Myerstown Borough Council appoints new councilman in mixed vote

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

After holding public interviews of four candidates Tuesday, March 10, Myerstown Borough Council appointed Robert Fullenlove to a council seat formerly held by Stacey Hackman. Fullenlove, who will serve until the end of the term in January of 2028, acted as a councilman for the remainder of the meeting.

Other candidates to have submitted letters of interest were Dana Reich, Kelly Mohn, and Cobie Arnold, who all also spoke during a recent town hall on police coverage.

Following council interviews, councilmen Bradley Kahl, Todd Kahl, and Daniel Ebling said they preferred Fullenlove, Mark Kirsch expressed support for Arnold, and Bryan Rittle said he would be in favor of former councilwoman Reich. Councilman Matthew Mulvaney was not in attendance Tuesday.

With a majority of attending councilmen preferring Fullenlove, Todd Kahl made a motion to appoint him to the position, with all in favor except Rittle. Rittle said that, with four members of council newly sworn in this year and Kirsch sworn in two years ago, he felt a new member of council should have more experience.

Fullenlove who first moved to Jackson Township in 2008 and Myerstown Borough in 2019, emphasized in his interview a desire to “bring [Myerstown] back to its heyday.”

He later explained in a phone interview with LebTown that he had heard Myerstown used to be more economically prosperous and socially interconnected, and that he hoped to reinvigorate the community however is possible in today’s economy. He said he did not yet have opinions on specific issues such as policing (a hot topic as the borough considers policing options), but that he would form viewpoints based on what he learns and hears from the community.

Restaurant manager Fullenlove said he had been previously asked about running for office and decided against it, but ultimately decided to put his name in the running for this vacancy. He said that he has seen a lot of conflict between council members and in the community, and that he hopes to encourage council to consider Myerstown’s best interests during conflicts.

Candidates were brought in one by one, so as to not to hear interview questions asked of other candidates. Each councilman posed the same question to each candidate, with Ebling asking another question on Mulvaney’s behalf.

Reich said she wanted to promote homeownership in the borough, work toward establishing a police presence, and set aside personal goals to learn both what the community wants and is feasible financially and legally. She emphasized a willingness to work together with people she disagrees with, citing previous disputes with Rittle and former council president Park Haverstick. Reich is a regular attendee of council meetings and has been critical both of actions by the previous and current council.

Mohn (who also serves on a PTO and has experience with small scale grant-writing) said she generally doesn’t want to see Myerstown change, but that she would be in support of technological advances for the borough government and police coverage for the borough, noting that attendees at a recent town hall overwhelmingly were in support of police coverage for the borough. She said she feels much of the job of council is to do research between meetings to be informed about action items and budgeting, and be willing to work alongside others on council to implement the will of the public.

Former civil engineer and professional firefighter for the city of Reading, Arnold (also a volunteer for Keystone Hook & Ladder) said he feels Myerstown is a great place to live and his primary goal as councilman would be to work with council and residents to improve the community while remaining fiscally responsible. He said he wanted to represent residents including those who are not vocal, and that he would not act based on his personal beliefs.

All candidates said they would stand by the Constitution if proposed action went against it, a question asked by Kirsch.

All council members present spoke favorably of the candidates, with multiple stating it was a difficult choice. Todd Kahl and Bradley Kahl both said they liked Fullenlove’s answers, and Ebling said his answers matched up with what he heard while door-knocking.

Ebling asked candidates to consider serving on the borough’s other boards, with vacancies on the UCC Board of Appeals, Planning Commission, and Recreation Board, and alternate positions open for the Zoning Hearing Board and International Property Maintenance Code Board. Kirsch said there may be another council vacancy soon, and confirmed after the meeting that he is considering moving out of the borough this year.

Also during the approximately four-hour meeting (including an around 50-minute executive session), councilmen unanimously approved a resolution establishing guidelines for public comment at council meetings, listed below.

Following an executive session, former councilman Haverstick criticized the policy, including the section on asking members of the public whether they are recording and the section that requires members of the public to address the council as a whole and not individual members.

Ebling said the recording language of the policy was standard and that he, with oversight from solicitor Amy Leonard, had adapted the policy from the Eastern Lebanon County School District board’s guidelines for public comment. ELCO’s public comment policy includes similar restrictions on residents, length, and recommending a group representative, registration, and general address (with comments to be addressed to a presiding officer). It does not specifically address recordings by the public beyond stating that they are allowed and can be overseen by board guidelines.

Haverstick said comment could reasonably be asked of a specific councilmember, addressing his complaints to Ebling as an author of the policy. Ebling said allowance for the address of individual council members could be handled case-by-case.

“I think this is all written because you got attacked because of your rationale for trying to fire Amy, and I think that’s what prompted this,” said Haverstick.

In other news, council:

• Unanimously agreed to a resolution appointing Commonwealth Code Inspection Services as the borough’s third-party building code official, replacing former official ABI, contingent on errors corrected in a service agreement. Kirsch said the company’s prices are fairly similar. Ebling said many residents had not been happy with ABI’s service, with Kirsch adding that the company had not been getting back to residents who contacted them.
• Unanimously approved a resolution honoring 13-year borough employee Lisa Brubaker, and also accepted her retirement resignation as executive assistant. Borough manager Michael McKenna read a statement honoring Brubaker for her time, including holding together borough operations during two vacancies in the borough manager position.

• Unanimously agreed to appoint Kristie Grier as assistant secretary and assistant treasurer, promote her from administrative assistant to executive assistant (with six-month probationary period), and advertise for a part-time administrative specialist position.
• Unanimously agreed to send notices to property owners along West Jefferson Avenue and East Washington Avenue ordering repair of curb and/or sidewalk, with no curb repairs needed on Jefferson. Curb repairs must be completed before the 2026 CDBG paving project begins, and sidewalk work must be completed within two years.
• Unanimously agreed to renew a USPS ground lease for 120 West Jefferson Ave., 2027-2032, at $25,000 per year and $27,500 per year during renewal if selected.
• Approved the $11,491 second-lowest quote for a $10,000-budgeted pool bathhouse restroom partition replacement project, as the lowest quote did not meet bid requirements and would likely end up being more expensive as a result. Ebling abstained due to a bid submitted by his company, Dutch Valley Construction.
• Unanimously authorized the solicitor to prepare a lease renewal for community center tenant SMRTGUYS LLC at $350 per month.
• Unanimously approved a volunteer improvement proposal from Fairhaven Mennonite Church and GAF to replace shingles and paint the lower east park pavilion.
• Heard reports and public comment, including lengthy discussion of truck traffic on borough roads that are not equipped to handle it.
• Unanimously approved a tenant request from Mission Church to replace the food pantry door and side glass within the room rented by the organization in the community center.
• Unanimously approved a monthly payment plan for the owner of a property along Railroad Street for the borough’s curb and sidewalk invoice.
• Unanimously authorized the reactivation of a recreation board email address for an annual cost of $72.
• Unanimously approved Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs courses and annual conference attendance (and appointment as voting delegate) for Ebling.
• Unanimously authorized council to organize the 2026 Easter Egg Hunt March 28, rain date April 4, to further plan later.
• Unanimously authorized the solicitor to advertise an amendment to the non-uniformed pension plan ordinance to keep the plan compliant with federal laws.
• Unanimously approved faculty use requests from Myerstown Church, ELCO Activity Network, Myerstown Sr. and Jr. Legion Baseball, and ELCO Youth Baseball Little League.
• Unanimously approved a resolution designating April of 2026 as Pennsylvania Safe Digging Month.
• Unanimously approved the treasurer’s report, payment of bills, and minutes.

Council holds its regular meeting the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. and a workshop the fourth Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. These meetings, held at  101 S. Railroad Street, are open to the public and do not require prior registration.