Three Candidates Interview For Open Newtown Borough Council Seat

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — The Newtown Borough Council on Tuesday is scheduled to fill an opening on council created by the resignation of Sue Turner.

Stepping up to fill the second ward seat are two former council presidents - Julia Woldorf and Kevin McDermott - and a former mayor - Dennis O’Brien. A fourth candidate, Kevin Watkins, has withdrawn his name from consideration.

Following council’s appointment, the newly-appointed councilor will be sworn in by District Judge Mick Petrucci and take their seat on the six-member council.

The appointment will be followed by a reorganization of borough council with the election of a new president and Vice president.

McDermott, a Republican, was elected to council in 2016 to represent the borough’s second ward. Two years later he was appointed council president in a 3-3 tie vote broken by then Mayor Corky Swartz.

McDermott’s two year term as president was marked by civility, bipartisanship, consensus building and cooperation and saw the hiring of James Sabath as police chief, the hiring of Michele Fountain as engineer, restoration of the Newtown Common and the acquisition of Lot B at the Bird In Hand property on Court Street.

“I spent four years on council and I really loved it,” McDermott told council during a public interview session on Oct. 6. “We felt like we were addressing the issues with taxation, the fire service and business. We hit as many issues as we could and for the most part I think we were
really successful,” said McDermott. “I believe I have skills that council could use. I’m a good team builder. I’m a consensus builder. I try to listen to everyone’s thoughts and ideas.”

O’Brien, also a Republican, served as mayor from January 2008 to January 2014. He is retired from the Neshaminy School District where he taught for 31 years. He’s also a former adjunct professor at Bucks County Community College and Rider University.

O’Brien has been an active member of the Newtown Library Company, Knights of Pythias, the Newtown Rotary Club and the Bucks County and Philadelphia Folksong Societies.

“I have the time. You needed somebody so I put my name in,” O’Brien told council. “Nothing deep or philosophical. I’ve been in Ward 2 for 50 years so I think I know a lot of the stuff that is going on.”

Woldorf, a Democrat, has served twice on borough council, including stints as council president.

Woldorf most recently served on council for eight years from 2014 to 2021. In addition to serving as Vice President, she was liaison to the Environmental Advisory Council, the Human Relations Council and the Zoning Hearing Board.

Woldorf also spearheaded the creation of two new pocket parks in the borough, securing grants for the Newtown Common at the foot of West Greene Street and for Patriots Park at Court and Mercer streets.

“I’ve been involved with a lot of projects both on and off council and what I found is it’s a whole lot easier to get things done when you’re on council. You have the ability to get the support of other members. You have more authority. I have a lot of ideas and a lot of things I’d like to do. It would be a whole lot easier to do on council.”

Councilor Amy Lustig asked the candidates when looking at the borough as a whole what changes or improvements would they suggest to improve the town.

“The one thing that we need is parking. I find people complaining about coming into town and finding a place to park,” said McDermott. “I know Steeple View will help but that’s down the road. I think we need some fresh ideas about how we can improve the parking situation. I’d also like to see fewer empty storefronts on State Street. I’d like to see us attracting more businesses, particularly retail and restaurants.”

O’Brien said he’d like to see more traffic calming and less cut through traffic on borough streets. He also supports the closure of State Street for special events and encouraged more in the future. “Anything we can do tohelp businesses,” he said. “I’d like to see more things to help the business district.”

Woldorf said she would personally like to see more parks in town. “Making the business district more of a focal point is a good idea. Doing things along the creek that make the creek a focal point is a good idea. You can’t force people to engage in social activity, but you can provide a space for that to happen,” she said.

Among the more defining questions of the candidates came from Councilor Bob Szwajkos who asked their opinion of the need for a full or part-time manager.

Without a borough manager, Swajakos said much of the management of the borough falls to the council president who spends 20 to 30 hours a week without pay managing the borough secretary, the borough treasurer, monitoring contractors as well as zoning, building inspection and police when the mayor is not available.

Woldorf, who has been the most vocal advocate of hiring a manager, said she would be very much in favor of the idea.

“I’ve been talking about having a borough manager since 2008. Whether it’s full time or part time that’s yet to be determined. I believe the borough would be better served if we had one.”

O’Brien said it would be a major financial decision for the borough to make, noting that borough managers in Bucks County earn over $100,000 between salary and benefits.

“The biggest thing is the cost,” said O’Brien. “We’d have to talk it out and see what the economics are. You also have to keep in mind that as soon as Allan Smith’s project gets going you may need to add another police officer. That’s going to throw your budget off. It’s a budgetary concern. We have kind of been toddling along with the council president doing a lot of work. If we have to muddle through we should. If there was a surplus of money maybe you would consider it.”

McDermott said he has been against the idea, but added that he “might be convinced” given a good argument.

“I have always been of the opinion that we didn’t need a borough manager. We’ve been here more than 250 years as a borough and we never had one. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have one. I would have to be convinced.”