Macungie Borough Has New Mayor

Democrat Gary Cordner was named interim mayor of Macungie Borough at Monday night's borough council meeting. Cordner will serve as interim mayor through Dec. 31, 2013, completing the term of former Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman, who resigned on June 28.

Council interviewed Cordner for the job during the meeting, along with two other candidates -- Ron Conrad and Doris Horner. 

Both Cordner and Conrad are running for Macungie mayor in the November general election. Doris Horner retired as Macungie's assistant secretary/treasurer in December after working for the borough for 22 years. She is the wife of former Macungie Mayor Jack Horner. 

Horner told council that she was the best choice for the interim job because choosing either of the other two candidates would give whoever was picked an unfair advantage in the general election. She said she has no plans to run for mayor in November; she simply wants to help keep things going until the next mayor takes over. 

Conrad said that although he would be honored to be named interim mayor, he, too, thought council should pick Horner. To do anything else, he said, would be an "end-run around the election" process.

"You should appoint Doris mayor for the rest of the year," he said. "I think she would do a great job."

Cordner's interview was conducted via Skype, which Borough Manager Chris Boehm pointed out is a first for Macungie. He was in Ukraine, where it was about 2:30 a.m. at the start of the meeting. Technical difficulties with the connection caused delays in the interview process and there was difficulty hearing on both ends of the call.

Councilman David Boyko said that he was voting in favor of Cordner's appointment because of his "life" and "educational" experience. 

Cordner, 61, is a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Kutztown University. He served as a police officer in Ocean City, Md., and as the chief of the St. Michaels, Md., Police Department in the 1970s and 80s. 
 
Council voted 4-1 in favor of Cordner's appointment, with Councilwoman Jean Nagle the lone nay vote. Councilmen Linn Walker and Greg Hutchinson were absent from the meeting.