Dale Thatcher fills vacancy on Milford Borough Council

Dale Thatcher has stepped into the seat on the Milford Borough Council that opened up when Rob Ciervo resigned during last month’s board meeting.

He was sworn in by Mayor Sean Strub at the the reorganizational meeting this week. Outgoing council president Frank Tarquinio praised Thatcher, as did several board members. Joe Dooley was named president and Maria Farrell vice-president at the meeting.

Thatcher was the first to be nominated to fill Ciervo’s seat. He is a volunteer on the borough’s Shade Tree Commission. He retired as chief financial officer for Selective Insurance in New Jersey.

Tracy Vitchers also applied for the position and was nominated.

Resident Michael Schreibner eviscerated Vitchers. He said her Facebook postings showed her to be anyone but someone who could bring the community together. He held up copies of her postings and read from them. They show her to be a divisive person unworthy of a seat on the borough council, he said.

Schreibner’s wife, Lisa Emery lost the recent mayoral election to the incumbent, Sean Strub. She said she met with Sean at his request to work on bringing unity back to the borough. She said Vitchers was not fit for the council.

Strub retained his seat as mayor of the borough with two-thirds of the vote.

The rules for replacing a board member say the first person nominated is voted on first. If they win the vote, they are automatically the new council member.

A second vote is taken only if the first vote fails. Since Thatcher won on the first vote, Vitchers did not get a vote.