Manor Township supervisors appointed Don Palmer to fill the vacancy left by now-County Commissioner Pat Fabian.
by Jonathan Weaver
By the end of this week, Manor Township might officially have its third Township Supervisor
During a special meeting last night, resident Don Palmer was unanimously appointed to fill the supervisor vacancy created after Pat Fabian won the November General Election for County Commissioner.
Palmer interviewed for the vacancy two weeks ago and will be soon schedule to be sworn-in.
“I’ve always been involved in community service in one form or fashion. The past year, I haven’t been as involved because I built a new house, so on and so forth, but now that the house is done it’s time to get back into it,” Palmer said. “Helping the community any way that I can.”
In Indiana County, Palmer worked with Indiana Borough, Indiana County Emergency Management and was a volunteer firefighter.
He has since also become a Manor Township volunteer firefighter and a few local gun clubs.
“I’m able to multitask and do a lot of good things,” Palmer said.
This is not Palmer’s first venture into politics. He was a 2011 Indiana County Commissioner candidate before moving to Manor Township nearly two years ago.
“That’s no reason to give up – I enjoy being involved in politics and local government, so here I am,” Palmer said.
Besides the current cat epidemic, Palmer knows there are other issues to address, but wants to “get a full scope and understanding of what’s going on” with his now-fellow supervisors first.
“Now that I’ve been appointed, we have to make sure we make decisions that are fair to everybody. It’s (about) what is best for the entire township we need to be concerned about,” Palmer said.
Palmer, who will serve until the next municipal election, lives near Lenape Technical School with wife, Sandra.
Supervisor Chair Paul Rearick made the motion for Palmer’s appointment.
“We had nine very-qualified candidates, (but) looking at (Palmer’s) resume, it was very detailed, he’s been involved in government before for a number of years and he’s been active in the community, so I felt he was the most-qualified of the nine people we had apply, Rearick said.
“My focus was on who would have the most interest in the majority of the township residents at heart. Hopefully, we can continue to move forward as we have during the past four years.”
Supervisor Vice-Chair Bob Southworth echoed Rearick’s comments before seconding the recommendation.
Palmer was congratulated by local residents in the audience at the conclusion of the meeting.