Horsham Names New Council President, Vice President

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The Horsham Township Council has shuffled its deck.

At the township's reorganization meeting Tuesday, the council named a new president and vice president while also swearing in two new members.

Longtime Councilman William Whiteside —who served as vice president last year —was appointed as president, succeeding Mark McCouch, who lost the Nov. 7 general election.

Councilman Sean Wade was appointed as vice president of the five-member board, which holds a 3-2 Republican majority.

Joining the council are new members Ellen Zschunke and Samantha Slaff.

The two Democrats were sworn in by new Hatboro-Horsham and former state Rep. Todd Stephens and state Rep. Melissa Cerrato, who held the U.S. Constitution for both council members during the swearing-in ceremony before a large crowd in the Horsham Municipal Building.

Slaff was the top vote-getter in the Nov. 7 general election while Zschunke beat out McCouch, who served 20 years on the council, by 11 votes.

The township also appointed Councilwoman Theresa Harmon —who did not attend the meeting —as treasurer to serve as an alternate check signer. Slaff was appointed as council secretary while Zschunke was named as Parliamentarian.

Whiteside was also named as the voting delegate for the PSATS Convention on April 14-17 in Hershey but an alternate was not selected.

The council also approved establishing an amount and bond for the finance director in her capacity as the township's tax collector. That amount is $4,783,593 in real estate taxes for 2024.

A fee schedule and council meeting dates were also approved.

Meanwhile, the council approved and tabled appointments to various township boards and committees.