Published: November 04, 2009 01:23 pm      

A new council, old challenges | For city gov’t, business as usual must end

Voters sent three new faces to seats on Johnstown City Council on Tuesday, but retained one council member and the incumbent mayor.

This mixed message suggests that city voters were less disenchanted with the incumbents than was our editorial board, which chose to endorse no current officeholders in the Johns-town races.

For those being returned to council chambers – Mayor Tom Trigona and Councilwoman Ann Wilson – re-election should not be seen as license to do business as they have in recent years, when the city has seen annual budget deficits and council has been unwilling to make tough decisions to bring finances in line.

We believe Wilson to be a bright, experienced member of council who must be more assertive going forward.

Having good ideas is not enough. Council members must work hard to generate support for those good ideas to help them become positive decisions.

We implore Trigona to become the leader this city needs in a mayor. Council will be in need of someone to step forward and direct meetings at which solid decisions are made, and to serve as the visible spokesman the city has lacked.

Trigona has said that he brings only one vote to any city decision, which is true. But more is expected of the individual who holds the mayor’s gavel than what Trigona has shown in two years in that post.

We are excited about the energy and passion that newcomers Marie Mock, Rose Howarth and Pete Vizza should bring to council.

The three newcomers were all among the candidates we endorsed for election. They all possess strong track records of working to better the community, one neighborhood at a time. Mock especially has shown the potential to bring some fiscal sense to council – which is sorely needed.

We believe that during the tenures of these four council members and this mayor, Johnstown will be forced to navigate waters of change.

What remains to be seen is whether this will be change for the better or the worse. Honestly, it could go either way.

They will join four other incumbents on council and will be working with a new – and as yet unnamed – city manager and a new city finance director.

They will be asked to make the challenging decisions for a municipality that is still battling to develop a balanced budget for 2010.

During their campaigns, each promised to make informed decisions with the best interests of the residents at heart.

Trigona, Mock, Vizza, Howarth and Wilson have been chosen by the voters to help lead the city into its next chapter.

We wish them all well.

Theirs is a critical job at a critical time.