Matt Curtin back on Yardley Council finishing a term

It didn’t take long for Matt Curtin to return to Yardley Borough Council.
Council voted 6-0 at its Feb. 1 meeting to appoint Curtin to another two-year term right after he had just finished a two-year appointed term.
The latest vacancy he will fill was created when Michael Schummer was elected to a four-year term in November but then decided not to take the seat. By law, the vacated seat must be up for election again in the next municipal election in 2023, explained Borough Solicitor Ernest “Bucky” Closser.
Curtin, a Republican, will serve until the first Monday in January, 2024. He explained that the policy of the company where he works does not allow him to run for election but that he’s permitted to accept appointments to office. Curtin works in leverage finance for The Bank of America.
“I’m happy to be back and excited to be working with this group again,” said Curtin, whose previous two-year term ended on Jan. 3. “I’m looking forward to continuing to work on projects we had worked together on the last two years.”
At his public interview during the meeting, Curtin said he believed his previous council experience would allow him to “jump in right away” and that his financial acumen would continue to be an asset.
Also interviewed at the meeting were Dawn Perlmutter, Melissa Mertes, Don Carlson and Earl Markey. Council members had words of praise for all five candidates.

“This is the strongest applicant pool we’ve had for a vacancy since I’ve been on council,” Vice President Caroline Thompson said.
“This was a very good pool of people to choose from,” council member John McCann added.
Curtin lives in the borough with his three children, son Will, 13, and daughters Piper, 11 and Molly, 8. He will be the only Republican on the otherwise all-Democratic council.
In another action from the meeting, council voted to award the snow and ice removal contract given up by Effluent Retrieval Services, Inc. to James B. Tomlinson LLC.
The contract assumed by the Tomlinson company expires in October, meaning in practical terms that it extends through this winter. No terms of the deal will change, explained council member Matthew Ross, chair of the Public Works Committee. The new company will be paid $150 an hour for plowing all streets in the borough and $155 an hour for applying salt supplied by Yardley.
The borough is reimbursed by PennDOT for the cost of Tomlinson plowing state roads within Yardley, Ross added.

---

Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.