Stasik picked for vacant seat
Former supervisor chosen to fill Ziegler vacancy
DOUGLASS (MONT.) >> Everything old is new again on the board of supervisors.
Former Township Supervisor John Stasik Jr. is now current Township Supervisor John Stasik Jr. as the result of a unanimous vote of the other two supervisors Jan. 17.
Stasik was chosen from among four applicants who were interviewed Jan. 14 at a public meeting by Supervisors’ Chairman Anthony Kuklinski and Vice Chairman Alan Keiser who, by no small coincidence, defeated Stasik in the 2015 election.
The other applicants were Constable Josh Stouch; Roger Updegrove, who has served on the township’s recreation and Act 209 committees; and James Brophy.
Another resident who had submitted his name for consideration, George Kirkwood, apparently withdrew it before the vote.
All four candidates “brought various levels of personal experiences and professional experiences with them — some more, some less — but I was most impressed,” Kuklinski said before the vote.
“It was a hard decision to make as to where we believe we need to be and I want to commend those four candidates who came out that Jan. 14 and expressed their interest in the vacancy,” he said.
“John served on this board before and John has a lot of experience in this position,” Kuklinski said after Keiser made a motion to appoint him.
That experience was evident Jan. 17 after the meeting when Stasik could be overheard telling Kuklinski the things he believes need immediate attention in the
township.
The vacancy Stasik filled was created by the resignation last month of Fred Ziegler, a former township police chief and township supervisor who was on trial for theft and several other charges involving his position.
The resignation was part of a plea agreement in which charges of theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, forgery, tampering with public records, unsworn falsification to authorities, intimidation and retaliation against witnesses and conflict of interest in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between August 2012 and December 2014 were all dropped.
In exchange, Ziegler, who also spent some time working for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, resigned immediately from the board and agreed to plead guilty to a second-degree misdemeanor charge of unsworn falsification related to a subpoena he handed to Boyertown Police Chief Barry Leatherman that matched no legal case in court.
“I gave the community and the county 40-some years of my life, and it’s the end of the road,” Ziegler said at his sentencing. “It’s time to move on.”
The appointment of Stasik, who was chairman of the board when the investigation against Ziegler began, effectively closes the final chapter on Ziegler’s fall from public office, which dragged on for nearly two years.
Stasik will take the oath of office later in the week and will begin receiving township information immediately, said Township Manager Peter Hiryak.
His first public meeting sitting in as supervisor will be at the next meeting on Feb. 6, Hiryak said.