Hey 4th Ward, Here's Your Chance to Be on Council

 As you have no doubt already feverishly read the Mercury account of council surprising us all and listening to its constituents about the new sprinkler system requirements, I won't bore you with the details here.

If you want to be bored with the details, click here!

Instead let's move on to the council vacancy -- the one made official last night when council unanimously and with very little comment (Councilman Ryan Procsal had the decency to thank Dennis Arms for his service) accepted the resignation of Arms, now a "former" Fourth Ward Councilman.

As many of you know, Arms surprised the crap out of everyone at the May 9 meeting by announcing his immediate resignation, and right after his wedding too. He must be serious about being happy.

Dennis Arms back when he actually wanted to be on council.

With the vote Monday, "the clock starts ticking," as Council President Dan Weand put it.

And as Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. then explained it, council now has 30 days to pick a replacement.

Should council fail to do so, presumably because of a tie vote, the borough's rarely invoked Vacancy Board -- comprised of council and one other person, has another 15 days to act, said Garner.

Currently, the vacancy board consists of borough council plus Environmental Advisory Council Chairman Jim Derr, according to the borough web site.

Weand asked Interim Borough Manager Justin Keller to post the vacancy on said web site asking that any eligible Fourth Ward candidates apply for the post.

So here it is big-time Facebook talkers, your big chance.

All you holier-than-thou-know-it-alls carping about it being time to clean house, about how we need new faces, about how putting together a borough budget is no different than a household budget -- this is your moment.

Step up to the plate and take your shot.

Because remember what dear old Teddy Roosevelt said:

Oh, word of caution: No matter how you vote, you will piss someone off, someone will call you an idiot, and your phone messages and email will soon be clogged with complaints from your loving constituents.

And after 18 months, if you still haven't had enough, you'll have to win a popularity contest among your neighbors.

So hurry up and apply!

And with that, here are the Tweets from the meeting:

May Pottstown Borough Council Meeting