Dear Editor,

Over the past four years I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve twice on the Jim Thorpe Borough Council. Both times I was appointed by council to serve out the remainder of a term left vacant by resignation.At tonight's meeting Mayor Sofranko will swear in new council members and then call for council reorganization. Reorganization is the process by which the council president and vice president are selected. It is my hope that once this is completed, council will motion to hire a new borough manager for Jim Thorpe. No matter what action council takes, they will continue to have my support.The process to hire a borough manager took longer than most of us wanted. Council had hoped to fill this position by November. As mentioned at previous meetings, council reviewed 22 applications and resumes. After reviewing and ranking the resumes and applications, council decided to interview the top four candidates.After a first, and in some instances second, interview with the four candidates, council decided to begin salary and contract negotiations with one of the borough manager candidates. As identified in the Times News article published Dec. 30, Maureen Sterner was selected by a majority of council members as our top prospect. Ms. Sterner satisfied all of our requirements for the position. She has years of municipal service, a proven track record, understands the positive and negative aspects of local government and lives in the region. Over the last three weeks, council President Greg Strubinger reached out to Maureen in an effort to craft an acceptable employment agreement.While the vast majority of residents that I have talked to understand the need to fill this position, once in a while I am asked, "Why do we need a borough manager?" When you consider that most of the last 20 years this position has remained vacant, I can understand why this question arises.The borough manager position is established by our borough code. The job description is modeled after state guidelines and modified slightly for our community. The borough manager is the day-to-day manager of all aspects of the borough except for the police (the mayor is responsible for the police).The borough manager handles all aspects of the budget. This includes controlling cost as well as forecasting and long-range planning. The borough manager is tasked with finding and applying for county, state and federal grants as well as working with department heads on long-range planning. The borough manager is responsible for managing the borough office and oversight of contractors and suppliers.The best borough manager will present council with options, not policy. The best borough manager will avoid the politics of the office while focusing on operations, budgeting and short- and long-range planning. This position is fully funded in our budget; no tax increase is required to fill this position.Tonight, council has the opportunity to close the selection process by hiring a new borough manager and begin 2016 in a positive new direction. I encourage them to do so.Kurt JacksonJim ThorpeFormer council member and borough resident