HONESDALE, PA — The Honesdale Borough Council had a vacancy to fill at its meeting Monday, July 6 since council vice president Bill Canfield resigned from his position in June.

Four residents applied for the position: Bill McAllister, Paul Bas, Amanda DeMasi and Derek Williams.

McAllister introduced himself as a certified accountant, and said as councilor he wanted to make “efforts to be of assistance, helping the council gain its direction and set some precedent so that we can move forward to assist the citizens and help our community grow.”

Bas is the chairman of the borough’s parks and recreation commission. He said he enjoyed bridging the gap between the borough and the public because “it keeps spreading further and further apart.”

DeMasi, who has been in the news the past couple of months for organizing Black Lives Matter protests in Honesdale, talked about her love for the community but added that “it needed work.”

Speaking last, Williams threw his support behind DeMasi, withdrawing his name from consideration.

“Out of all of us admirable volunteers, Amanda is the best to choose. I believe this because adding Amanda to council would be most reflective of the borough’s total population and the clearest choice for council to better represent everyone,” Williams said.

Three other members of the public also spoke in support of DeMasi that night. Lisa Glover, vice chair of parks & rec, made similar remarks about DeMasi being the best choice to create a council that’s more representative of Honesdale’s demographics.

Councilor Jim Jennings nominated DeMasi and councilor Jason Newbon nominated McAllister. In a roll call vote, DeMasi received “yes” votes from Jim Jennings and president Mike Augello, but received “no” votes from councilors Robert Jennings, Jason Newbon, Jared Newbon and Jim Brennan. McAllister won the appointment when he received affirmative votes from all except Jim Jennings.

Augello addressed DeMasi after the vote, asking that she continue being involved in borough government and encouraging her to run again in January when several seats are up for election.