Metro

The Logan Township supervisors are taking applications from candidates to fill the seat on the Board of Supervisors that was left vacant recently by the death on May 4 of Joe Metzgar.

Any registered voter who has lived in the township for at least a year is eligible, according to the township and an article on the website of Babst Calland, a law firm with offices in Pittsburgh, State College and Harrisburg.

Applications must be submitted in person by 4:15 p.m. today to the second floor of the township building, 100 Chief Logan Circle, Altoona, with a note calling for the attention of township Manager Tim Brown.

The application can be found online at https://tinyurl.com/4yzwusn3.

The application asks for the candidate’s name, address, cell number and email address; whether the candidate has ever been convicted or pled guilty or no contest to a misdemeanor or felony, along with an explanation of the situation that led to such an issue; whether the candidate is available to attend board meetings on the second and fourth Thursday of every month; whether the candidate would be accessible by phone call, text or email at other times; why the candidate wants to be supervisor; what the candidate thinks are the most pressing issues for the township; and where the candidate envisions the township will be in five and in 10 years.

Candidates should attach a current resume.

Candidates should not use the township’s talent bank application to apply.

The supervisors will review the applications and resumes between today and their next meeting, which is on May 28.

They plan to appoint a replacement supervisor on May 28.

If the supervisors fail to choose a successor within 30 days after Metzgar’s death due to a tie vote among the four who remain, the township Vacancy Board becomes involved.

It consists of one individual, whose purpose is to break the tie.

Fifteen additional days are allotted to break such a tie.

After those 15 days, if the matter is still unresolved, it can go to Blair County Court via a petition, for the appointment of a successor, according to Brown and an online source.

Metzgar’s replacement would serve until the end of 2027, according to Supervisors Chairman Jim Patterson.

That successor, and any other qualified individual, could file for election early in 2027 to run for the remainder of Metzgar’s six-year term, which runs through 2031, according to Patterson and the township website.

The governing bodies of Pennsylvania muni­cipalities are not required to advertise vacant board seats or to hold interviews, or to follow any other specific process to fill vacancies, according to the Babst Calland article.

However, if a quorum of a governing body deliberates about the vacancy, those deliberations are subject to the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act and must occur at an advertised public meeting to allow for public comment, and the discussion must be listed on the agenda 24 hours in advance, according to the article.

Metzgar, 82, was a township supervisor for almost 20 years.

As a supervisor, he was always guided “by reasonableness and concern for any change … that will impact the overall health and safety of the residents,” he stated in his biography on the township website.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.