Jim Thorpe Borough rolled through its annual appointments last week with the exception of two that drew a bit of controversy.

A zoning hearing board alternate vacancy remains open after the governing body voted 4-2 against appointing the lone applicant, Robert Ewashko.

The original vote on Ewashko’s appointment deadlocked 3-3, but Robert Schaninger changed his vote after hearing from Council President Greg Strubinger.

Strubinger said the reason for his no vote stemmed back to comments made by Ewashko when Jay Miller was chosen to fill a council vacancy in August.

During that meeting, Ewashko referred to Miller, who had served previous stints on council, as a “stray cat” who kept coming back.

“Jay is a man of high standing in the community and that comment was way out of line,” Strubinger said. “He is a 50-year first responder and did not deserve that. To my knowledge, there has been no apology to this point and I would have no confidence in appointing Mr. Ewashko to this position.”

According to Schaninger, he wasn’t aware Ewashko was the individual who made those comments but upon learning so, he changed his vote.

Miller, though being the subject of the controversial comments, voted in favor of appointing Ewashko as a zoning hearing board alternate. The other favorable vote came from Jessica Crowley. Strubinger, Joanne Klitsch, Michael Yeastedt and Schaninger voted against it.

Strubinger and Yeastedt also cast no votes when a motion was made to appoint Crowley as the borough’s representative on the Dimmick Memorial Library board.

“She does not attend all of the meetings of this council so why would we appoint someone to another committee if she is not going to attend it,” Strubinger said. “Furthermore, she constantly slanders this borough and its police department on her social media accounts.”

Crowley, however, received the votes necessary to be appointed to the board. In addition to herself, affirmative votes were cast by Klitsch, Schaninger, and Miller.

“I’m allowed to state my opinion, that is my legal right,” Crowley said in response to the comments made against her. “I utilize my social media the way that I am legally allowed to. You are entitled to your opinion about me and I respect that.”

In addition to zoning hearing board alternate, which carries a three-year term, the borough is still accepting letters of interest for a five-year term on the international property maintenance board. Letters can be submitted to the borough office, put in the drop box outside the office, or emailed to secretary@jtborough.org no later than Jan. 31.