Board of Ed VP Must Resign if Tapped for Council Vacancy

If the Madison Borough Council appoints Pat Rowe to the vacant seat on the governing body created by the resignation of Republican Councilwoman Jeannie Tsukamoto, it will create another vacancy—this time on the Board of Education, where Rowe is vice president, officials said Monday.

Rowe is among the three candidates who were nominated by the Madison Republican Committee last week to fill the vacant seat, along with former councilmen Ed Rebholz and Martin Barbato.

The Council plans to pick a replacement from those three candidates at its next meeting, scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23.

The replacement would serve until the end of the year, at which point whoever wins the two council seats up for vote in November would take office.

Tsukamoto had nearly finished her three-year term, which was up at the end of December, and was not seeking re-election.

Rowe already is a GOP candidate for one of the two Madison Borough Council seats up for vote in November. He is running for office with Republican Councilman Rob Catalanello, who holds the other seat up for vote.

They're running against Democratic nominees Maureen Byrne and Jeff Gertler.

Borough attorney Matthew Giacobbe said Rowe, Rebholz and Barbato should be given the opportunity to address briefly why they ought to be appointed at the next meeting.

Rowe said he thought a lot about the possibility and is comfortable with resigning from the Board of Education if he is appointed. His term on the school board is up at the end of the year. It would have been up in April, but the date for school elections was changed during his term, he said.

Rowe said one of the biggest issues before the Borough Council is the Green Village Road redevelopment project, an issue he worked on as a member of the school board. He said if he is appointed, it would allow for continuity if he is elected in November.

Mayor Bob Conley said Monday that Tsukamoto resigned because she moved to Harding.