In a vote along party lines, the board of supervisors appointed former township Democratic Party chairman Dennis Fisher to fill the unexpired term of Jennifer Dix, who resigned in June to move to New Hampshire with her family.
He will fill Dix’s six-year term which expires at the end of 2019.
At the July 25 meeting, the board voted 3-1 to appoint Fisher, who is currently the elected township auditor, a post that he has held since January and will have to resign in order to sit on the board.
Voting for Fisher were fellow Democrats Phil Calabro, John Mack and Linda Bobrin.
Fisher was one of seven candidates that board members interviewed for the vacancy at a special July 18 three-hour public meeting (read .
The other candidates were Kierstyn Zolfo, Ben Connolly, Jerry Festa, Jo Vlastaris, John D’Aprile and Gerry Couch, a former township supervisor (read “Meet the 8 Applicants Vying to Fill the Vacancy on the Newtown Board of Supervisors”; Note: one applicant did not show up for the interview).
Fisher has been the long-time chairman of the Newtown Democratic Committee, also known as Newtown Democrats, until he resigned in June after deciding not to seek reelection to the leadership post.
He was also a member of Newtown’s planning commission from 2005 until December 2018, a position he had to resign after winning the election for township auditor in November.
Speaking with BucksLocalNews.com, Fisher credited his 12 years as a planner to helping him understand the intricacies of zoning and land development.
“I was kind of a lay person to the terminology, I learned how to read plans,” he explained, “I was a social worker by training, so it was a learning curve. You also need input from the citizens, regular people, that’s important.”
The new supervisor will be formally sworn into office at the Aug. 8 meeting and will undoubtedly be hitting the ground running.
At that meeting, the supervisors have tentatively scheduled a public hearing on the updated plans of Arcadia Green to build a controversial residential development on Buck Road near the Newtown Bypass (see public notice).
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