Nov 14, 2024 By Paul Paterra 2 min read

The vacancy on Donora council is back in the hands of the borough.

In October, council had asked Washington County Court to fill the vacancy created by Tom Thompson’s resignation in September.

Former councilman Gilbert Szakal was the lone applicant for the vacancy, but he was denied by a 4-2 vote of council to fill the spot. Council President Cindy Brice said at the time, “He ran for council twice and lost, so obviously the voters in Donora don’t want him on council.”

Szakal previously spent six years on council. He was elected in 2016, but failed to win reelection in 2020. In 2022, he was appointed to fill the vacancy created when Edward “Sonny” Lawson resigned. Szakal unsuccessfully ran again in 2023.

Now, the court has sent the matter back to the borough with the request that a vacancy board is put in place to fill the opening on council in accordance with the Pennsylvania Borough Code. A vacancy board is made up of the members of council, excluding the mayor, who in Donora is not a voting member of council, and one registered voter of the borough. “We are taking letters of interest to see who wants to be that vacancy person,” Brice said.

Letters may be sent to the borough building until the end of the business day on Nov. 27.

“After we seat them, then council and that vacancy person will meet and we’ll go over the letters of interest from people who want to be on council,” Brice said.

If the vacancy board fails to fill the post on council, the matter will return to Washington County Court.