Gallagher Selected to Fill Vacancy On Stone Harbor Borough Council

STONE HARBOR – Borough Council of Stone Harbor held its annual reorganization meeting on Jan. 5. Along with the normal routine, actions on appointments and contract renewals, council was faced with a need to appoint a new member to the seat vacated by the sudden death of Albert Carusi in November.
The new member, Mantura Gallagher, was praised by Mayor Suzanne Walters and other members of the council for bringing a “wealth of professional experience” that will be a valuable addition to the council.
Gallagher, a life-long educator with over 30 years teaching in the classroom, was a county commissioner in Schuylkill County, Pa. Only the second woman to serve as a county commissioner in Schuylkill County, Gallagher went on to become chair of the Board of Commissioners.
That background in public service was highlighted in the welcoming comments by each of her new council colleagues.
Gallagher’s name came forward on a slate of candidates proposed by the Republican Committee. Stone Harbor Borough Council is a partisan governing body and Carusi was elected as a Republican. That gave the area Republican organization the responsibility of submitting names for council’s consideration.
Walters spoke of the highly qualified candidates put forward to council, but again focused on Gallagher’s background in public administration as a key qualification that separated her from the others.
Gallagher thanked council members and mayor for the “warm welcome each has offered to me.” In short comments, she pledged to make “fiscal economy” her number one priority.
Walters appointed Gallagher chair of the Beach and Recreation Standing Committee.
The meeting also marked the swearing-in of Judith Davies-Dunhour and Joan Kramar, both of whom won new terms on council in the November election.
Kramar was reappointed chair of the Public Works Committee.
Davies-Dunhour assumed the chair of the Public Safety Committee which had been led by Carusi.
In other action, Karen Lane was selected to serve as president of the council for 2016.  She takes over that role from Barry Mastrangelo.
Lane said that she hoped to institute “workshop meetings” where council members would spend time “getting at the meat of issues” through discussion. She also proposed a monthly meeting with Walters so that she could keep the mayor informed on the work of the various committees.
On assuming her new responsibilities for public safety, Davies-Dunhour spoke of her 25-year association with the Stone Harbor Police Department and promised to approach the task of chairing the committee with “the same commitment and enthusiasm” that characterized Carusi’s service in the role.
Along with the appointment of Davies-Dunhour to Public Safety and Gallagher to Beach and Recreation, the other standing committees saw their current chairs reappointed with Lane retaining Utilities, Kramar, Public Works, Mastrangelo, Administration and Finance, and Joselyn Rich retaining Natural Resources.
Following the appointments, council moved rapidly through a series of resolutions on meeting dates, parking meters, service contracts, and other routine aspects of beginning a new year.
One other change to the council table was ratification of Marcus Karavan as borough solicitor, replacing Michael Donohue, who was sworn recently as a judge of Superior Court.
One resolution adopted by the council called for an independent study concerning the effort and cost involved in “proposed underground wires” for the Atlantic City Electric project to bring new transmission lines to Seven Mile Island. The resolution was not discussed or explained.
Frank Dallahan, a resident who has frequently called on council for updates on the ACE project, once again used the public comment period to ask for any new information regarding ACE’s efforts and the Board of Public Utilities response to a recent borough resolution calling for a delay in the project. Karavan and Walters both commented that talks are on-going but gave no details.
Karavan said that a meeting Jan. 8 with ACE might produce information on the project that could then in turn be shared with the public. Walters said that there had been no direct response from the BPU.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.