Mary Shoemaker leaving College Township Council

The Township Council announced Thursday the resignation of Vice Chairwoman Mary Shoemaker, effective at the beginning of January.

Shoemaker said personal and health reasons contributed to her decision, but she will remain busy teaching chemistry at Penn State and acting as a steward for ClearWater Conservancy, where she and her son work on the aquifer buffer along Houserville Road.

“I’m going to continue to spend time working on that,” she said. “I like working outdoors.”

Chairman Eric Bernier said Shoemaker has put in seven years working on the tough committees, saying, “If it’s the right time to do something, it might not line up with that four-year increment.”

The council discussed how a replacement for Shoemaker would be found and what timeline it would be looking at. Township Manager Adam Brumbaugh said a replacement would not be made until after the Jan. 5 organizational meeting and Shoemaker was no longer a council member.

“Given the way the New Year’s holiday and weekend falls,” he said, “most of the leg work in terms of identifying potential candidates for the position and any interviews the council would wish to do would need to be completed by the end of December.”

Councilman Rich Francke said the council should open the position to the general public.

Bernier said the council can replicate what has been done in the past, which includes advertising to the general public and soliciting existing authority, board and commission members. The next step would involve a deadline for applications.

Brumbaugh said a two-week deadline would be acceptable, giving the council time to process applications and conduct interviews.

Councilwoman Carla Stilson said she wanted Shoemaker to be part of the decision-making process. Bernier said they will try to schedule the process so she can take participate.

This story was originally published November 21, 2014 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Mary Shoemaker leaving College Township Council."