Stump Ready To Join Yardley Borough Council

YARDLEY, PA —The former "odd man out" will be the new man in.

Jared Stump will be the newest member to join the Yardley Borough Council once he is sworn in at Tuesday's reorganization meeting.

"I'm the new kid on the block," Stump told Patch recently. "Everyone knows everyone here except me."

Stump is looking forward to the opportunity to represent the borough on the seven-member board, which has had quite a turnover in the past 16 months with only Council President Caroline Thompson and Vice President Kim Segal-Morris remaining.

The 31-year-old has lived in Yardley for seven years. And while he thought he knew the borough, Stump said that he's discovering things that he never even knew about the town and its government.

"I'm feeling a lot of emotions," he said. "There's still a lot I have to learn."

While Stump might not have the expertise of some of his council colleagues, he hopes to continue the borough's efforts "making a lot of strides for transparency" with the government and its businesses and residents.

He noted the work session the council launched recently that provides residents with a "glimpse of how the government process works."

But Stump said he will take a "posture of learning" starting on the council. He's already been seeking advice and insight from former and current council members.

Stump said his November election was a "little anti-climatic since I was unopposed." The Democratic slate of all seven members was not challenged in the Nov. 7 general election.

That wasn't the case for Stump in the May primary election.

Stump was the odd man out due to a ballot snafu. Patch first reported the ballot snafu in May right before the primary election.

Voters were supposed to be able to choose all four candidates for a two-year Borough Council term. However, the ballot stated that only three candidates could be chosen, and that had newcomer Stump finished fourth.

He can laugh about it now and even got printed a T-shirt with the Patch headline on it.

And starting Tuesday, he will be sitting on the government instead of being among the residents.

"It's very easy to be critical of the government regardless of your political background," Stump said. "These are real people who care. Nobody does this for the power and prestige."