Things are a little clearer now on the future of the Evesham Township Council opening. A replacement for resigning council member Joe Howarth will likely be named at the latest by early February, according to Mayor Randy Brown.
This was the first time the township has had to replace a council member leaving before his or her term since the township went to a partisan election process, Brown said.
It was such a new process that nobody was quite certain how to move forward with when Howarth won a seat on the Burlington County Freeholder Board and announced he would have to resign from the council. Brown said Township Solicitor John Gillespie has been invaluable throughout the process and has briefed the members of council on the correct process.
The Evesham Republican Municipal Committee has 15 days after Howarth officially submits his resignation to the council to submit a list of three candidates of which the council members will choose to sit in Howarth’s empty seat, Brown said. Howarth must officially submit his resignation prior to Monday, Jan. 2, when he will be sworn into his season the freeholder board.
After the township council receives the list of potential replacements, Brown said they have 15 days to accept a replacement.
“Basically, we as the township council have 30 days after Joe’s resignation to accept a replacement,” Brown said. “Jon Gillespie has done a great job for us with this, he has given us the exact formula legally that we have to use.”
Because Howarth was a republican candidate, Brown said he legally has to be replaced with another republican. If he had been a democrat, he would have been replaced with a democrat, he said.
The Evesham Republic Municipal Committee cannot submit a list of replacement for Howarth until he officially resigns. Whoever is chosen as his replacement will see their seat expire next year.
Howarth is currently the deputy mayor of Evesham Township. Howarth won his seat on the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Burlington County in November. He and his fellow republican candidate Leah Arter defeated democratic candidates Mary Anne Reinhart and Machell Still-Pettis to capture the two open seats.
Arter led all candidates with 38,355 votes, with Howarth close behind with 38,216. Reinhart garnered 34,506 votes and Still-Pettis received 32,579. The GOP now has a complete sweep at the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
