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Two newcomers, two incumbents win seats on Towanda Borough Council
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Review Photo/JAMES LOEWENSTEIN Towanda Borough resident Fred Smith votes on Tuesday at the Third Ward polling place.
BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN
TOWANDA - As a result of Tuesday's election, the Towanda Borough Council will have two new members: Shannon Clark and Rex Klinger.
Klinger and incumbent William Kovalcin Jr. won the two Second Ward seats on the council that were up for election. The loser in the three-way race for the Second Ward council seats was longtime council member Rick Lewis.
Clark, who is a real estate agent and a registered Republican, outpolled incumbent Ellen Lacek to win a Third Ward seat on the Towanda Borough Council. Lacek had run a write-in campaign for the Nov. 3 election.
In Towanda Borough's First Ward, incumbent Keith Long won another 4-year term on the council by outpolling Republican Ronda J. Bouse. Long, who has served on the council for 13 years, won re-election by running a write-in campaign.
First Ward
Long said he was not surprised by his victory.
"I think I communicated my views to people" during the campaign "so they felt they were not picking an unknown," said Long, a registered Republican.
Long said that one of his main priorities for the next four years will be to push for regionalization of services in central Bradford County "to lower taxes or stop them from increasing."
Long said that another priority of his will be the decision on how to spend money from the gas lease on land owned by the borough, as well as any royalties from the lease.
Long said he wants to spend gas lease money on making the borough's buildings more energy-efficient and possibly using some of the money as a local match for state or federal grants that would be used to develop the land the borough owns in the 400 block of Main Street.
Second Ward
Klinger, a Republican who works as an operations utility worker for Penelec, said he was "very happy" to have won a 4-year term on the council.
He said that among his main priorities as a councilman will be to control borough spending to prevent tax increases and to bring more businesses to the downtown.
Klinger said that the three candidates running for the Second Ward council seats ran a "clean" campaigns.
"I want to thank Rick Lewis for his many years of service on the council," Klinger said.
Kovalcin, a Republican who is completing his eighth year on the council, said his priorities over the next four years include bringing more businesses to the downtown and spending the gas lease money and any royalties "wisely and efficiently."
Third Ward
In her campaign, Clark had emphasized the need to control borough spending and had said that she would not be afraid to cut items in the borough budget that are not needed and are unaffordable.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
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