Howlett Settling In As New Yardley Council Member

YARDLEY BOROUGH, PA — Anyone who follows the Yardley Borough Council these days might argue that the seven members should all wear name tags.

Most of the council members are newcomers, save for three members, and two of them received new titles since the year started.

Caroline Thompson is no longer council president. She moved on to become the borough's mayor, replaced as the head of the council by David Appelbaum.

Councilwoman Michelle Sharer is now council vice president, while longtime member Kim Segal-Morris also remains on the board.

Jonathan Woodring was appointed in March to replace longtime Councilman Uri Feiner, who stepped down after serving as council vice president.

That brings us to the other three newcomers who took office in January: Jason Goldstein, Paul Mencel, and Martha Howlett.

Not only is Howlett a newcomer to the council; she's also relatively new to Yardley Borough, having moved to the borough in 2024 after living in Lower Makefield Township for two years.

Howlett, 35, hails from Fairfax, VA, and has also lived in Jersey City in New Jersey.

Howlett wanted to get involved in borough affairs immediately.

Before she joined the council, she was a regular attendee at Borough Council meetings.

"I got involved pretty fast. I had been in the audience for over a year," she told Patch recently. "It's nice to be on the other side. Everyone is eager to work as a team."

Howlett's goals as a councilwoman are to build on the work of the previous council by continuing to budget responsibly, reduce flood risk, invest in walkability, historic buildings and parks, and support special events and local businesses.

"I also love volunteering around Yardley, including for Gather Place and Friends of Lake Afton," she said.

Howlett works as an actuary with a life insurance and annuities company. Before that, she was a paralegal in the insurance industry. She is also a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Certified Enterprise Risk Manager.

Howlett has volunteered as a crisis counselor for Crisis Text Line since 2015, and as an elementary school tutor with Heart Math since 2020.

When she's not spending time on the council or working and volunteering, Howlett enjoys long walks on the Delaware Canal Path, book clubs at Commonplace Reader, fellowship at Yardley Friends Meeting, cheering on Gotham FC (a National Women's Soccer League team), and amateur astronomy with her home telescope.

She lives with her long-term partner and "No. 1 supporter" Eddie, and is also an aunt to four nieces and a nephew.

Howlett is settling into her new role and getting more established in her borough. She loves her time in Yardley so far and wants to help others appreciate its place as one of Bucks County's hidden gems.

"I'd like to see not a New Hope, but Yardley definitely as a destination."