Welcom Chad

We have a new member of Oil City Council – Charles T. Rosen, known as Chad to most everyone.

Chad is a welcomed addition, but so too would have any of the other three candidates– William “Bill” Moon, Jr., Joseph “Joe” Womer Jr., and Katharine “Kate” Newman -- who sought appointment to the vacancy created by the resignation of Merrill Whitling.

Lee Mehlburger commented choosing among the candidates would be the toughest decision he would make as a councilman. I share that sentiment.

All of the candidates were eminently qualified and each would bring unique and valuable talents to council. Each is likeable and committed to the community and by my assessment free of any particular agenda other than wanting to move the city forward.

To make it more difficult, I know three of the four people who applied personally and I know their parents. I like to think they are more than acquaintances and are among my larger circle of friends. They are certainly people for whom I have a great deal of admiration and respect.

None of us on council went into the meeting with any idea of what the others would do.

From my perspective, the one commitment I made was that I would not do anything to create or add to any split among the candidates or the current members of council that could lead to a factionalized council. We’ve had that in the past. It didn’t help the city.

So, did we make the right choice based on Neil McElwee’s motion that resulted in the unanimous selection of Chad Rosen? I don’t think we could have made a wrong selection tonight.

I look forward to working with Chad, and with Bill, Joe and Kate as they continue to serve the city in other roles.