John Bate is sworn in as a Hellertown Borough Council member by Mayor Richard Fluck.
A former Hellertown borough councilman whose term just ended returned to the dais Monday evening after he was unanimously appointed to fill a two-year council vacancy.
John Bate was one of three applicants for the vacancy, which existed because new council member Earl Hill was elected to both a two-year and a four-year term.
John Bate takes his usual seat on Hellertown Borough Council after he was appointed to fill a 2-year vacancy Monday.
A borough resident for 25 years, he said he didn’t run to retain his former seat because he was going through a divorce last year and was unsure whether he would continue to live in Hellertown.
He has since remarried and will continue to reside in the borough, he assured council.
Bate was a borough councilman for eight years and cited his support for local small businesses as one of his accomplishments as an elected official. Specifically, he said he opposed a proposed traffic light at Polk Valley Road and Main Street when it was clear that the light could hurt nearby businesses.
“Hellertown is a great place to live,” Bate added.
He also highlighted his nearly 25-year membership in Dewey Fire Co. and his many years as Captain of the Dewey Ambulance, which councilman Mike McKenna said was influential in his decision to support Bate.
The other applicants for the open seat were current planning commission vice chair Matt Milliren and business owner Tina Olson-Wilkins.
Milliren said that as a borough resident for 16 years, he has “always been interested in things going on in the borough.”
Olson-Wilkins said she knows many borough residents from her former employment at Hill’s convenience store (Food Bag at Citgo), and that as her four children are now older she has more time on her hands.
Her business involves social media management and she has also handled event planning.
Olson-Wilkins said the borough needs to continue to embrace technology, and work to change the attitudes of residents, some of whom are “jaded” and “bitter.”
“Hellertown’s a great place to turn that around,” she said.
Council president Tom Rieger encouraged Olson-Wilkins to apply for a vacancy on the planning commission, and thanked Milliren for his service as a PC member.
In other business, Rieger was re-elected council president and Phil Weber–a former councilman and council president who was elected to a new term on council in November–was elected council vice president.