A nameplate for now-former Towamencin supervisor Laura Smith stands on the dais in front of her empty seat as her fellow supervisors voted to accept her resignation on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo by James Short.
Court conference could set out timeline to fill vacancy
There’s still no timeline, but Towamencin officials now know the next key date toward filling the vacancy on their board of supervisors.
“The township’s vacancy petition has been assigned to Judge Jeffrey Saltz of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, and a conference is currently scheduled before the judge on April 7,” said township solicitor Bob Iannozzi.
In late January then-supervisor Laura Smith sparked an uproar by posting a now-deleted TikTok video mimicking an alleged Nazi salute in the manner of Elon Musk at the inauguration of President Donald Trump. After more than a day of growing uproar online, the township announced Smith’s pending resignation on Jan. 26, and the board accepted the resignation in a special meeting on Feb. 4, after dozens of residents sounded off on the video and the board’s subsequent response.
Supervisors said the deadline for board action to fill the vacancy would be within 30 days from the Feb. 4 resignation but in a March 4 special meeting, the board deadlocked on two nominations, both failing on 2-2 tie votes. The decision then moved to county court.
The next key date was announced on Wednesday night, when board chairman Chuck Wilson asked Iannozzi to give an update, and the attorney said the judge has now been assigned, and a conference date set in a Norristown courtroom.
“It’s at this conference that we’re hoping guidance and direction will be given as to the court’s intended process, timing, and scheduling,” Iannozzi said.
No public comments were submitted online or made in person about the vacancy, but supervisor Kofi Osei addressed it briefly in comments at the close of the meeting.
“All the things on the agenda tonight passed four-zero, so it’s not a huge deal, but I am still disappointed that we’re going through courts for this process,” he said.
Osei then added that he graduated from North Penn High School in 2011 during the tenure of Vince Sherpinsky, longtime school board president who was one of several applicants for the vacancy, and “had a good call” with him, “but I have been getting a lot of calls and text messages against his appointment.”
“I do wish we had a compromise pick. That’s all,” Osei said.
Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7 p.m. on April 9 at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road; for more information visit www.Towamencin.org.
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