenbrand said this week after the Westmoreland County Elections Board certified results from the Nov. 7 election. “A couple of months, later I realized I made a mistake.”

Hildenbrand and fellow Republican Leah Rich won seats on the council through write-in efforts. Rich, 41, works as a secretary at Beatty-Rich Funeral Home across the alley from Madison’s borough office.

“I wanted to try to help the community out. We’re a small borough and everyone is helpful and friendly, and we want to keep it that way,” Rich said.

Rich’s husband, Ronald Rich Jr., previously served as mayor of Madison.

Leah Rich said she moved ahead with a write-in campaign this summer after the council resignations.

Rich finished as the top vote-getter with 45 votes. Hildenbrand finished second with 32 votes.

No candidates appeared on the ballot to serve on Madison Council.

Madison, according to the 2010 census, is a community of 364 residents. Westmoreland County election officials said 127 voters in Madison cast ballots this year.

Hildenbrand said he did not campaign to win back his job, but he was aware that his name was being circulated as a council write-in candidate, and he made it no secret that he was open to a return to service.

Council has been unable to meet since Hildenbrand and two others quit in July and was briefly without a mayor. Mayor Jerry Luke resigned at the same meeting so he could be appointed as a council member, which would allow routine business to continue until additional replacements were appointed or elected.

That plan was disrupted by the council resignations, which resulted in there being only two members remaining, not enough to affirm Luke’s appointment.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Chris Scherer in early September ordered the borough secretary to pay all routine bills until a new council was in place. The judge also returned Luke to the mayor’s office.

Madison solicitor Kim Houser said Wednesday that council, with its two new members, is expected to resume business in January.

“The regular bills have been paid, and council is going to have to address everything when it organizes on Jan. 2,” Houser said.

Madison Council will still be one member short. Houser said it will be up to the new council to decide whether the town will continue to operate with one vacancy or ask county judges to appointment a fifth member.