Near the end of last night’s Tyrone Borough Council meeting, Mayor Patricia Stoner asked if anyone had anything to discuss under the “miscellaneous” item on the agenda.
Council member Jennifer Bryan did have a suggestion that eventually turned into a motion regarding the mayor taking on a role for the borough beyond the end of her second term that expires when a new mayor takes office in the first week of January 2006.
Bryan suggested Mayor Stoner continue to help the borough regarding plans for a motel and other economic development issues. She cited the mayor’s legwork toward bringing a motel to the town and her grant writing abilities as two reasons for the mayor to take on such a role even after she leaves office.
Borough Secretary Kim Gurekovich said the developer the borough has been working with to bring a motel to town had specifically asked to keep working with the mayor on the project.
The suggestion was discussed and a motion was made and seconded that the mayor be appointed as borough liaison, after her term expires, to continue work on various ongoing borough projects.
After the meeting, Mayor Stoner said, “First of all, I’m honored to have been asked.”
The mayor was asked what she thought her role would be after leaving office.
She said, “I’m not sure what my role is going to be. I do know I have a close working relationship with the motel people and they have expressed an interest in my continuing to work with them. I truly don’t know, I guess I’ll be at the whim and call of the council. Whatever they need me to do I’ll do.”
Before a vote was taken on the issue, Councilman Bill Fink said he knew nothing about having the mayor take on such a role prior to its discussion at council and said he couldn’t support it.
The motion passed with Fink voting “no” and Mayor Stoner abstaining.
This morning, Fink said, “I was surprised, I knew nothing about it, no one said anything to me about it. Pat Stoner’s term is over in January. If the new mayor wants to call and ask her something, I don’t have a problem with that.
“I don’t have a clue here, I don’t understand,” said Fink. “This is going to be the same administration going into the New Year without her (Mayor Stoner) being reelected.
“They are going to let this mayor come in and do what she has been doing,” said Fink.
He asked, “Why do we have a borough manager? Why are we electing a new mayor?
“This is the classic good old boy network, I am mystified,” said Fink.
Fink, a former candidate for mayor noted, “I admire Pat Stoner, her energy and her ability. She is a person who won’t sit back and go along for the ride, she just keeps plugging.”
He indicated that although he felt that way, the end of her second term should signal the end of her involvement in any formal way with borough affairs.
Fink said he would like to see the mayor’s vision of an improved Tyrone be expanded to include the whole town versus “two blocks.”
He said the public is electing “a new mayor with fresh ideas.” Fink lost in the May primary to Jim Kilmartin. Both Democratic and Republican voters favored Kilmartin in the primaries, so he is running unopposed on both tickets in November.
Fink concluded, “I disagree with what they did, I don’t think it should have been in the form of a motion.”
Borough Manager Sharon Dannaway told The Daily Herald, “She (Mayor Stoner) has a wealth of information and contacts. I think we should utilize her talents. We have a new mayor coming in and I’m sure he’ll want to utilize that.”
Dannaway said she had no comment on Fink’s no vote or lack of support for the idea.
She said, “He has his opinion, and I respect that.”
