State College is now accepting letters of interest from eligible residents to be considered for appointment as interim borough council member.
Borough council on Friday approved a process and timeline for selecting a replacement for former Councilman Dan Murphy, who resigned on Aug. 17. The process will be similar to the one council used last year to appoint an interim mayor when Don Hahn stepped down after being elected district judge.
The borough’s home rule charter prescribes no specific process for filling a vacancy of an elected position, other than that council must make an appointment within 45 days. If If council cannot agree on a new member by 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 1, it becomes the decision of the Centre County Court of Common Pleas based on a petition by council or five residents of the borough. State law also requires that all deliberations and actions occur during public meeting.
The interim council member will serve the remainder of Murphy’s elected term, which concludes at the end of 2021.
State College’s charter states only that council members must be qualified and registered voters in the borough.
Residents have until Sept. 8 to submit applications for the position here. Interested candidates must provide their name, phone number, address, email, a letter describing their qualifications and reasons for interest in serving, and any supporting documentation such as a resume.
Members of the public who wish to submit questions to be asked of candidates can do so until Sept. 9 here.
On Sept. 10, council will hold a special meeting to receive the list of candidates and finalize questions that will be provided to candidates.
Qualified applicants will give brief presentations incorporating questions provided from council and the public during public meetings on Sept. 15, 16 and 17 as needed. The number of applicants will determine when presentations are scheduled.
At a meeting on Sept. 21, council is expected to make nominations and vote on appointing the interim council member. If council is not ready to vote then, an additional meeting will be scheduled before the Oct. 1 deadline.
This is the first time since 2005 that council has needed to appoint an interim member. At that time, council did not use a formal application process and sitting members made individual nominations.
Council also has filled mayoral vacancies twice. In 2009, following the death of Mayor Bill Welch, Felicia Lewis was appointed to serve the remaining four months of his term. Last year’s process to replace Hahn resulted in the appointment of current Mayor Ron Filippelli.
At a work session on Wednesday, Councilman Evan Myers proposed using the same process for the council vacancy as was used for selecting Hahn’s replacement. Councilman Peter Marshall proposed an alternate plan of each council member submitting two candidates for consideration, but it did not garner enough support to move forward.
During Friday’s meeting, Marshall and Councilwoman Theresa Lafer that if there were a large number of applicants, council would winnow the field down before hearing presentations, but a motion to incorporate that into the plan failed.
