Former mayor to fill seat on Lehighton council

For the second time in less than a year, a former mayor and councilman has been hand-picked to fill a vacant seat on Lehighton Borough Council.

On a 6-0 vote at a special meeting on Wednesday, council once again chose Donnie Rehrig to the open seat that has existed since last month.

Rehrig was one of four candidates to be interviewed by council. Also interviewed were Denise Murphy, Rebecca Worthy and Byron Schnell.

Of those, Rehrig was the only individual to be nominated for the post.

Rehrig, who was sworn in by Mayor Clark Ritter and then took his seat on council, thanked his fellow council members for their confidence in him.

Before Rehrig’s appointment, each of the candidates were asked to offer their responses to the same three questions: How each individual has been involved in the borough; what project they would choose to spend money on if the borough had unlimited funds; and why they believed they would be a good representative for the residents and employees of the borough.

Rehrig previously served 16 years as a borough councilman and eight years as mayor.

He replaces former Councilman William Rodweller, who resigned at a special meeting last month.

Rodweller — who won a seat in the November election, yet never sat in on a council meeting — submitted his letter of resignation to Beckett on Feb. 11.

Council last month denied the appointment of Rodweller to the borough’s parks and recreation board. Council had tabled his appointment to the board at an earlier meeting.

Rodweller could be heard arguing with Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky before the start of the Jan. 6 reorganization meeting.

After the meeting, Abelovsky said words were exchanged after she presented Rodweller with a letter.

When asked for a copy of the letter following that meeting, borough solicitor Jim Nanovic said that since the letter Abelovsky gave to Rodweller was not done during the public meeting, it was not public record.

Ironically, Rehrig was also selected by council in May to fill a vacancy after former Councilman Jared McEvoy resigned in April because he planned to relocate.

McEvoy had served on council since January 2016.

Rehrig chose not to run in the 2019 general election.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Rehrig said he’s excited to serve the remainder of the two-year term.

“I’m looking forward to working with the borough representatives that are here now, (borough manager) Nicole (Beckett) and the whole staff that’s here,” Rehrig said. “We’re looking for improvements to the whole town; I think the big focus right now is our downtown, making sure that we have revitalization down there, getting people to come back to our town and shop here, and to visit and spend.”