Last night three of the four recently elected members of Conshohocken’s Borough Council were sworn into office. Taking the oath of office were incumbent Karen Tutino (1st ward) (pictured right), plus new council members Tina Sokowski (3rd ward) and Colleen Leonard (7th ward). Conshohocken’s Borough Council now has a majority of women as Sokowski and Leonard join Tutino and Anita Barton on council. This is the first in Conshohocken’s history that it has women have held a majority of the seats on council.

In another historic move, council members elected Ike Griffin (pictured left) as Council President. Griffin, who represents Ward 2, is the first African-American, to serve a its President. Yes, we know our prediction was wrong.

In a strange twist, one just elected member of Borough Council did not take part in the swearing-in ceremony. From the Times Herald:

The fourth council member, Kevin McMonagle, did not attend the swearing-in ceremony. Borough Manager Richard Manfredi said that McMonagle’s employer, the audit firm performing Conshohocken’s 2014 audit, needed to determine that McMonagle’s service as a councilman would not conflict with his job at the firm. McMonagle works for McGladrey of Philadelphia.

We didn’t dig to deep into it, but McGladrey audited the 2013 budget as well and that was voted on in September 2014. Since McGladrey has had an established relationship with the borough, why has this just become an issue now?

If McMonagle (R, Ward 5) doesn’t take the seat it will result in Borough Council appointing someone to represent Ward 5. Ward 5 has experienced a lot of turnover recently. Matt Ryan (D) held the seat, but resigned late in 2015 due to a move. Rosemary Northcutt (D) was appointed to the seat and represented the ward for a couple months, but lost a close election in November to McMonagle.

Photos courtesy of Clint Gates.