During the Jan. 5 Catasauqua Borough Council reorganization meeting, the final vacant council seat was filled, with assistance from the vacancy board chair. The term lasts until January 2028.

Borough council had held a special meeting Dec. 29, 2025, for the purpose of filling the vacant seat left by Eugene Schlegel’s recent resignation. Six of the eight candidates attended the meeting and answered questions from the current council. The candidates present were Joseph Johnson, Victoria Mankos, Sean O’Boyle, Vince Smith, Scott Fairbanks and Michael Sciabica. Not present were Tammi Hauser and Michael Ashenfalder.

The interested candidates answered questions such as why are you interested, what is the main issue you want to address, what does leadership look like to you, how can we be better with transparency and get the community involved, and what animal would you like to be and why? They were also asked how they would “fix the borough” and if they have any delinquent taxes sent to Portnoff for collection.

There was a moment of contention between the current council members when former councilwoman Jill Smerdon and council President Howard Cunningham talked about the delinquent tax question and Cunningham’s subsequent statement to Smith about the issue. Councilmembers Virginia Schlegel and Brian Bartholomew said they disagreed with this “personal attack” against Smith and called the questions inappropriate.

After three rounds of voting, a majority vote was not reached for a particular candidate. According to Robert’s Rules of Order, a majority vote means “more than half.”

The first round of voting resulted in three votes for Sciabica, two votes for O’Boyle and one vote for Fairbanks. The next two rounds of voting were split evenly, with three votes each for O’Boyle and Sciabica.

Attorney Jared Hanna said the 30-day window for council to fill the empty seat would close Jan. 2 or 3.

“At that point, council can no longer take action on this,” Hanna said.

There is then a 15-day period for the borough vacancy board to get involved, he added. Hanna also noted the borough “does not have a vacancy person until Jan. 5,” but they can serve as the tie breaker at that point.

In response to a question from Bartholomew, Hanna reported the mayor does not have the authority to serve as the tie breaker to fill a vacancy, according to the borough code.

During the Jan. 5 meeting, council voted David Bernini to the vacancy board chair position.

With Bernini as the extra vote, O’Boyle received the majority with a 5-2 vote. A resolution was approved by council to officially appoint O’Boyle to fill the empty seat. Due to a reported illness, O’Boyle was unable to attend the meeting.