Ferguson Township discusses empty supervisor seat

With a stroke of luck and possibly some compromise, township residents could see the fifth empty seat on the Board of Supervisors filled by mid-February.

The seat for a representative from the township’s 3rd Ward has been empty since Jan. 4 when supervisor-elect Colleen Unroe declined the seat. Unroe’s qualifications for the seat had been challenged by the township, and a lawsuit by the township soon followed.

The suit was dropped after Unroe’s declination.

Township Manager Mark Kunkle detailed the process for appointing a supervisor Monday. According to Kunkle, the board will appoint a supervisor by majority vote, as outlined by the township’s home rule charter.

A “qualified person” will hold the seat until the following municipal election, he said. The board has 45 days to make an appointment from the day the seat was vacated.

If the board is unable to fill the vacancy after 45 days, he said, the board or five residents can petition the Court of Common Pleas to fill the vacancy.

The township began advertising the open position on Jan. 12, he said, through the Centre Daily Times, C-NET and the township’s own website. According to the ad, the applicant must be a registered elector and a resident in the township for a period of one year prior to Nov. 3.

A completed application, letter of interest and resume must be submitted to Chairman Steve Miller by Feb. 1, the ad said. Miller said he’s received only one application so far.

The board will interview candidates on Feb. 8 and 9, Kunkle said. The board will be asked to take action on Feb. 16 — the last day to take action within the 45-day time period.

Kunkle said in his 31 years with the township, he’s never faced a vacancy like this.

Prior to the start of the meeting, Vice Chairman Peter Buckland acknowledged Martin Luther King Jr. Day with an excerpt of a speech King gave on the Penn State campus more than 50 years ago.

“Love is understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men,” Buckland said. “When it becomes a great and powerful love, it becomes a demanding love which demands justice.

“It becomes a love which says in substance, ‘You are your brother’s keeper. You have a moral responsibility to lead him away from his evil ways,’ ” he said. “I think this is the kind of love ethic, I think this is the kind of attitude, that will help us rise from dark yesterdays to bright and noble tomorrows.”

This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Ferguson Township discusses empty supervisor seat."