Mahoning Township officials stand by their appointment of a new supervisor to replace one who resigned.

On a 4-0 vote, supervisors last week accepted the resignation of Supervisor Myron “Zeke” Blahy, and then approved Carol Etheridge’s letter of interest for the position.

Etheridge was sworn in by township solicitor Tom Nanovic and took her seat on the board.

Newly elected supervisors Matthew Wentz and Mark Schwalm questioned the practice by which Etheridge was selected.

Schwalm told the board it went against what the public wants.

“That’s not how an election works,” Schwalm said.

Wentz and Schwalm won the supervisors’ race in the general election and are set to be seated in January. Wentz had 777 votes, while Schwalm tallied 654 votes. Etheridge had 556 votes.

Board decision

Supervisor Ron Reeser said that since last week’s supervisors meeting, “several board members have received comments as to the legality of our decision.”

“(Section 407 of) The second class township code requires no advertisement, but does require we do it within 30 days and must be done at an advertised meeting, which it was,” Reeser said. “The comments made by Mark Schwalm of ‘that’s not how an election works’ has no validity in this situation.”

Reeser explained how the board based its decision.

“Our decision was based solely on the letter of interest received from Carol Etheridge before our next scheduled meeting, and foremost the fact of her attendance of all of our meetings and special hearings over the past year to familiarize herself with the operations and key issues the township is currently facing should she have won a seat on the board at election,” Reeser said. “She had taken those actions herself to better prepare, and the board felt that to be very notable in reaching our decision to place her in this position.”

Reeser noted that the board has done this several times over the past few years.

“As a matter of fact, with the passing of the late Supervisor David Pollock, we received two letters of interest, with one being Mark Schwalm after losing the election to Myron Blahy, we decided to nominate the other interested party as he sat on the zoning hearing board and was familiar with township operations and issues at the time,” Reeser said. “We were met with disdain from Mr. Schwalm then as well.

“He stated that he was the losing vote-getter at the last election, and he should have been the obvious choice, but it seems now he has a problem with the losing vote-getter being appointed. But again the decision is based on merit and initiatives of said applicants.”

Resignation

Blahy submitted his letter of resignation to the board on Nov. 5 with regret.

“This was not an easy decision,” Blahy said. “My other commitments have become too great for me to be able to concentrate and fulfill the requirements of my position on the board, and I feel it is best at this time to make room for someone with the time and energy to devote to this position and to the residents of Mahoning Township.”

Blahy continued: “It has truly been a pleasure being a part of the board. I am so proud to have served for Mahoning Township and helped in taking part in accomplishing issues in the last several years.”

Blahy added that he wishes the board success “in accomplishing outstanding issues currently in progress for the residents of the township. Thank you again for the privilege to have served.”

The board appointed Supervisor Deb McGowan as vice president, the role in which Blahy had served.

Blahy was selected in January 2022 to fill a vacant seat on the board.

He was one of three candidates to apply for the post at that time.

After losing out in his bid for reelection in November 2021, Blahy replaced former board Chairman Bruce Steigerwalt.

At its end-of-year meeting in December 2021, supervisors accepted Steigerwalt’s resignation, which was verbally tendered earlier that month.

Before that, Blahy had served on the board since January 2018.