Prior to last night’s regular meeting of Conshohocken’s Borough Council there was a special meeting where members of council interviewed three candidates for the vacant seat to represent Ward 5. The seat became vacant when Kevin McMonagle, who won the election to represent Ward 5 in November, was not sworn in due to a conflict involving his job and serving on council.
Interviewed last night were McMonagle, Rosemary Northcutt and Jane Flanagan. Northcutt previously was appointed to represent Ward 5 on council when Matt Ryan resigned due to a move. She served for a couple months, however, lost in the November election to McMonagle. Jane Flanagan, the original owner of Flanagan’s Preschool, is a new face to Conshohocken politics, and was most recently a child care instructor.
Borough Council did not make a decision last night. It has until February 3rd to make the appointment. In an email to MoreThanTheCurve.com on January 7th, McMonagle stated, “Once the 2014 audit is completed it will resolve the independence conflict with my firm and I can be appointed. Most of council verbally affirmed that they would then vote me into the temporary vacancy but decided to post the council opening as a backup plan in case the audit is not finalized within the next 30 days”.
So what do the residents of Ward 5 think? Should Borough Council appoint who the voters elected?