Two council seats to be gone

Lori Falce

- For the CDT

PHILIPSBURG — Smaller government is coming to Philipsburg.

On Thursday, Philipsburg Borough Council President Mike Wilks announced the downsizing of the municipality’s ruling body.

Centre County Court of Common Pleas Judge Bradley Lunsford held a hearing last month on a petition from the borough to abolish the system of ward representation that has maintained a nine-member council, with three representatives from each of three wards.

The idea was originally proposed by then-councilman Gary Persing, and was part of budget discussions last year when the council was looking to trim spending.

While support for giving up council members’ nominal salaries was less than enthusiastic, the idea of reducing the number of council members was found to be worth pursuing.

Ironically, it was just a few months later that Persing, a 2nd Ward representative, was forced to step down when he relocated to Bellefonte. A month later, longtime 3rd Ward councilwoman Shirley Nelson died. While both of those seats have been filled through appointments, the timing of the openings during a municipal election year will put four council positions on the ballot come November.

That’s an opportunity Lunsford took advantage of in making his decision.

Not only did the judge grant the petition to abolish wards, but he also looked at further options presented by borough solicitor Patrick Fanelli.

The first was a slow step-down of ward representatives to at-large elected officials over the 2009, 2011 and 2013 election cycles. The second was to make the four officials who will be elected this year at-large representatives, and follow by electing three more at-large council members in 2011. The third option would be a hybrid plan that would result in an eight-member council for one year, something Fanelli said Pennsylvania Borough Code never contemplated.

Lunsford selected the second option. This way, there will be no change in the candidates who will appear on the ballot this fall.

“Now, however, they will appear as at-large candidates rather than candidates from any particular ward,” Fanelli wrote in a letter to council. “Four candidates will be chosen and the two existing vacancies will not be filled.”

“It’s really the best option,” Wilks said. “Now we’ll see if things work better, and what’s streamlined in that way.”